I finally got access to my senior project video and thought it would be fun to share on my blog because it was something that I, not to mention my beautiful dancers, put a LOT of time and effort into! Going into this project I was over the moon nervous about it. I had never choreographed anything so long or significant and I usually hated any sort of choreography that I ever came up with. But I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the whole thing was! I'll be honest, if I hadn't had the dancers that I did, it would have been a lot harder. The creative process has never been so fun for me. The way that we created this piece went something like this...
I would come to rehearsal prepared with about 16 counts of choreography and I would start out by teaching the dancers the movement. I would then just play some music and have them improvise with the sequence they had just learned. It was a guided improvisational activity because while they were playing with the movement, I would ask questions to prompt them to explore different ways they could change the sequence. Some of the questions I would ask include: Can you change up the speed of the movement by going really fast or really slow? Try facing a different direction or changing directions while moving. Could you try to do the movement upside down? Or with a different body part? Freeze! And reverse what you just did (this was one of my favorites because it always brought about such interesting results!). While the dancers were improvising, I would take note of things that they did that I liked or looked good. Often I would yell out, "Tessa, I liked what you just did! Remember that!" haha! Then a lot of rehearsal time was spent with me piecing together 'the puzzle.' We had a lot of movement and a lot of improvisationally (is that even a word?) generated material and I would basically stand on a chair at the front of the studio and point to the dancers and say, "Callie, go over there and start with this sequence. And then Danielle, you go over there and try to make this part of the other sequence happen at the same time that Callie is doing this part of her sequence." Confusing right? Ya. That's why I'm SO grateful for my talented dancers. They were always patient with me and willing to voice their opinions and give me ideas to help me make my senior project something to be proud of.
Now for a little background on what my dance was about. At this point in my college career I was SO sick of trying to figure out the meaning behind every last movement, every flick of the hand, every step, every breath, etc. So I wanted my project to be something simple. Something where the dancers just danced because it felt good to move and to perform, and where the audience just got to watch it because it was beautiful to watch. Also, it's a little long (8 minutes... I would have been ok with it being like 4, but rules are rules). You've been warned. So, without further ado...... Here is my piece, "For Movement's Sake."
I would come to rehearsal prepared with about 16 counts of choreography and I would start out by teaching the dancers the movement. I would then just play some music and have them improvise with the sequence they had just learned. It was a guided improvisational activity because while they were playing with the movement, I would ask questions to prompt them to explore different ways they could change the sequence. Some of the questions I would ask include: Can you change up the speed of the movement by going really fast or really slow? Try facing a different direction or changing directions while moving. Could you try to do the movement upside down? Or with a different body part? Freeze! And reverse what you just did (this was one of my favorites because it always brought about such interesting results!). While the dancers were improvising, I would take note of things that they did that I liked or looked good. Often I would yell out, "Tessa, I liked what you just did! Remember that!" haha! Then a lot of rehearsal time was spent with me piecing together 'the puzzle.' We had a lot of movement and a lot of improvisationally (is that even a word?) generated material and I would basically stand on a chair at the front of the studio and point to the dancers and say, "Callie, go over there and start with this sequence. And then Danielle, you go over there and try to make this part of the other sequence happen at the same time that Callie is doing this part of her sequence." Confusing right? Ya. That's why I'm SO grateful for my talented dancers. They were always patient with me and willing to voice their opinions and give me ideas to help me make my senior project something to be proud of.
Me with my favorite dancers ever. Bless their hearts for going on such a crazy adventure with me!
Just copy and paste this link into your browser. I couldn't upload the video here because Blogger said my file was too large.. that's what I get for finally having a good quality video to share! After you've finished watching, I would LOVE to hear what you thought about it so come back and leave a comment. Enjoy!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xyiqgx6ko1krf8r/For%20Movement%27s%20Sake.mp4?dl=0
Beautiful! So beautiful. I recognize some of this choreo😊 You're a talented chicka!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Hannah! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!
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