This week kicked off the Fall 2019 Dance Concert: PreVail. These student choreographers have been hard at work this semester putting together dance pieces that will move and inspire you. We’ve caught up with a few of the choreographers to learn more about their pieces and what the process has been like.
Katie Allison’s piece is entitled “Unique,” featuring “Tucana (Instrumental)” by Mt. Wolf, “i” by Old Gray, “Petrichor” by Keaton Henson, “In The Dark” by Max Richter, and “Near Light” by Olafur Arnalds. Katie describes her piece saying, “It’s basically about the idea that we live in a society where everyone assumes there’s a certain way that we should dress, look, all because of our social norms we have. It kind of dives into the aspect that we see one thing, but really feel lost on the inside.” She shares that her piece was inspired by “a lot of my own experiences of trying to be someone I’m not for other people and my career goals, as well as seeing it in fellow peers and friends.” The piece has become very personal to Katie, and she hopes it can connect in a personal way with the audience as well. One of the things that Katie loves most about dance is the community aspect. She describes the emotional strength that sharing dance with others can bring: “I don’t know know what I would do with myself if I didn’t have the people in my life that I get to create with!” Fall dance concert is one of the best ways for our dance students to express their craft and share their world persective.
Another choreographer, Ra’chelle Hedgespeth, is presenting her piece “Rift-Joint.” Ra’chelle shares, “This piece is erie and disjointing as it depicts a struggle between two individuals trying to understand and fight for each other while one of them is torn between two brains. An external force constantly disrupts the peace and brings the strongest emotions out of everyone involved. The tempo of the music opposes the tempo in which the movers dance to. There is a lack of connection and strong sense of opposition. Thus permitting the title, Rift-Joint.” Ra’chelle explains her process as she develops a piece and what can inspire her art: “Each time I create a piece, the process is different depending on what inspires me. Sometimes I feel fully creative and can generate movement without music and/or meaning. Sometimes the music inspires a whole piece. Sometimes it’s a whole novel of sharing stories. Depends upon what I need off my chest. This time was a little more difficult due to external factors I’ve faced this year. This piece started out as exploratory and I wanted to just play with imagery and music.” Choreographing can be a huge task to take on, but Ra’chelle has enjoyed all the highs and lows that have come with the experience: “There have been so many talented and expressive choreographers that have filled the stage before me with such marvelous work. I definitely felt the pressure of some big shoes to fill… It was a very trying experience to work with my cast while I was facing a lot of dark moments and truths. It took some time for me to come around to what I was really trying to say/create, and everyone and felt that. My cast and I were definitely beyond excited once we reached the concluding product. This experience is something that we all enjoy doing even when it’s difficult and vulnerable.” The thought and hard work in each piece is evident as the dancers express what their choreographers see in their minds.
PreVail runs November 15-17 in Credo Arts Center with free admission. Shows will be at 7:30PM with additional shows at 2:30PM on Saturday and Sunday. You do NOT want to miss this incredible experience as these choreographers share their art through dance.