Staff Profile: Stage Manager Angelina Pellini

 

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

Emory Dance Program stage manager Angelina Pellini began her career in college. As a freshman dance major at Kennesaw State, she auditioned for her program’s fall concert but ended up being assigned to work for the crew. She fell in love with backstage work and became more and more involved in technical production. Although she explored several different avenues of production, stage management was where she felt that she belonged the most and is the career she chose to pursue after college.

Kristin O'Neal teaches an online class.

This year, Pellini helped equip the Schwartz Center Dance Studio to stream online classes. Since college dance classes aren’t intended to be online, Pellini says that she is “moving through a lot of uncharted territory. There were challenges at times, but Greg (Catellier), Kendall (Simpson), and I were all committed to offering Emory students the best online dance experience possible.” The studio now has multiple microphones so the instructors and accompanists can be clearly heard by the students and two webcams that are run through a program called OBS to offer both front and side views of the instructor. There is also a large projection screen for the instructors to view the students during class and give corrections in real time. Although online courses have been one response to COVID-19, Pellini believes that online classes, dance films, and site-specific work will continue to be the way of the world for a while and allow a larger audience to be reached. “You can now take class from people on the other side of the world that you would have never met. People can view performances that they never would have been able to see (both because of geographical restrictions and ticket prices),” Pellini says. Pellini also assists with site-specific pieces for the Emory Dance Company. She says that her role is similar to what she usually does for Emory Dance Company, and includes supporting the production needs for each project, helping transport and set up any gear, run sound cues, keeping track of the schedule, and making sure that all dancers are where they need to be.” One difference in site-specific performances is the lack of theatrical lighting. In addition, Pellini must set up a portable sound system and/or instruments for live music while also keeping the audience socially distant. “I help manage that by placing markers on the ground or rearranging furniture.” During these performances, she has noticed that on-campus students passing by stop and witness performances that they “…never would have known anything about had it taken place in Schwartz.”

Musicians and tech equipment during a dress rehearsal

Due to COVID-19, Emory Dance Company dancers have been unable to participate in required tech hours, which is a time where dancers engage with the technical portion of their performance. However, in a normal environment, it is important for students to learn about production. “Participating in tech hours helps give students a foundational knowledge of technical theater elements and develop a base level vocabulary of important terminology.” Also, by understanding the process, students are more likely to appreciate crew members and respect what they do. Communication skills can also improve as dancers learn how to collaborate with designers and stage managers in a professional setting. Pellini says “These are important skills for students who wish to become professional performers, choreographers, or directors. Being aware of how things in a theater work also makes you more likely to keep yourself safe as a performer, and less likely to do something detrimental to the show.” For dancers interested in perusing stage management, Pellini has some advice: “I would encourage them to take as many classes as they can while in college to get a good foundational knowledge of production in general, but also to keep in mind that they will learn the most from experience.” She also recommends getting involved in shows, shadowing stage managers, and looking for production internships. “Every company, every venue, and every show are a little different and brings unique challenges and that teach you something new and add to your skill set.” Pellini also mentioned the importance of learning from others: “Every stage manager has their own routine, practice, and tricks. When you are developing yourself as a stage manager, I think it’s important to work under as many different stage managers as you can. Pay attention to what they do well and what could be done better and ingrain those lessons into your own manifesto.”

Angelina Pellini (rear) provides technical support for a performance.

Staff Profile: Costume Designer Cyndi Church

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

Emory Dance Program costume designer Cyndi Church works closely with choreographers to create pieces that are creative, practical, and innovative. “Designing is fueled by a passion that excites and provokes your thoughts in ways that you want to get lost in and dive a little deeper each opportunity you have to design.”

This fall, abiding by COVID-19 restrictions, Emory Dance Company choreographers created site-specific pieces in spaces that can accommodate a small, physically distanced audience. This provided a new challenge for Church since she usually designs costumes for the theater rather than outdoor spaces. Church says, “At times there are unavoidable obstacles, like dancers need to wear shoes or something protective for their knees/hands. So, the challenge is to work that into the design in a way that isn’t just a functional need. Site-specific can also open a whole door of creative possibilities to ponder in the design process. The costuming can lean into the space and bring forward ideas.”

