By: Kara Chan
December is here, which marks two very important events of the year for the senior class 1) We’re approaching the remaining two weeks of our last fall semester and more significantly 2) We’re getting ready to perform in our last New Dances Concert, premiering a new work by choreographer, Larry Keigwin.
New Dances is an annual unique and inventive project where four professional choreographers are invited by Lawrence Rhodes, artistic director of Juilliard’s Dance Division to create new works on an entire Dance Division class. As students, the opportunity to work with different choreographers every year is a learning experience, one that informs us on what it means to be involved in the creative process. Something I have learnt from these experiences is you will get as much out of the process as you put into it: the more you invest of yourself, the greater the rewards.
New Dances is an annual unique and inventive project where four professional choreographers are invited by Lawrence Rhodes, artistic director of Juilliard’s Dance Division to create new works on an entire Dance Division class. As students, the opportunity to work with different choreographers every year is a learning experience, one that informs us on what it means to be involved in the creative process. Something I have learnt from these experiences is you will get as much out of the process as you put into it: the more you invest of yourself, the greater the rewards.
Since the end of September, the fourth years have been busy exploring and diving into the theatrical and witty world of Mr. Keigwin. Intricate patterns, quirky footwork and traveling phrases across the room, abundant chassés predominate his style and movement vocabulary. From day one, Larry’s humorous, energetic, and enthusiastic personality has been contagious in rehearsals, creating an open, relaxed, and laughter-filled environment. With this said, the three-hour rehearsal periods three times a week have never felt like a drag. Instead, the atmosphere has been creatively stimulating and fun, to say the least—ideal to spark imagination and inspiration for a creative process.
Aside from Larry’s humor, wit, and energy, what has been exciting about working with him is how the process has largely focused on collaboration. Most of the generated dance movement for our piece has come from our individual movement vocabulary and the various choreographic tasks we were given. From mapping a section of the room with movement or using adjectives, verbs, or the spelling of our names for inspiration, the process has been fuelled by our choreographic input. From that, Larry then goes ahead and adapts the phrases, using the material in different sections of the piece. As a result, the dance is sourced from the individuality and different movement qualities of our class. The result is Exit Like An Animal (the working title of our piece) inspired by different terrains and textures of landscape: a dance interwoven with phrases Larry has generated sewn together with our own fabricated movement.
You won’t want to miss the opportunity to see the culmination of our three-month long process. This week, we begin spacing rehearsals in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, which means opening night is only two weeks away! On behalf of the dance class of 2015, we are so excited to perform and share what we’ve been working on since the beginning of the year. Family, friends, teachers, and the New York arts community, come join us for the run of New Dances: Edition 2014 from December 10-14.
Reserve your tickets HERE!
Aside from Larry’s humor, wit, and energy, what has been exciting about working with him is how the process has largely focused on collaboration. Most of the generated dance movement for our piece has come from our individual movement vocabulary and the various choreographic tasks we were given. From mapping a section of the room with movement or using adjectives, verbs, or the spelling of our names for inspiration, the process has been fuelled by our choreographic input. From that, Larry then goes ahead and adapts the phrases, using the material in different sections of the piece. As a result, the dance is sourced from the individuality and different movement qualities of our class. The result is Exit Like An Animal (the working title of our piece) inspired by different terrains and textures of landscape: a dance interwoven with phrases Larry has generated sewn together with our own fabricated movement.
You won’t want to miss the opportunity to see the culmination of our three-month long process. This week, we begin spacing rehearsals in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, which means opening night is only two weeks away! On behalf of the dance class of 2015, we are so excited to perform and share what we’ve been working on since the beginning of the year. Family, friends, teachers, and the New York arts community, come join us for the run of New Dances: Edition 2014 from December 10-14.
Reserve your tickets HERE!