Student Dominique Jones attends staibdance in Italy

Senior human health and dance double major Dominique Jones received a Sally A. Radell Friends of Dance Scholarship to attend the staibdance Summer Intensive in Italy this past July. Read on for a reflection on her experience. 

Upon arriving in Sant’Agata, I could feel that the journey I would go on at the staibdance intensive was one that I had never come close to experiencing in my dance career. The first night there, I was enthralled with the other dancers in the program. In the past, several Atlanta dancers had caught my eye, and I was excited to share class with them and learn from them. My heart was full when I shared a room with my classmate Pia and Emory alumni Hayden and Henry, whom I had missed so much. The people and teachers within the program helped propel my creativity and exploration. 

Throughout the two weeks, I was inundated with new movement styles. In the first three days of learning acrobatic dance and countertechnique, I learned how to throw myself headfirst into the space in a way that I have not given myself the grace to before. I sweat more than I ever have, but I felt so fulfilled. I formed a deeper connection with my body and its physicality as I pushed myself to achieve the planks, inversions, and counterbalance against the Italian heat. Bringing intention to my anatomy, musculature, spine, and brain has become a priority for myself and my practice as I continue dancing at Emory and beyond. 

The greatest impact on my practice was improvisation. I started improv in modern dance as a child in my ballet studio, and it often occupied the last fifteen minutes of my once-a-week class. Improv never had a deep emotional attachment and never felt fully ingrained in my body; the prompts were nothing like what I experienced this summer. I was introduced to wonderful teachers from the staibdance company who turned what I knew about improvisation on its head. On the first day of the program, we began Anna's class by lying on the floor. Then we began to hum and grow that hum into a scream for seven minutes. As I laid on the ground and screamed, it felt like something connected in my brain and soul. I had never done anything like that in my life. I proceeded to embody exercises where I stared into strangers' eyes, slow danced with my classmates, surrendered myself and my weight to my friends, and became comfortable dancing with and for myself. I also learned to tap into and experience my emotions as I danced. I practiced many improv prompts that were designed for deep explorations of self, helping me feel emotions I had not felt before. One day we attempted to dance from one side of the room to the other; the wall we started on represented birth, and the wall we ended on death. We were in charge of embodying the ages between them. It was a transforming experience to not only watch the lifecycle of my classmates but to dance as myself at each stage of my life, and imagine who I will become past the age of twenty-one. I learned so much about myself in the staibdance improv and movement generation classes. 

I will take a lot of lessons back with me for my last year at Emory. Had I never gone to this intensive, I would have never experienced these fantastic practices around movement. In my own practice, I want to start doing private improvisational scores. I feel that there is an untapped exploration in private improv practices that will add value to every part of my life. I will continue to dance no matter what setting I am in. As I continue to pursue a career in medicine, this intensive reminded me to keep dance as a part of my study routine. It connects me with my body and mind and clears my head, and the complexities of the art form intrigue me; therefore its loss from my life would be devastating. I am incredibly grateful for the Friends of Dance Scholarship for making my summer intensive dream a reality and I cannot wait to implement all that I have learned into my life in the coming year.

Thank you for sharing this reflection Dominique! Click here to learn more about The Friends of Dance at Emory.

Student Madison Lee attends Bates Dance Festival

Senior dance and business double major Madison Lee received a Sally A. Radell Friends of Dance Scholarship to attend the Bates Dance Festival this past July. Read on for a reflection on their experience.

Photos courtesy of Shannel J. Resto

Looking back at my time at Bates Dance Festival (BDF), I feel a deep sense of gratitude towards the staff, the faculty, the other dancers, and Emory Friends of Dance for making it possible for me to attend. It was cathartic to leave Atlanta behind for a week and dance with people I didn’t know. I never once felt a sense of competitiveness at Bates, just support and enjoyment.

