Emory Dance Company Choreographer: Ilo E.

 

Photo by Lori Teague

The Spring 2024 Emory Dance Company Concert on April 18-20 features new work by students in our Choreography II course. Read about choreographer Ilo E.'s work and process below!

Excitingly, I am exploring several concepts in my piece. Primarily, I am working with themes of oppression, resistance, and liberation. In terms of oppression, I’ve been exploring the concept of linear time (past, present, future) and its relation to progress in western ideology. In regard to resistance, I’ve been exploring binaries such as abnormal/normal, performer/audience, and mind/body in order to understand both how White supremacy uses these to “other” and oppress marginalized identities and how these same identities use their cultural sensibilities to resist such oppression. My work uses the Afro-centric forms West African dance, Afro-Caribbean dance, Hip-Hop, and House to ground these narratives and foster a liberated community.

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Creating a space for my fellow BIPOC dancers to explore and practice cultural forms that they would otherwise not have consistent access to, has been a fulfilling experience. My choreographic process has been a mixture of discussion, movement generation, and learning foundational techniques that later show up in choreographed material.

I hope the several textures, images, and ideas of the work encourage the audience to witness the piece. To witness means to take in a subject(s) through all of the senses and respond in the moment through them as well. This may take the form of clapping, stomping, oral sound, or even moving! Moreover, those witnessing are encouraged to let go of categorizing said subjects and instead, let their offering write/rewrite their identity in that moment.  

Thank you Ilo! Tickets for the Emory Dance Company Spring 2024 Concert are on sale now. Click here to purchase them now!