Sunday, October 11, 2015

Meet the Choreographers: Jennifer and Elaine

Today Jennifer Hancock, a senior Dance and Arts Management major from Eagan, MN, and Elaine Stone, a senior Dance major from Ireland, will share some thoughts on their creative process!

MEET JENNIFER
Where did you find the inspiration for your concept?
My piece is very loosely based on Plato’s, The Allegory of the Cave from his book, The Republic. Throughout my piece, I focus on Plato’s Theory of Forms.  
Click here and here for more information about the Allegory of the Cave.

What style is your piece? 
My style of my piece is a mix of modern and contemporary.

How many dancers are in the piece?
I have six dancers in my piece including myself.

What are some strategies you use during the rehearsal process? What does a "typical" rehearsal look like?
My rehearsal process is dedicated to exploring how my dancers move. I used visual art, collaboration and improvisation as a way to create movement. At one of my rehearsals I brought in two books that encompassed the artwork of Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali. My dancers revealed their idea behind the artwork through improvisation. I do not bring in choreography to my rehearsal. I like to create movement during rehearsal so I can see how my movement looks directly on my dancers.


MEET ELAINE 
Where did you find the inspiration for your concept?
The  inspiration for my piece was derived from when I went home to Ireland this summer 2015.  It was inspired from my own  personal experience of witnessing the influence  of Alzheimers and it's effects on loved ones.

What are some strategies you use during the rehearsal process?
Throughout my process of creating the work I went through a series of events that were inspired from taking solo composition this year and so I have been working on integrating various tools from this class with the experimental and physical styles  of dance i am interested in.  As a choreographer I like to focus on articulation and specificity of movement, and so with that a typical rehearsal often consists of a study based on focus and intention. I really like to be specific in my work so if a sequence doesn't appear aesthetically pleasing then I know that the  kinetic response for the dancers isn't present so as a choreographer I like to see how I can encourage the dancer to find that response in my work

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