There was one class that I was really excited for and hoped would be helpful in my thesis project, and it was Alex Springer and Xan Burley’s composition course. I learned a lot through their class, and I plan to use some of their movement generation exercises in rehearsals for my upcoming thesis rehearsals. For example, we spent a lot of time improvising on the first day of class before making any phrasework, and it really helped me distill my movement style into phrase. Improvising for an extended period of time forces you to discover your movement patterns, movements you like and don’t like, as well as new movements you wouldn’t normally try. We also explored making duets, trios, and ensembles, and we made a site-specific works on the BDF campus.

I also took Hip Hop and Countertechnique courses. A large part of my dance background is in Hip Hop, so it was nice to go back to my roots and learn choreography that had a large amount of historical moves. Our teacher Duane Lee Holland ensured that we had well-rounded and spreadable knowledge; at the end of every class, he would go through every step in the combination and tell us the name and the origin of the step. As someone who has spent time training and learning about the history of Hip Hop, I think it is so important to maintain the culture and stories of the dances, especially for those who have taken classes but haven’t necessarily learned the background knowledge. Countertechnique was very challenging, especially because I had never done it before attending Bates. We utilized momentum and weight shifting to travel across the floor and find points of balance before falling again.

I had never done a dance intensive before, especially at the collegiate/professional level, so I tried not to have expectations going in. I highly enjoyed my time at Bates… and hope that my takeaways show up in my future work.

Thank you for sharing this reflection Madison! Click here to learn more about The Friends of Dance at Emory.

Student Pia Lopez-Morton attends staibdance intensive in Italy

Junior dance and business double major Pia Lopez-Morton received a Sally A. Radell Friends of Dance Scholarship to attend the staibdance Summer Intensive in Italy this past July. Read on for a reflection on her experience.

There are few moments in one’s life when you realize that what you are doing, where you are, or who you are with will make a significant change in your life, or rather, that it has changed your life. This past summer at the staibdance summer intensive was one of those moments, and I could not have experienced it without Emory Friends of Dance. While I knew it would be a wonderful experience when I applied, I underestimated the greatness of the classes, faculty, location, how close I would get with the other dancers, and how much fun the final performance would be.

For two weeks, we had four classes every day, and each class was in a different style or technique. I have pages of notes for myself on new prompts and exercises that I found useful and what I learned from them. Our faculty for the first week included two talented dancers from staibdance, who asked us to get in touch with each other and our emotions on a deeper level than I previously thought possible. Another faculty member was Oliver Robertson, a dancer with J. Wilton Dance Company, who was not only great at teaching us new “tricks” and giving us challenging repertoire, but was immensely talented himself. We also learned from Elita Cannata, a beautiful and swift dancer from Italy, who taught us Countertechnique which is based on the principle of having a problem-solving toolbox for the mind and body. 

Near the end of the program, we learned material from past works by George Staib, and learned to adapt and change them. On the final evening, we performed in Sant’Agata, for the local community in the open air in front of a church. It all came together. The performance not only looked and felt great, but the public loved it and ended up joining us at the end just dancing with the music and the lights. It was a great ending to all the dancing and hard work we put in. The professors absolutely made this program what it is, not one was like the other, and each one was exceptional.

Waking up every morning and seeing the ocean and mountains right outside our balcony was another privilege that this intensive gifted us. We stayed in the town of Sant’Agata, where we would walk its streets every other day to get to the studio, grab food and explore. By the end of the intensive, not only did several locals take us under their wings and teach us the helpful words in Italian, but we also became friends with the owners and workers in the area. It felt like our home away from home. 

On one of our free days during the intensive, I had the opportunity to see Cyrano at the Ballet in Naples, Teatro San Carlo. As we sat in our box seats, I looked around the magnificent gold and red theatre and the artwork on the ceiling. It felt like a dream come true, as I have loved and dreamed of ballet since my youth. I know everyone who was part of the intensive was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be exposed to something so new and refreshing. Having the ability to be among the Italy locals and the magnificent historical art was completely enriching.

We became a family at the end of the two weeks, all 50 attendees and the faculty. Because everyone came together from dancing around the world, there was a plethora of new material and creativity that is difficult to experience otherwise. 

Thank you for sharing this reflection Pia! Click here to learn more about The Friends of Dance at Emory.