PROCESS
Research
Elizabeth researches internal struggle by pulling from her own past, since she has experienced anxiety from a young age. Additionally, Elizabeth's inspiration comes from recent trouble in her personal life and frighteningly realistic nightmares she had last summer. Her anxiety, along with last summer's nightmares, has led Elizabeth to become familiar with the feeling of internal struggle hidden from others. She uses choreography as a coping mechanism to work through these issues.
Based on her own life and the lives of those around her, Elisabeth has come to the conclusion that she doesn't "believe in happy endings." Instead, she feels that happiness should be “unconditional and everlasting, not ending.” She plans to insert this belief into her piece by neglecting to satisfy the audience with a happy ending.
The television show So You Think You Can Dance plays a part in inspiring Elizabeth’s choreography, primarily because of the emotion the choreography on the show draws out of the dancers. She especially admires Sonya Tayeh, whose choreography is often featured on SYTYCD. Elizabeth feels that her own slashing, jagged jazz choreography resembles Tayeh’s style.
Rehearsal
Elizabeth begins her rehearsals without a set idea of what to teach. Instead, she develops movement through her own improvisation and that of her dancers. She feels that she choreographs best when thinking on her feet, deciding what fits best in the moment. Elizabeth works backwards on her choreography: she knew how her piece ended before she decided on a start.
Elizabeth portrays her theme by transforming one dancer into a victim of internal struggle, and the rest into “nightmare creatures” representing the struggle itself. Her struggling character primarily performs balletic movement, while the creatures’ movement resembles contemporary jazz. Because she works with two distinctly different styles during her process, Elizabeth sometimes feels as though she is creating two separate pieces. She works to unify the two styles by making sure both sets of movement successfully utilize the stage space.
Elizabeth chose her dancers based on their ability to perform with raw vulnerability. In her piece, the dancers’ performance quality plays an essential role. They utilize their own emotions to portray the situations in the piece with honesty.
Through her choreographic process, Elizabeth hopes to challenge her dancers and push them out of their comfort zone. She wants them to allow themselves to look vulnerable (and even crazy) sometimes. She also wants to push herself as a choreographer by making movement that differs from her past work and that she feels proud of.
Research
Elizabeth researches internal struggle by pulling from her own past, since she has experienced anxiety from a young age. Additionally, Elizabeth's inspiration comes from recent trouble in her personal life and frighteningly realistic nightmares she had last summer. Her anxiety, along with last summer's nightmares, has led Elizabeth to become familiar with the feeling of internal struggle hidden from others. She uses choreography as a coping mechanism to work through these issues.
Based on her own life and the lives of those around her, Elisabeth has come to the conclusion that she doesn't "believe in happy endings." Instead, she feels that happiness should be “unconditional and everlasting, not ending.” She plans to insert this belief into her piece by neglecting to satisfy the audience with a happy ending.
The television show So You Think You Can Dance plays a part in inspiring Elizabeth’s choreography, primarily because of the emotion the choreography on the show draws out of the dancers. She especially admires Sonya Tayeh, whose choreography is often featured on SYTYCD. Elizabeth feels that her own slashing, jagged jazz choreography resembles Tayeh’s style.
Rehearsal
Elizabeth begins her rehearsals without a set idea of what to teach. Instead, she develops movement through her own improvisation and that of her dancers. She feels that she choreographs best when thinking on her feet, deciding what fits best in the moment. Elizabeth works backwards on her choreography: she knew how her piece ended before she decided on a start.
Elizabeth portrays her theme by transforming one dancer into a victim of internal struggle, and the rest into “nightmare creatures” representing the struggle itself. Her struggling character primarily performs balletic movement, while the creatures’ movement resembles contemporary jazz. Because she works with two distinctly different styles during her process, Elizabeth sometimes feels as though she is creating two separate pieces. She works to unify the two styles by making sure both sets of movement successfully utilize the stage space.
Elizabeth chose her dancers based on their ability to perform with raw vulnerability. In her piece, the dancers’ performance quality plays an essential role. They utilize their own emotions to portray the situations in the piece with honesty.
Through her choreographic process, Elizabeth hopes to challenge her dancers and push them out of their comfort zone. She wants them to allow themselves to look vulnerable (and even crazy) sometimes. She also wants to push herself as a choreographer by making movement that differs from her past work and that she feels proud of.