Church began her career by “…investing in what interested me and just giving my time to what I wanted to one day spend my days doing. One might say that the little girl in me has always been a control freak and so as she grew up in the arts, she needed to control everything, even the ‘look.’” Over the years, Church has learned many lessons that have strengthened her skills in the craft of costume design. One of the most valuable lessons is how to balance costume construction and creativity. “Creativity is one thing, but if you can’t think through the nuts and bolts of a design you have imagined, it probably will have setbacks, keeping it from functioning on a moving body.” She also learned from a mentor to celebrate the “flops” —the “moments when you put in the hardest work and in the end, you are beyond underwhelmed.” This has helped Church to overcome her fear of failure when starting a new project.

As a costume designer, Church often must collaborate with choreographers to create clothing that works for the dancers’ bodies as well as the movement. Each project brings new discoveries about collaboration. For a successful partnership, costume makers “...shouldn’t put themselves in a box of  “’I can be whatever designer you want me to be.’” Church also makes sure her role is clearly defined when she begins working with a choreographer —is she a costume designer or a costume coordinator? She says both roles are of equal value in the world of dance making and both bring a sense of accomplishment to the project. “Costume coordinating may have fewer design opportunities but still has many doors for creative working and problem-solving.”

 

Church believes that all dancers should have knowledge of basic costume repair and the ability to make easy adjustments to a costume. For dancers interested in exploring costume design, Church says that “…design is sometimes the ability to make a choice and go with it. But it also can be much more thoughtful and dives into resources of creativity that are skills nurtured and developed over time.” To become more involved, dancers should spend time in the costume shop to explore and create. “Just like all the outside work that goes into mastering a craft, it takes some individual investments to acquire those skills that surround and support the arts.”

Emory Dance Company Choreographer George Staib

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

George Staib is a faculty member in the Emory Dance Program and one of the choreographers for Emory Dance Company this fall. For his piece, Staib intends to explore the idea of “what can blossom from fragments, remnants and/or unexplored ideas from our pasts.” Staib is taking a “new look at growth and development and trying to assess what to hold firmly in our grasp and what to release.” With social distancing protocols due to COVID-19, Staib has had to redefine how to communicate his ideas without dancers physically interacting with each other. He says “They cannot touch nor they can be close together – so the work needs to speak, for me, in ways that are more reliant on a dancer's singular voice rather than a collective image.” In addition, Staib’s expression of ideas such as “closeness” and “intimacy” are physically amended. Dancers will express intimacy by showing their own vulnerability as individuals. For this piece, Staib has a cast of 12 dancers and believes that this large number will provide a sense of “‘quiet’ and solitary reflection” through simultaneous movements followed by slowly reducing the number of dancers. Staib says his dancers are extraordinary working with his process and have been generous with their creativity and ideas. One thing that he hopes that they take away from Emory Dance Company this semester is knowing that they found the “opportunity inside the restrictions we had to navigate.” Staib wants “us all to rededicate ourselves to the HUMAN experience and find renewed value in closeness with one another. I hope that this experience will yield greater sensitivity to the vibrations we feel from others, celebrate the joys of collaboration, and most importantly – instill hope for what lies ahead."

Staib's piece will be performed for a limited audience at the Emory Student Center in November.

Meet the Senior Unique Wilson

Image from actants

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

Unique Wilson is a senior originally from Washington, DC. At Emory, Wilson is majoring in dance and movement studies and minoring in women's, gender, and sexuality studies. During her time at Emory, she has worked diligently through her courses, participated in Emory Dance Company numerous times, and in the spring, will graduate with a bachelor of arts degree. 

Image from After Love

Over the past four years, Wilson has taken many courses in the Emory Dance Program, but Movement Improvisation has impacted her the most. Although dance majors are required to take Movement Improvisation once, Wilson has taken this course twice and plans to take it again during her final spring semester because it has been so important to her development as a dancer. 

