Thursday, April 19, 2018

EDC Spring Concert Choreographer Spotlight: Serena Schmitt

Serena Schmitt is the final choreographer spotlight in our series! She is a junior in Emory College majoring in dance and anthropology. This is Serena's first time choreographing for Emory Dance Company, and her work, Here They Come, premieres next week at the concert.

Read on to find out more!

The process of creating work for Emory Dance Company has been a really positive learning experience for me. My work features seven incredible dancers who have worked with me through this process. I originally jumped into creating my work by using themes of water and erosion. Through improvisation, group work, and time alone in the studio, these ideas created most of the movement phrases seen in my work early on. However, as soon as the movement was generated, I let those themes go and started to craft the final piece as a whole. I strung together the different phrases, weaved my dancers through the space and tried out the final sequence to multiple different sound scores until I found one that I felt suited the work. I have set out to make a piece enjoyable for myself to create and watch, as well as enjoyable for my cast to dance. The most important thing for me was to not take myself or the work too seriously.

Our feedback sessions as a class provided a lot of insight for me as to how others were viewing the dance, in comparison to myself. It was such a learning process to hear what stood out and what didn't to other viewers. I look forward to hearing more feedback from audience members after the performance about what they thought and how they viewed it. 

Thanks Serena!

To purchase tickets for the EDC Spring Concert, click here!

For more information about our spring events, click here!


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