Emory Dance Company: Musical Inspiration

 

We are excited to include a jazz piece in this fall's Emory Dance Company concert, choreographed by Emory Dance jazz instructor Tara Shepard Myers. Read on for a little background on Tara's piece and her process. 

See this new work when Emory Dance Company performs November 17-19, 2022. For concert tickets call 404-727-5050 or visit https://tickets.arts.emory.edu/2223edcfall.

Divorced…Beheaded…Survived…when I first heard this line in the Broadway musical SIX, it immediately drew me in and made me want to know more.  A musical about the six wives of King Henry VIII was a somewhat unorthodox place to start thinking about my next EDC piece, until I began to learn more about these women, what they went through, and how smart and mentally tough they had to be.

 

I am a choreographer who enjoys starting with a musical idea and then fleshing out the movement and theme of the dance. The musicals SIX and Chicago are two very different stories told from the female perspective which led me to think and investigate women and how we are perceived in pop culture, in social situations, in work, and in family, and how mentally and physically strong we have to be to deal with all these things.

 

MOXIE, the title of this work, represents many of the attributes necessary to really thrive as feminists in the past, present, and future.  Moxie is full of movement that represents the fun, flirtatious, aggressive, strong, and athletic sides of women with no apology.

Emory Dance Company: Guest Artist Lyrric Jackson

Emory Dance Company guest artist Lyrric Jackson is a choreographer and multidisciplinary visual artist. Her work extends across art media via collaborative projects and special events on a global scale. She is currently researching the visceral personal principles of freedom, renewal, and change. Her choreographic work is grounded in contemplative practices and structured improvisation through the contemporary modern dance lens, and inspired by in-depth anthropological and sociological explorations. 

"command[ME]N(o)t: An Effort to Understand & Surrender Everything" is a love letter to the lives lost and affected by sexual abuse, violence, and assault. After visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial and convening with the spirits of those that lost their lives, specifically the women and children, to sexual violence and genocide, I became focused on seeking answers to the human condition. Why do we? How could we? When will we stop? This work is a means of healing from the epiphanies that have arisen in acknowledgment of the universality of violence against women and children globally. The overall process of this work has been one of openness with the dance artists and attempting to be as honest, transparent, and vulnerable as I can possibly be through actionable memory recall. See a video preview of this work below.

Emory Dance Company performs November 17-19, 2022. For concert tickets call 404-727-5050 or visit https://tickets.arts.emory.edu/2223edcfall.

L. Jackson EDC Rehearsal 2022.mov from Emory Dance Program on Vimeo.