Meet the Choreographers-Megan, Brittany, and Joey
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| Photo: Bill Rowe |
Can you share
with our readers any concepts, ideas, or images you are exploring in your
piece?
I am exploring the ideas of
anxiety and empowerment and the relationship between those two experiences; how
do those experiences relate to each other? I don't think one can exist without
the other in some capacity, and so I'm interested in the interplay between
them.
What are some
choreographic strategies you use during a typical rehearsal?
Typically I am someone who
finds a piece of music, maps out an entire dance to that song, and then works
chronologically through a dance. However, this process has been much different.
I tried to come up with movement phrases that embodied the different aspects
I'm exploring, then I tried to create a dance from there. Each week I
would try to choreograph a new phrase to add to my movement vocabulary. I would
experiment with different formations or variations of the movement with my cast
in order to gather ideas for what I want the finished piece to look like. These
experiments were a really good way to explore the different relationships that
can exist between the ideas of anxiety and empowerment.
How has this
creative process helped you grow as an individual and an artist?
This creative process has
been really difficult for me because I have had to think outside of the way I
am accustomed to. I had to find new ways to work so that I could create what I
wanted. I have discovered new strategies for coming up with movement, and I now
have a greater understanding of all the different ways that I can explore my
ideas. I've found growth because I am not limiting myself to only work in one
specific way anymore; I have expanded my creative horizons and given myself so
many other opportunities to create art in ways that I never would have thought
I could do before. This also translates into my growth as an individual. I
am typically a logical thinker when I plan dances or other events in my life-everything
must be straightforward and thought out before hand. Working on this piece
has given me the freedom to create instead of having to fit the picture to what
I have created in my head (which was absolutely terrifying at first!). Now, not
only do I have new ways of thinking artistically, but also I can use this way
of thinking in my everyday life, and not worry so much about if everything is
going according to plan.
What do you
hope the audience gains from viewing your work?
I hope the audience can
relate to this dance through their own lens of personal experiences with one or
both of my main concepts. I want them to find a deeper understanding of
how having anxiety but also being confident and empowered is totally normal. I
want them to know that anxiety and empowerment are not two separate ideas but
actually rely on each other to function and often battle for our attention;
that it is possible to live in both of these realities, you don't have to be
just one or the other.
Brittany
Osborn (Junior)
Can you share with our readers any concepts,
ideas, or images you are exploring in your piece?
Imagine being a child again and hearing yelling, slamming
doors, and sirens everyday. Along with having your family ripped away from you,
not just once, but multiple times. The
mental state you’d be in after this is unbelievable. Your trust is gone, you
don’t believe in anyone loving you, and your confidence goes down. This is what
many children experience when they go through foster care. This is the base
idea I explore in my piece.
What experiences in your life inspire
you and how do you bring that inspiration into your creative process?
My past is a huge inspiration to my dancing. I’ve always
heard your past is what defines you; I am a strong believer in that not being
true. My life didn’t start off the way it should have, but that does not define
who I am today. Dancing has always been a way for me to overcome all these
things, and still grow into the person you want to be. For me, dance is all
about being the person you deserve to be.
How has this creative process helped
you grow as an individual and an artist?
I have been waiting for the day that I could make a dance to
share with an audience about my life. Now that I have created this dance I feel
relief and a sense of ease. I have gained more confidence from making this
dance because I had to be very vulnerable to use this concept and to share it
with many people.
What do you hope the audience gains
from viewing your work?
I hope that everyone who watches my piece understands how
hard it is to feel unloved. I want people to be more aware of what happens in
foster homes when the “parents” are only fostering children for the money.
Abuse and neglect happen very often, and this is something more people should
be aware of. The children in these situations have so many emotions, and feel
like they are all alone.
Can you share
with our readers any concepts, ideas, or images you are exploring in your
piece? The beauty of the piano has been the inspiration for my 2017 afterimages piece. The piece, titled strike, uses the inner mechanics of the piano to explore concepts relating to the beauty of an individual and the power of a group. How does an individual find the group that works for them, and what happens when personalities clash? These are the concepts I explore throughout the piece.
What
experiences in your life inspire you and how do you bring that inspiration into
your creative process?
I
have always found complex sound of a piano breathtakingly beautiful. It is
incredible to me that one instrument, made up of hammers that strike strings,
can create any style of sound imaginable. I have had the incredible opportunity
to collaborate with Music Education Major Steven Calgaro, who has written an
original score for the piece and is performing it live alongside my wonderful cast.
What are some
choreographic strategies you use during a typical rehearsal?
One
aspect of Strike, which has caused me to explore some new choreographic
strategies, is that each individual dancer represents a specific tone in the
composition. Due to this we had to assist the dancers in understanding the
personalities of each tone, to do this we assigned each dancer their note based
on their personality. From there I used a combination of improvisation and
repetition to help each dancer understand their individual movement qualities.
At one point I gave each dancer a similar movement, and they were required to
move in such a way that their note personality could still be seen.
What do you
hope the audience gains from viewing your work?
I
wish for the audience to look at the professional and interpersonal
relationships in their lives in a new way, to understand how their choices and
actions influence those around them, and to strive to look at the world through
someone else’s perspective.
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