Gearing Up For EDC: A Few Words From Our Choreographers (Part 5)

It all comes down to this: an entire semester's worth of work into 4 performances.  As we prepare to launch into tech week, the Emory Dance Company choreographers (students of the Choreography II class) have each written a few words about their inspiration, their choreographic process, and the development of their works.

Lauren Kaplan, Senior

As a second-time choreographer, I had to take a more independent approach and draw on everything I learned in Choreography II class last year. As one half of the “Choreographic Laboratory” course, I didn’t have class time to experiment with my peers or receive coaching from an instructor. Instead, I just met with my (endlessly talented) dancers two times each week and shaped my piece with little (but enough!) guidance from others.

This time, I depended on my dancers for support, input and focus whenever we met in the studio; if not for them, there would not have been a choreographic process to speak of. It amazes me how well these dancers can transform a movement phrase into a one-of-a-kind solo and how they can internalize and embody an idea in a way I never thought was possible.

Using my dancers’ expertise and openness, I was able to shape a piece that stayed true to my original ideas/goals, while letting it become something of its own beast. We began with several movement phrases and used them to develop unique, but related, solos, duets and trios. My dancers helped me generate more material than I knew what to do with. Eventually, I fleshed out the most important pieces and wove them together to form a cohesive piece. It was the air of chaos that pervaded my rehearsals (or just my own head) that led to the most illuminating “ah-ha!” moments. Trial and error became the name of my game as I built the bare bones of a piece within the first few weeks of rehearsal, only to take the subsequent three months to edit parts, delete others, rework most things, and enhance it all. It’s been an enjoyable and eye-opening experience, albeit tedious at times.

My hope is that audience members will approach the ideas in my piece in the same way my dancers and I have approached the choreographic process: with openness, creativity, mindfulness, passion and, of course, with a sense of humor.

I look forward to watching my work develop through tech week to see what else I can learn about it, and to see what my dancers can discover in it too. Surely, the choreographic process continues well into show week, because each time the dancers perform, it will be different. If there’s anything I’ve learned about creating a dance piece, it’s that there is always more to find in our work and movement. It’s become clear that the choreographic process endures long after the curtains close.

Thanks, Lauren!

Don't miss the Emory Dance Company Spring Showcase, Tabula Rasa.  Click here for more details.

For more information on the Emory Dance Program, please go to our website.

Gearing Up For EDC: A Few Words From Our Choreographers (Part 4)

It all comes down to this: an entire semester's worth of work into 4 performances.  As we prepare to launch into tech week, the EDC choreographers (students of the Choreography II class) have each written a few words about their inspiration, their choreographic process, and the development of their works.


Andre Lumpkin, Senior
 
The title of my piece is Ordeal of Ideals. I felt this was appropriate not only because of the context of the piece itself, but also its developmental process. Though this was not my first time choreographing, it was my first experience with Emory Dance Company and an abundance of resources, such as production and technical elements. However, my dancers had the most influence on my creative process. With a large cast of twelve beautiful dancers, all who possessed different technical backgrounds, body types, movement affinities, and personalities, I contemplated day in and day out about how to connect my dancers to one another and create an ensemble. 

As I was researching, I came across a TED Talk by Brene Brown titled the “Power of Vulnerability”. TED, Technology, Entertainment and Design, is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. They ask prominent scholars to speak about a number of different social and humanitarian issues.  Brown wanted to research, simply, the connections between people. What she found was that vulnerability had an important role in the establishment of these connections. I realized that the idea of vulnerability is amplified for performers. Performers are put in a position where they have any number of people observing every word and action they make. Furthermore, as dancers we are challenged with the task of communicating with our audience through mostly movement. Despite the different technical elements that can be utilized to relay an idea or message, a performer must embrace vulnerability; open up and invite others in.

This task is easier said than done. A person must first be able to be vulnerable with themself, recognizing their strengths, weaknesses, habits and personal perspective.  Most often, evaluating ourselves is more difficult than passing judgment on others.  I’ve learned so much more about myself as well as the power of communication within dance through this choreographic process.  My dancers and I invite the audience to follow us on this journey, hopefully connecting us all in the end.

Thanks, Andre!

Don't miss the Emory Dance Company Spring Showcase, Tabula Rasa.  Click here for more details.

For more information on the Emory Dance Program, please go to our website.

 

Gearing Up for EDC: A Few Words From Our Choreographers (Part 3)

It all comes down to this: an entire semester's worth of work into 4 performances.  As we prepare to launch into tech week, the Emory Dance Company choreographers (students of the Choreography II class) have each written a few words about their inspiration, their choreographic process, and the development of their works.

Courtesy of ViVi Photography

Heidi Liu, Senior

My choreographic process began with a single concept when I discovered an article detailing a place off the Alaskan coastline where two seas of different densities collide, bodies of water lying adjacent to each other but unable to join.  This eternal dichotomy struck me as fascinating and perhaps a bit tragic as well.  From there, I began to experiment with how different movement styles and, certainly, different dancers can share space, time, and soundscape but be inextricably separate.