Wilson states: “Movement Improvisation gave me the space to trust my movement choices and to see the value in them. It also pushed me to try things, leading to discoveries of new movement vocabulary in my body. Every opportunity to listen to my body and let it take me to uncharted territory expanded my view on what I could do.”

When asked if she had any advice to offer to first-year students joining the Emory Dance Program, Wilson said “challenge yourself.” She recommends that students take courses outside of their comfort zone and work with as many dance creatives as possible. Wilson also encourages first-year dancers not to be afraid to go back to the basics and more comfortable areas. She says, “There is always more to discover when you dig deeper into what you know.”

As Wilson reflects on her journey in the Emory Dance Program, the advice that she would have given to herself four years ago is: “I would urge myself to get plugged into the Emory Dance community sooner. I would also tell myself to be present in every moment and enjoy learning as I go.”

The Emory Dance Program is proud of all of Unique’s successes during the past four years and cannot wait to continue to hear more about her accomplishments in the future. Although Wilson is unsure of her post-college plans, she does plan to continue dancing.

Teaching In-person and Online: Ballet Instructor Dr. Mara Mandradjieff Bennett

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

Dr. Mara Mandradjieff Bennett is an instructor for the Emory Dance Program who primarily teaches ballet. This semester, she is teaching two sections of Ballet III in person and Pilates online. Although the physical format of these courses is different, the principle behind the way her classes are taught remains the same. Dr. Mandradjieff’s goal as an instructor is to make smarter and stronger dancers by asking students to think deeply about their approach to movement. She motivates her dancers to ask themselves “...what muscles am I using; how does this feel in my body; what happens if I shift my weight this way or that; how can I do this safely and productively; can I push this further, etc.”

Dr. Mandradjieff’s in-person and online courses are structured slightly differently. She amended her in-person course material by replacing her traditional focus on jumps and “cardio” ballet (which challenged the dancer’s stamina) with more breathing breaks in between combinations. For the online Pilates course, Dr. Mandradjieff feels the material translates nicely to the online format but says that working with students who already have great body awareness has been helpful. For her in-person courses, Dr. Mandradjieff says that there was a transition period with wearing a mask while teaching ballet, which has improved. However, she misses seeing her students’ smiles during class.

As students and instructors are becoming more proficient with Zoom and online learning, in the future Dr. Mandradjieff would like to implement the option for students to participate and/or watch courses from home if they can’t make it into class.

During these uncertain times, Dr. Mandradjieff wants to let her students know that they are wonderful and that “They have been total rockstars!”

Emory Dance Company Choreographer Greg Catellier

Image from "Stay Together Apart."

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

Emory Dance faculty member Greg Catellier created a piece this fall for the Emory Dance Company that focuses on COVID-19 and how the pandemic has re-shaped human interaction. The lack of social interaction, touch, and proximity led him to create choreography that emphasizes the general alienation that is felt by nearly everyone during this time. Within the piece, there is no physical or even emotional connection between the dancers, and yet they move together. Catellier says “The socio-political fall out of the crisis has been overwhelming but I am more interested in how it has affected our inner lives (what some might call our souls).”

Catellier utilizes the structures and protocols set by Emory College as a choreographic restriction. For the rehearsal process, the cast meets at a location, Catellier leads a warm-up, then they focus on creating and composing. Part of this process includes experimenting with how the dancers can use the site to create captivating images. Catellier stated “A lot of time is spent just trying different entrances, exits, or moving together and apart. When we find something that feels authentic, interesting, or provocative we hold onto it.”  

Image from "Stay Together Apart."

This piece takes place in the plaza south of the Woodruff Library tower and north of the Goizueta Business School. Catellier believes that the context of the space and how the dancers use it is as important, if not more important than the movement itself. He has also been inspired by signs around Emory’s campus that state “Stay Apart, Together, Physical Distance.” He is “creating movement patterns that keep the dancers moving together but apart. I imagine that these people (the dancers) live in a world that has succumbed to this structure. There’s no touching no connection, no intimacy.” Elements such as costumes, setting, and props will also emphasize the lack of humanity. 

