Surinder Martignetti and Zachary Whittenburg
Recorded
November 20, 2020
40:06 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
chi003414
Description
Surinder Martignetti (45) and her friend and colleague, Zachary Whittenburg (40), talk about where they grew up, places they've lived, their dance education, and their work today for Chicago arts organizations during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Subject Log / Time Code
SM talks about growing up in rural New South Wales, Australia in a town of about 500 people about 40 minutes from Sydney. ZW shares that he grew up in a small mountain town about 40 minutes from Boulder, Colorado.
SM talks about the farm in Australia and ZW talks about dog sled racing in Colorado.
SM talks about her family and extended family and traveling back and forth from Australia to Malaysia when she was growing up and the languages spoken by her family, sometimes all at the same time.
SM talks about feeling like an outsider, being seen as the brown girl in Australia and as the white girl in Malaysia.
ZW talks about the African American dance school he attended as a child. SM talks about the many different forms of dance she studied growing up and as a young adult.
ZW talks about being a boy dancer and the attention he got because of it. He talks about moving to Seattle at 16 to study dance.
SM talks about working from home during COVID-19 and the ways she stays connected to friends and family.
ZW talks about how he had just begun his work at the Chicago Architecture Center when COVID-19 hit. He talks about the skills he has picked up since March and the process of closing again due to spike in COVID rates again.
SM talks about figuring out how to support Chicago Dance studios, venues, and communities.
Participants
- Surinder Martignetti
- Zachary Whittenburg