The opportunity...
... to start with nothing but an idea, a piece of music, or a phrase and to work with dancers who give their time, energy, heart, and soul to you to create on them is a precious gift. How exciting it is to see a piece take shape - molding and forming it into something that has life, speaks, and moves people. Each work has helped me to refine my craft and to grow as a choreographer.
Each piece...
...that I create is different. I like to start with a couple of movement phrases and develop the piece around them, with the common themes tying the piece together as a whole. Many of my works are playful, some even comical. I like to use locomotion. I enjoy the challenge of working with fast music and utilizing intricate timing. I enjoy creating a visual picture of the music playing with, against, and around the accents. The movements reflect the mood of the piece - driven, somber, happy, playful, frantic. My goal is to create a thing of beauty both for the dancer and the audience. And, to evoke, excite, and entertain.
I am most interested in...
...seeing what happens in the development process. I imagine an idea and then use my time with the dancers to bring it to life. But first, I listen to the music over and over, letting it marinate in my mind, allowing the piece's structure to begin to reveal itself. I may hear where I want entrances and exits, solos, large or small movements, groupings. I may even map out some floor patterns and where I think the dance may travel in space and where it should build dramatically. My mathematical mind, engineering education, and analytical career add a left brain component to the right brain creative process. I try to come in with some ideas of complimentary phrases, groupings, partnerings, and lifts, and then just start playing. Through trial and error, I learn what is or is not possible, fitting, interesting, or moving. Granted, as soon as the rehearsal process begins, the piece seems to have a way of becoming what it is meant to be, so I don't hold too tightly to all of my ideas, and just let the piece unfold before my eyes. That is the true reward - the gift that the dancers give to me (probably without even realizing it).
I have been inspired by...
...a number of established choreographers. I am intrigued by Mark Morris' use of musicality, timing, and space, creating interesting works from the simplest ideas and movements. Amy Seiwert has an amazing way to marry movement with emotion. Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot, and Sol Leon bring such rawness and heartfelt exquisiteness to the stage. I am ever in awe of their work. Seeing amazing dance inspires me to continue to pursue and perfect.
"Being a choreographer has been a treat, a joy, and a labor of love." - Sandra
Header photo by Joanne Lee