In addition to choreographing for Emory Dance Company, Catellier is also the technical director. Each year, Emory Dance Company dancers must participate in a workshop to strengthen their technical theater skills and learn how to load in (create) and strike (take down) the performance space. He says “Those hours in the theater offer concrete and unique learning experiences.” However, due to COVID-19, all technical support hours and workshops have been canceled. Catellier, who usually leads the workshops says that “One of the reasons I like to teach in that environment is that the learning is direct and quick. It never takes a student long to learn how a wrench works. Often students fear that type of activity, but as they work they overcome that fear, gain confidence, and sometimes grow to enjoy it. Knowing how something works is a gift.”

Catellier, who presented his piece earlier this month for a limited audience, hopes that from his creative process the dancers learn how to “adapt to making work in these difficult times. Dance making is often about creatively solving problems. I hope the dancers learn that we can dance about anything. That space has meaning. That site work can be interesting and fun. That they have the problem-solving skills for all sorts of sticky situations. I hope they learn to “Stay Apart…Together” or maybe “stay together… apart”.”

Image from "Stay Together Apart."

Learning Dance in the Age of COVID-19

 

Merryn McKeough performs with Emory Dance Company

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

This semester, only first year students and selected others are on campus at Emory. Dance and movement studies majors and minors were invited to campus because of importance of in-person dance training. Studios have been modified to accommodate safe physical distancing and to comply with Emory’s health and safety regulations. In addition, class sizes have been reduced. The Dance Program is also offering several online classes to serve students who are not able to take class in person.

Merryn McKeough is a third-year student majoring in dance and movement studies and psychology. She is taking primarily in-person dance courses this semester. Although McKeough’s technique courses mostly feature the same material as before the COVID-19 outbreak, one element that she finds valuable has been altered. With the omission of contact specific material such as partnering work and physical feedback, McKeough misses how working with a partner would draw her attention to new sensations. Social aspects of class have also been hindered such as talking in groups while warming up. McKeough feels that “It's harder to foster that kind of connection while six feet apart.”

McKeough’s has adjusted her approach to technique courses this semester. She now must divide her attention between the course material and spatial awareness. Before the pandemic, she would transition into what she calls her “movement headspace” and connect to her body by closing her eyes during somatic exercises and warm-up. Now, she finds herself having to be cautious of moving outside of her square (taped on the floor to maintain distance between dancers). She says that “Learning combinations require a heightened spatial awareness, as I don't want to get too close to another mover.”

Continuing to train in dance while following social distance protocol is a challenge we must experience until it is safe again to engage in physical contact. These times will not last forever, but when asked if there are any components of socially distance technique courses that McKeough would like to remain post-pandemic, she answered: “The boxes on the floor are helpful in ballet class for learning the positions of the body. I also like the additional space provided by smaller class sizes, although I do miss getting to know more people through dance classes."

Emory Dance Company Choreographer Julio Medina

Photo from Medina's Fall 2019 EDC piece form & fragment

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

This fall, Emory Dance faculty member Julio Medina is creating a dance film with dancers in the Emory Dance Company that addresses the issue of racism in our country. As a starting point, he analyzed poetry that looks at racism, by poets such as Rita Dove, Langston Hughes, and Jericho Brown, who is an Emory faculty member in the Creative Writing Program. 

Medina decided to create a dance film since the pandemic does not allow for a live audience. In the film, Medina wants to convey a sense of connection and community between his dancers without physical touch and with distance. Medina stated, “This is going to be the most difficult, especially with a topic like racism, where a way to combat this is by showing bodies that can support each other, respect each other, and take care of each other. How do you do that when you can’t touch or hug or hold a hand? That will be a creative limit to explore in this piece."

