Emory Dance Company Choreographer Merryn McKeough

My name is Merryn McKeough, and I am a junior from Wilmette, Illinois double majoring in psychology and dance and movement studies.

My EDC rehearsal process began by asking my cast when they felt most competitive. Their answers, ranging from sports, Jeopardy games, and situations where they compete to care the least, are a major source of inspiration for this work. I am interested in what drives competition and how it impacts interpersonal relationships. Much of the movement vocabulary is abstracted from athletics, combining a muscular physicality with moments of vulnerability.

I deeply respect and admire my cast. It is important to me that their artistic voices are incorporated into the final piece. Throughout the process, I try to give them opportunities to create movement, alter movement I have created, and suggest any ideas that they have. I also choreograph phrases based on their answers to the “question of the day” which we begin each rehearsal. The rehearsals usually include a mixture of movement generation exercises and learning set material. One of my favorite generation activities was inspired by victory dances; after watching compilations of football players’ touchdown dances, my cast created their own celebratory movement.

Because I think the ideas that I am working with are funny, I hope the audience can watch my commentary on competition and experience the humor that I see in it. Though the work explores my personal view of competition, I would also like the audience to walk away with their own reflective questions. Why do we compete? What do we gain from competition? What do we lose? What impact does inter- and intra-group competition have on team dynamics? I’m not setting out to answer any of these questions, but rather to ask them and suggest potential approaches to investigating them.