Composition:
"Winter Was Hard"
by
Kronos Quartet
"La Mer"
By
Charles Trenet
For this final project, I knew that I wanted to choreograph on someone else rather on my own body. As a dance creator, I find that movement comes more naturally to me when I feel a connection with the music or song. I wanted to choreograph something lighthearted, and embodied freedom within movement, so I thought that "La Mer" was a perfect song choice for this piece. During this process, I set choreography on the dancer that I had in mind as well as incorporating a small phrase she had made up for an assignment in our composition class. I enjoyed this process because I like working with others and working with what they are comfortable with and what looks good on them. I also enjoyed watching the progress and development the dance made throughout the weeks, and seeing my choreography find new meanings and experiences as the dancer portrayed it.
A dancer is his or her own harshest critic. However, it is absolutely necessary to notice one’s strengths as a mover. Although I have a long way to go before I come the dancer I want to become, I feel I am taking steps closer to being a well-rounded and well-equipped dancer. I am learning how to step outside my comfort zone, and I am starting to become more comfortable and confident with my choreography. Because I have much room for improvement, it can be difficult to remain aware of my strengths. After some thought, I recognized that two primary strengths I possess are my ability be inspired by music and my ability to immerse myself in assignments.
These strengths are more noticeable towards the second half of the semester, when we added music to the combination of the first half of the assignments. I initially found it hard to find the right music to pair the combination with, but once I did, I felt comfortable with it. There is something very comforting about dancing with music. It seems as if it is carrying you, and in a way, guiding your movements. There is still a part of me that is uncomfortable dancing in silence, and when I am able to dance with music, I feel like I can show my intention and movement better.
Another strength that I found this semester is my ability to immerse myself in assignments. Even if the assignment is outside of my comfort zone, I try not to have negative thoughts or critique myself too harshly. I approached each assignment with an open mind and tried to be as into and invested in the assignment as I possibly could. For the metered assignments, I tried to only focus on the meter we were doing that week by repeating the meter over and over in my head. When it came to the longer choreographed assignments, I fully immersed myself into the music and created a movement narrative based on where the music leads me. This composition class helps me improve as a dancer by not only learning more about choreographic techniques, but more importantly, helping me find my strengths as a dancer.