Emory Dance Company Spring 2015: Inside the Choreographer's Mind

Emory Dance has returned from Spring Break and is back in the rehearsal process! While we are glad that all of our dancers and choreographers were able to get some rest, we are so thrilled to have them all back in the studio and moving.

Let's find out what our next choreographer has been working on this semester and learn about what has inspired them!

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Lauren Lindeen

Photo Credit: Lori Teague

Junior

Dance & Movement Studies and Psychology Double Major

This semester, I began my movement research by exploring the different aspects surrounding human connectivity through movement- What creates distance/closeness? Why do some relationships blossom while others falter? I think that communication is one of the largest factors that influences human relationships, so I began my process by asking my dancers to explore communication and connect/disconnect within their own lives.

One of the first choreographic methods I employed was asking my dancers to create two phrases centered around the idea of communication. The first task was to create a phrase expressing “what they would say to the world at large”. A few weeks later, I asked them to compose a phrase embodying “what they would like to say to an individual”. As I began to incorporate my dancers’ source work into my own phrase material, I noticed a distinct difference between the two tasks. While the “world at large” phrases felt very open and outwardly directed, the “individual” phrases reflected a level of deeper intimacy and introversion.

Noticing this difference lead me to reflect on the difference between interpersonal and “extrapersonal” relationships and how these identities affect the self. Is the individual defined by internal or external factors? The abstract or concrete? What exactly causes the disconnect between who we are and what we are? What forms the barrier between what we say and what others hear? Bearing these questions in mind, I seek to explore “the space between” human connectivity through movement from both a macroscopic and a microscopic perspective of human relationships.
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Don't miss the Emory Dance Company Spring Concert! Click here for more details. For more information on the Emory Dance Program, please go to our website or check out our Facebook page.