Recently I was able to put on a different hat, and had the opportunity to be a choreographer. Every year Charlotte Ballet has an Interactive performance, where the audience is able to participate in various pieces and activities. This also gives members of the company if interested an opportunity to choreograph. But along with choreographing, you also have to design the lights and do the costuming. Everything is all on you. I loved every second of it.
I started with discovering the music. With the theme of the evening being “Everlasting Life,” I had to discover what exactly that means to me and how I could portray that in movement. There is a music composition major at UNCSA that I absolutely love named Alex Umfleet. I began exploring his sound cloud account and just listened to everything that he had posted. After narrowing them down to 2 options, I just sat and listened to them on repeat, asking myself which one moves me. I went with the one titled Elysia. I then reached out to him expressing my interest in Elysia, as well as asking for his permission to use it. I had a great conversation with him just getting more information about the piece, what it represents to him, what inspired the creation, etc.
The next phase of Operation Elysia was to cast the ballet. I watch everyone in company class and rehearsals, but I had to envision what I wanted my piece to be. At the very beginning, I imagined a pas de quatre of all women, but as I continued to observe company class and listen to the music that changed slightly. I ended up deciding on 1 boy and 3 girls. They are all amazing dancers and I knew from the moment that I confirmed with everyone, that it was going to be a wonderful experience.
Moving forward I had to create the structure and to begin choreographing. Sitting in my room with a blank piece of paper, I listened to the music, paid attention to the various phrases and tempo changes, and really studied the music. I was also fortunate to receive the score from Alex, so I could reference that as well. After having the structure, the movement began. I knew that there were certain steps that I wanted on certain musical phrases, the challenge was to really tie them together. I spent hours going through one thing and changing it to another, to make sure that you can physically see the music in the movement.
After completing the piece, I began exploring the idea of costumes. The funny thing about costumes is that I does not always look the same on a dancer as it does a hanger. They did not go with the tone of the piece, but with the help of my dancers, I was able to select something that would greatly compliment my piece. From the colors of their costumes, the choreography, and the music, I was able to tell the lighting designer exactly what I wanted. It turned out absolutely beautifully, and I truly can’t wait to experience this again!
No comments:
Post a Comment