 

During rehearsals, Medina encourages his dancers to create their own solos, duets, and trios from prompts that he provides through their exploration process. Medina believes that there should be a balance between the choreography that he teaches and allowing the dancers to share their own creative input; he wants to develop a very open and collaborative space to create. Dancers gain inspiration and challenge their ideas through free writing, poetry reading, and sharing, which effectively leads them to create movement. In addition to creating movement, Medina must also decide how to frame the bodies in shots, how to manage the lighting, and how to choose locations to create context for the choreography.

The main takeaway that Medina would like for his dancers to obtain from this process is that “dance-making and art-making can be a healing process and that we can have fun while doing this.” Medina is not quantifying the success of his film through views or going viral; instead he wants to reflect on the process of exploring such a difficult and complex topic like racism in a productive way. He hopes to inspire his dancers to make their own art or to make sense of the things that happen in this world.  

Teaching In-person and Online: Jazz Instructor Tara Shepard Myers

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

Tara Shepard Myers is an instructor for the Emory Dance Program who primarily teaches jazz. This semester, she is teaching Jazz II and III in person and Jazz IV online. Although the physical format of these courses is different, the way the class is taught for all three remains the same. For both the in-person and online courses, the dancers start class with a warm-up, followed by strengthening and technical exercises, and end with center work. The only major difference Myers has found between the two is the limited ability of online dancers to perform “across the floor” movements, due to the smaller amount of space available for them to execute larger movements such as leaps. 

For Myers’ in-person courses, she has noticed a few challenges. She stated that “Of course, there are always challenges when using a space in a different way, or adapting to a new way of teaching, especially if you have been doing it one particular way for a while.” Initially, there was a challenge with wearing a mask through the physical rigor of a dance course, but Myers stated that you eventually get used to it. Having to shift material to fit into socially distanced boxes and lines (taped on the floor) has also raised unique challenges within the course. With these new boundaries, Myers has had to amend some of her material and the way she teaches it. Students have also had to adapt how they learn to these constraints. 

This semester will be Myers’s first full semester teaching online, following the quick transition to virtual learning in March. In the spring, Myers presented more asynchronous material due to the limited time to adapt a movement course to an online format. After having the summer to fully plan and adjust course material, most of her class meetings are now synchronous. She has noticed that through continued use, her Canvas* skills have improved, and she has added new methods for assessing students’ progress in her courses. 

While the adjustment to new teaching and learning formats has been a challenge at times, Myers and her students are working diligently to adapt. When asked how she felt her students are ultimately adjusting to these new formats she commented: “The students have been awesome! They have adapted with, it would seem, no [major] problems!”

*Canvas is an online learning management tool.

Emory Dance Company Choreographer Lori Teague

Photo from Teague's Fall 2019 EDC piece the optimistic body.

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

This fall, Emory Dance faculty member Lori Teague will set a series of site-specific works on the Emory Dance Company. Her first work in the series is “capacity,” which is inspired by current protests. Teague wants to shed a light on the many people who are “...fiercely standing their ground, walking in solidarity, and all of us who are expecting results.”  The pieces in the series following “capacity” will capture qualities of beauty and whims, which are two things Teague believes are needed at the moment.

 

Teague approaches the choreographic process by creating core material that is explored both in rehearsal and by the dancers during a performance. She creates a structure that allows the performers to know the intention and general structure of the piece well, while still allowing space for improvised movements. In the group’s rehearsal process, they discuss topics such as the protests, then explore the meanings of their gestures and actions that emerge from their conversation. These movements are then shaped, refined, and moved into performance mode. Rehearsals take place in the dance studio and at the performance sites. 

 

Teague describes the rehearsal process as follows: “In a recent rehearsal, on the road between the hospital and Candler Library, the dancers felt the power of stillness, the challenge of dancing on an incline and a hard surface, the heat, and more. We are bringing these things into the creative process and allowing them to influence the performance.”