Courtesy of http://kuwaitiful.com/category/photos/page/2/

My movement style is full-bodied and places a heavy emphasis on technique.  Building upon that, I encouraged my dancers to test the limits of their performance habits.  The making of my piece, appropriately titled “Seas of Different Densities”, allowed my dancers a lot of room to create their own variations of a core phrase that I taught them.  The process has been one dependent on collaboration between my cast and me.  Their willingness to challenge the choreography I gave them as well as make drastic changes at half a moment’s notice has allowed me to gradually realize the full potential of my movement.

The dancing in my piece is inspired by water.  It knows the fluidity with which a body of water moves within itself, beyond itself.  It understands the patience of the Pacific Ocean but also the overwhelming power of the sea.  Though accredited as the choreographer of the piece, I sincerely feel that my dancers played just as prominent a role in the making of this dance as I did.  Their input and unique perspectives on my movement has allowed my work to transcend something that I can contain alone.  Rather, this piece has become a joining of many different seas, perhaps of different densities.  Together but separate, it embodies the spirit of that magical place off the Alaskan coast where two seas of different densities collide.

Thanks, Heidi!

Don't miss the Emory Dance Company Spring Showcase, Tabula Rasa.  Click here for more details.

For more information on the Emory Dance Program, please go to our website.

Gearing Up For EDC: A Few Words From Our Choreographers (Part 2)

It all comes down to this: an entire semester's worth of work into 4 performances.  As we prepare to launch into tech week, the Emory Dance Company choreographers (students of the Choreography II class) have each written a few words about their inspiration, their choreographic process, and the development of their works.


Kayla Davis, Senior
  
I started rehearsal with this note to my dancers: 

Dear Lovely Cast, 

Today we are going to try a little experiment, after check-in, nobody is going to talk. It will be a challenge but it will require us to tune into each other more. After being without my voice for four days, I’ve learned so much about myself and how I connect to others. If you must talk use the white board. 

My message was greeted with shocked faces but everyone accepted the challenge and fully committed themselves to having a new experience. When we all turned off our voices we were forced to be more focused in to feel each other more. This really helped my dancers find something new in my choreography. They became a collective group. They will probably never experience a rehearsal like that ever again because it is quite inefficient. But it was really quite beautiful to watch them connect in new way, in a new moment, that only they will share.

Through my choreographic process, I’ve been deepening my understanding of the beauty behind the impermanent things in life. Really everything in life is impermanent. You may think, well if nothing lasts then what’s the point of doing anything? However that logic is reversed, it’s because nothing lasts that there is value in doing everything.

Thanks, Kayla!

Don't miss the Emory Dance Company Spring Showcase, Tabula Rasa.  Click here for more details.

For more information on the Emory Dance Program, please go to our website.

  

Gearing Up for EDC: A Few Words From Our Choreographers (Part 1)

It all comes down to this: an entire semester's worth of work into 4 performances.  As we prepare to launch into tech week, the Emory Dance Company choreographers (students of the Choreography II class) have each written a few words about their inspiration, their choreographic process, and the development of their works. 

Courtesy of Lori Teague

Julio Medina, Senior

My working title is “Stay Real” and it was inspired by my research through the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship.  I am researching hip-hop vernacular dance on the concert stage. I explore themes of authenticity and appropriation through interviews with choreographers Kyle Abraham, Victor Quijada, and Rennie Harris.  I question, what happens when a street dance form is danced in a formal setting?  Is the movement restrictive or liberating?  Does it become a fusion with modern or ballet techniques, or can the vernacular live as its own entity on stage?  All of these questions surround my research and are the foundation of my work.

“Stay Real” addresses other concerns within the hip-hop community however, issues and themes I encountered during my research. For example, the theme of authenticity: whom does hip-hop belong to? Another issue is the current financial narrative of hip-hop music and the negative consequences it can have on youth, the black community, and hip-hop music itself.

I began with generating movement phrases in each of the street dance forms that fall under the Hip-Hop Dance Umbrella: breaking, popping, locking, whacking, Voguing, Krumping, and hip-hop studio.  Once I had the movement material, I started playing with composition to create structure, develop relationships on stage, and ultimately communicate something. In addition, my musical choices also play key roles in creating the right atmosphere for the movement.

Some say that choreography is all about the process. I agree, but choreography and composition are important because of the final product they yield. In the end, I hope my choreographic process will produce a great piece. So far so good.

Thanks, Julio! 

On April 12th Medina hosted an exciting lecture-demonstration, "Keeping It Real?"!  "Keeping it Real?" was the culmination of Medina's Fellowship work, an exploration of hip-hop on the concert stage.

Don't miss the Emory Dance Company Spring Showcase, Tabula Rasa.  Click here for more details.

For more information on the Emory Dance Program, please go to our website.