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."