 

The pandemic has impacted Teague’s decision to present works over the course of the semester rather than waiting until November, when the Emory Dance Company normally performs. Social distance influenced her piece's movement elements such as spatial composition and interaction between dancers. However, Teague has discovered that this is not so much a restriction, but a chance to discover creative ways to communicate something important to the audience. Through solos, duets, and trios, Teague is striving to “...capture the compartmentalized way we have had to quarantine and mask our bodies.”

Teague has a few things that she would like for her dancers to take away from this process. She wants them to begin to discover the potential of spaces outside of a traditional theater. By relating to these spaces intentionally, instead of randomly, this can strengthen works. She also wants them to know that “We can bring art to the people sometimes!”

 

Once the pandemic subsides, Teague believes that there may be more site-specific pieces due to how the Atlanta dance community has adapted to this format. She notes that although many festivals and performances were shut down in the spring, dance companies came back and discovered new ways to present their works by taking to the streets, parking decks, backyards, and open-air venues. As Teague put it, “If there is a will, there is a way.”

New Spring Faculty Member Nicole Johnson Interview

By Raven Crosby, Emory Dance Program Office Assistant

Nicole Johnson is a professional dancer and choreographer based in Atlanta. She is a founding member of the Fly on a Wall dance group, and is also teaching Modern III/IV for the Emory Dance Program this spring. Johnson began her training at a small dance school and then started studying ballet seriously with the Atlanta Ballet at around the age of ten. Johnson has also trained in jazz, contemporary, and musical theater. Since Johnson was so versatile in her early training, she describes a common perception about herself as follows: “At the Atlanta ballet they thought I was the musical theatre student, but when I would go and train in all these other styles they would say ‘Oh, the ballerina is here,’ so I always felt conflicted between these two worlds.” Johnson danced for the Atlanta Ballet for six seasons; during this time, Johnson would attend outside classes in Forsyth, Gaga, and other techniques, which deepened her exposure to the world of contemporary dance. 

Johnson knew that she wanted to be a dancer from a young age and possibly become an instructor. In addition, Johnson had always been interested in choreographing, but was waiting on “her voice” to allow her to express what she wanted the audience to feel. This big break occurred when she ran into a former student of hers who asked “When are you going to start creating your own works?” This encouraged Nicole to take a leap to find her choreographic voice. Nicole stated “I think I am still on that journey of finding out what I want to say but am slowly finding it by starting to do it.” 

Johnson’s choreographic process consists of collaboration between people she trusts and who are inspiring and creative. She pursues ideas that are experimental for dance and theater. As a choreographer she values digging deeper into movement and presenting movement that is varied, aimed at different textures, qualities, ranges, and levels. She says “I am greedy. I want all of it. I want to find the softness, the explosion, the sentimental, the dry, I want to try and find all of it.” Johnson also wants her pieces to connect with viewers on an emotional level and express her feelings through the dancers’ movements. When choreographing, she always leaves space for the audience to create their own interpretation of the work, even though they may see a different meaning than the one Johnson strived to present. 

Johnson is very involved in the Atlanta dance community. She is currently creating a new work with Fly on a Wall colleague Jimmy Joyner based on childhood memories. Johnson stated “I find things to still be very centered in a man's approach to art making and what is considered to be acceptable. I am diving into hyper feminine things and seeing what the shadow side of them is and how they are empowering.” This piece will debut in 2021. 

When asked what advice she has for students who want to perform dance at a professional level, she says “Keep taking class because there is not a point in which you learn it all. It is a practice and you are constantly growing, evolving, and adding new tools and rediscovering your body. Because your body keeps changing, your heart keeps changing, so there's always something new to find.” 

This spring, Johnson is teaching Modern III/IV for the Emory Dance Program. Her students are working on concepts such as energetic patterns, layering levels of activity, and being introduced to tools that can be easily accessible while moving. Johnson described her teaching experiences as follows: “So far I have really enjoyed teaching my class at Emory. It is really quite a nice treat to stick with the same group of students for a long period of time. I find so often that I am doing master classes or teaching adult classes for professionals, but getting to dive in with the same group and present a series of ideas and be able to stay inside of an idea longer is something I am really enjoying so far.”