Emory Dance Company Spring 2015: Inside the Choreographer's Mind

The Emory Dance Company Spring Concert is only one month away! As the choreographers have begun to find endings for their works, they have also discovered a title for the concert: Searchlight.

___

Briana Keith

Senior

Anthropology & Human Biology Major, Dance & Movement Studies Minor

My creative process all started with a simple poem I wrote a summer ago. I entitled my poem, “Dream” because it discusses how I have battled the constant stress of being visually impaired and using glasses and contacts as crutches in my life. 
The poem continues on about the perception of reality and how life is not black or white, just grey. 

This poem encouraged me to create a piece of movement and place it on bodies other than my own. In this piece, I work through the constant battle of looking at life as black and white even though everything can be a blur, almost grey in a sense. Grey is a mixture of the good and bad, the right and wrong and the true and false. Grey represents the answers to many questions we have for ourselves like, “What is our true purpose in life?” “Why am I here?” “What should I do?” There is hardly ever a clear or right answer. Sometimes it is a mixture and maybe the answer is not an answer in itself. In this piece, I have incorporated the poem along with my dancer’s perspective on life and their daily struggles, like waking up and not being able to see clearly. I want to attempt to answer the big question of, “What is reality?” and through movement show how we perceive movements and gestures, through seeing, hearing, observing and grabbing hold of life itself.

Through this process, I have had the pleasure of receiving feedback from the other choreographers and our professor, George Staib. The feedback has not only helped my piece grow, but has also humbled me as a choreographer. Watching my piece over and over can often times numb my eyes to what is actually being perceived on stage. After each feedback session, I take a step back and review each piece of constructive criticism, advice and approval of my work and rework my piece bit by bit. For me, the creative process never ends and I guess I will only stop changing and reworking my piece on the opening night of the show.
___


Don't miss the Emory Dance Company Spring Concert, Searchlight! Click here for more details. For more information on the Emory Dance Program, please go to our website or check out our Facebook page.

Emory Dance Company Spring 2015: Inside the Choreographer's Mind

Emory Dance has returned from Spring Break and is back in the rehearsal process! While we are glad that all of our dancers and choreographers were able to get some rest, we are so thrilled to have them all back in the studio and moving.

Let's find out what our next choreographer has been working on this semester and learn about what has inspired them!

___

Lauren Lindeen

Photo Credit: Lori Teague

Junior

Dance & Movement Studies and Psychology Double Major

This semester, I began my movement research by exploring the different aspects surrounding human connectivity through movement- What creates distance/closeness? Why do some relationships blossom while others falter? I think that communication is one of the largest factors that influences human relationships, so I began my process by asking my dancers to explore communication and connect/disconnect within their own lives.

One of the first choreographic methods I employed was asking my dancers to create two phrases centered around the idea of communication. The first task was to create a phrase expressing “what they would say to the world at large”. A few weeks later, I asked them to compose a phrase embodying “what they would like to say to an individual”. As I began to incorporate my dancers’ source work into my own phrase material, I noticed a distinct difference between the two tasks. While the “world at large” phrases felt very open and outwardly directed, the “individual” phrases reflected a level of deeper intimacy and introversion.

Noticing this difference lead me to reflect on the difference between interpersonal and “extrapersonal” relationships and how these identities affect the self. Is the individual defined by internal or external factors? The abstract or concrete? What exactly causes the disconnect between who we are and what we are? What forms the barrier between what we say and what others hear? Bearing these questions in mind, I seek to explore “the space between” human connectivity through movement from both a macroscopic and a microscopic perspective of human relationships.
___


Don't miss the Emory Dance Company Spring Concert! Click here for more details. For more information on the Emory Dance Program, please go to our website or check out our Facebook page.

Emory Dance Company Spring 2015: Inside the Choreographer's Mind

Ah, it's that time of year again. The midterms are flowing, dreams of Spring Break are soon to become reality, and the nine students of the Choreography II class are composing relentlessly as they prepare for the Emory Dance Company Spring Concert! 

We're halfway through the semester and the choreographers are well into their creative processes. Over the next few weeks they will share with us the challenges and rewards of making a new work, as well as their inspirations and aspirations for their pieces.

Let's find out what our first student-choreographer has been up to in the studio!

____

Mary Rose Branch

Senior

NBB Major, Dance & Movement Studies Minor

My piece this spring consists of four separate duets. I was originally inspired by the idea of physical and psychological distance versus connection. Though I can’t say for sure whether this idea will eventually evolve into something else, I am working with an unbelievably talented and creative cast of dancers. I am excited to see where the relationships they develop while working with each other through manipulating various phrases of movement will take the piece. 

I consider myself an experimentalist and I like to approach my work with an open-mind, and try not to wed myself to any ideas or concepts right off the bat. I think that allowing the piece to evolve and go in unexpected directions is one of the most rewarding and exciting aspects of choreographing. My first time choreographing last spring, I was more anxious about trying to find a meaning instead of giving the work time to develop on its own. This time around, I feel much more at ease and confident that everything will fall into place and all come together in the end.
____

Don't miss the Emory Dance Company Spring Concert! Click here for more details. For more information on the Emory Dance Program, please go to our website or check out our Facebook page.