By Rachel Shuster

“Dance isn’t a form, it’s a way of life.” The originator of this quote may be anonymous, but its meaning is close to the heart for Sue Gilbert. A Worcester native, Gilbert is in her third year as a dancer with the Rainbow Tribe, a dance troop based out of Boston. As Acting Director of the Women’s Center at Tufts University, too, Gilbert says, “Dance is more of a passion, a hobby rather than my career.” Her focus on the community at the Center parallels her focus with the Rainbow tribe. “Our mission is to bridge people together,” Gilbert says of both. In the case of Rainbow, the mixed-gender group of thirty dancers of different backgrounds, ages and ethnicities unite to share their passion for dance and reach out to the community through performance. “Dance is a wonderful, positive way to have fun, be in shape and relate to other people,” Gilbert explains.

When asked what a typical day can be, Gilbert shares, “I get up, go to work in the morning, which is a combination of students’ needs and advising students, and managing the center.” After a quick dinner, Gilbert then has rehearsal with the Rainbow Tribe at eight, where “We review dances for about a half hour and then have a half hour warm up and then an hour and a half of new choreography. It varies but Mondays and Wednesdays are definitive.” During show seasons, rehearsals increase to include Fridays and Saturdays.

Although she enjoys hiking, the beach and involvement in environmental sustainability, dance is Gilbert’s true passion. Beginning her training at Charlotte Klein Dance Center in Worcester at the age of seven, Gilbert says, “I fell in love at the very start. I knew it was something I loved doing.” Part of her eleven years at CKDC was also spent with the CKDC Dance Company.

Growing up and studying dance in Worcester helped Gilbert later on in life as she explains, “If I didn’t have a good first experience, I might be focusing on something else. I had a great upbringing in Worcester with great community, friends…I am very grateful to my parents for [allowing] dance to be a part of my life.”
Gilbert danced throughout high school and in college at Brandeis University, where she studied dance with professors like Susan Dibble. Gilbert’s involvement as a dancer and choreographer in the college’s Adagio Dance Company, and serving as president of the Adagio Executive Board, served to be a great experience.

After college, Gilbert moved to San Francisco, studied with Reginald Savage, and apprenticed with his dance group, Savage Jazz. There she performed with jazz musicians and to the music of Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder. Gilbert comments on this rhythmically and technically based experience saying, “It taught me to hear music in different ways. I found my center through being trained.” She left San Francisco after three years and moved back to Boston for graduate school, also finding time to take classes at the Jeanette Neil Dance Studio.

Now, as part of the Rainbow Tribe, Gilbert participates in the troop’s two productions, one in spring and one in summer. Despite a long history of being on-stage, Gilbert says she has “…never gotten stage fright.” The adrenaline rush wipes out any potential fears. Performing for community events like Walk for Hunger, the Breast Cancer Walk, Dare Dance and numerous outreach programs has allowed Gilbert to be involved with the community while doing what she loves. She has covered several styles of dance including Hip Hop, Jazz, Salsa, Modern, Ballet, African, Tap, and Russian Israeli folkdance.

Gilbert shares how to integrate dance ~ and for that matter any passion ~ into everyday life. Whether it is dancing professionally or at a club, no matter how you do, the point is, you can. Closing with a motto she lives by and offering it to others sharing the same passion, Gilbert says, “Dance is an art. It takes dedication and hard work, but don’t be afraid to take risks. Take chances with it.”

Photo by Alonso Nichols