Interview | Richard Move

How did you become the choreographer for the Strangers with Candy film?
Aaah! I’m so glad you brought that up. That was one of my favorite projects ever. Like most things in my life, it was a friend of a friend who recommended me, and then Amy [Sedaris] and I met, and we hit it off. There were those musical numbers [planned for the film] and, the next thing I know, I’m working on that film, which is, like, a cult classic now. I’m so proud to have been involved. Amy had seen a Martha performance, and she’d come to another performance with my group, MoveOpolis! So she’d come to know my work and knew that that project required somebody with a sense of irony and with a satirical sensibility.

Where are you?
New York City. Home, home, home. I live about two blocks from Times Square, which you can probably hear, since I’ve got the windows open.

Eiko and Koma live near there as well.
Yes! They live on my block. I see them occasionally.

They’re also a part of this MCA program that you’re hosting.
Yes! And I love and adore them, and studied with them, actually, as an undergrad, at the American Dance Festival. I love their work.

Can I ask how old you are?
A lady never tells her age.

See Richard Move perform and emcee as Martha Graham on Wednesday 24 at the MCA Stage. The Martha Graham Dance Company performs Embattled Garden on Thursday 25 at the Auditorium Theatre and Diversion of Angels on Saturday 27 at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. On Friday 26, catch A Dancer’s World at the Chicago Cultural Center and, at 6pm, Graham company artistic director Janet Eilber in discussion at the Museum of Contemporary Art. All events are presentations of the Chicago Dancing Festival to which admission is free.