ABOUT TRACY
Artist Statement
The highly structured, exclusionary practice of Classical Ballet taught me that within the confines, there is freedom, a metaphor for my journey as an artist. Although the hierarchy, racism, and perfectionism persist in many forms of codified dance disciplines, I found a way to flourish in it. The original goal was to perform in the concert dance world but fortunately, dancing opened up other artistic opportunities that resulted in a multifaceted career in front and behind the lights for over forty years.
The mind-body connection I learned in the dance studio nurtured my ability to create honest artistic expression. Imbuing story physically was only the prequel that expanded to the power of my own voice both literally and metaphorically. Once I mastered the ‘physical’, I dove into unpeeling the ‘emotional’. After many years of working professionally and compartmentalizing whatever skill was needed at the moment, my practices began to intersect and created an integration. Where I found constriction in one, I used the others to liberate.
I became obsessed with the “in betweens,” the nuances that connected my skill sets. The patience and care necessary for growth reveal these places of ‘in betweens’; the space made within the body, outside of the body, within community — and hopefully, the shared humanity illuminated by the making of art. The ‘in betweens’ become the space for meditation, connection to self, to identification with a narrative that generates movement. Across all my creative endeavors, I aim to elongate these moments of ‘in betweens,’ to create a cross-pollination of expression, and to make art that liberates performers and performances.
Tracy Silver is an accomplished interdisciplinary artist, who works as a Director, Choreographer, Actor, and Dancer on stage and screen. A Principal Faculty Member/Professor at American Musical & Dramatic Academy Hollywood (AMDA), Tracy is committed to creating space for truth, clarity, and purpose that transcends technique and dissolves perceived notions of dance.
Tracy Silver began her career with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and has danced for Jerome Robbins, Patricia Birch, Alan Johnson and Wayne Cilento. She has acted opposite Burt Reynolds, Gary Sinise, John Hamm, Billy Bob Thornton, Juliette Lewis, Jean Smart, and Tony Award Winner John Glover. As Writer, Creator, and Performer, Tracy’s one woman show ‘Motion Cures’ was chosen twice as ‘The Best Of The Fest’ at the Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival. In 2024, Tracy was commissioned by the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Cultural Affairs as part of the Performing Arts Division’s EMPOWERMENT initiative. Tracy’s real world experience as a dancer, actor, director, and choreographer strengthens her abilities as an educator and informs her teaching practice.
Tracy on set for Sidney Poitier’s Fast Forward