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“Dance and art are an overall expression of humanity. It is a celebration of the union of mind and body, of the spiritual and physical, Of space and time, and the fact that we exist. Our bodies revel in the expression and feeling of being alive, and the mind finds joy in discovery and creation. The very feeling and mindful movements of the body, how it bends and undulates, with the natural cadence of movements, there is a rhythm of breath. There is beauty in lost and found lines that are found in nature, and mimicked with the body and the creation of art. A life lived without feeling, without curiosity and uniqueness, a life spent trying to deny the necessity of expressive movement, is no life at all. Yet some attempt to deny the necessity of the arts and dance. In doing so they deny themselves of life and meaning. They try to deny the very essence of being human.”

 

Perpendicular Minds

For my senior project I choreographed a dance called “Perpendicular Minds,” that addresses the issue of the decline of the value of art in society. I wanted to explore what would happen in a world where there was no art.

Through research, a dialogue with my dancers, and the choreography process, here is what I learned: Art is a strong expression of humanity, and without it we forget how to be human. Without art, we lose our sense of imagination and curiosity. We lose our abilities to analyze and think as individuals. There is a sense of overwhelming anxiety, an inability to express oneself, and make sense of the world them.

I titled my piece, “Perpendicular Minds,” because I wanted to play around with patterns of creating and breaking lines within the movement vocabulary itself, as well as providing a deeper context. When I think of a right angle, I see two spatial directions; I imagine black and white, right and wrong, good and bad. There is no in between and there is no room for alternate explanations. I feel trapped and claustrophobic when I believe that these are my only options.

My research helped me to further develop the context of my dance and for me to find my interpretation of what life would be without art.  When I started rehearsals, I asked my dancers what their life would be like without ever dancing or having exposure to art. They answered very candidly and honestly. One dancer said she would be lost because dance is how she finds meaning in anything. There is a depth of feeling through movement and music. Dance comes out when there are no words. Another dancer said that he learned how to interact with others and how to treat them and care for them because of dance. He said that he is a better critical thinker, has broadened his mind, and also said that dance has helped him be able to just release. These aspects defined him and he couldn’t imagine how he would have learned these important life lessons without dance. Through improvisation, we explored how it might feel to not be able to express ourselves artistically. The feeling in the room was tense, and built up with an overwhelming sense of anxiety. We felt trapped in our own minds, and felt like we wanted to panic. So we stuck with that idea and developed it from there.

REHEARSALS 

FILMING DAY

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