Honors Thesis Student Merryn McKeough Explores Video Games in her piece "Play Meter"

Photo by Lori Teague

By Raven Crosby, Office Assistant 

Merryn McKeough is taking an excerpt of her honors thesis in dance and movement studies to the American College Dance Association Southeast Conference at Florida State University. This is McKeough’s first time attending the festival and she is excited to take a variety of classes, try new techniques and improvisational scores, and present her work for the first time to a larger audience. Her piece draws on the movement vocabulary and culture of video games. She is examining themes of motivation, competition, fun, and relationships with technology and media. “I’m especially interested in how investment in projected versions of the self can foster experiences that are fun and enjoyable because of the experiences themselves, regardless of outcome.”

During rehearsals, McKeough is exploring the piece’s themes through set choreography, improvisation, group discussion, and movement generation. “Many of the movement generation activities I do in rehearsal are based in game structures.” Collaboration and having fun are two important concepts to set the overall tone of her piece. She often asks her cast to experiment with her in a loosely defined movement idea to establish choreography. To set a work that looks at how people find and experience fun, she believes that her cast must essentially find joy in the movement they are performing.

Photo by Lori Teague

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The music and costuming are currently a work is progress. Until her music is set, McKeough choreographs either in silence, to music that aligns with the tone of the movement, or to her current favorite songs playing faintly in the background. As for costuming, McKeough is excited to integrate this element into her piece. “I love imagining the dancers in costume and finding fun ways for clothing to contribute to the experience of the piece, so I start thinking about costuming fairly early.”