PROCESS
Research
Memory loss interests Melissa since it is a shared experience between people. Forgetting happens to everyone on some level. It may be small, like losing the keys, or it may be big, like forgetting major life events. Either way, the common feeling of having forgotten some part of one’s life is an experience that everyone can connect to.
Melissa has several connections to memory loss in her own life which have played a part in her research. For one, Melissa’s sorority, Sigma Kappa, supports the Alzheimer's association with charity work and fundraising. This association brought Melissa closer to the disease and its ability to drastically affect lives based on the memory loss it inflicts. Additionally, Melissa experiences memory loss (on a smaller scale) when she finds herself so stressed that she forgets exactly what she is doing or needs to do. She must work to draw her memory back when she finds herself at a loss.
Rehearsal
Melissa’s choice of dancers plays a role in her choreographic process. All of her dancers come from different technical backgrounds ranging from stylized jazz dancers to carefully placed ballerinas. These differences create subtle variations in performance styles, since the dancers' backgrounds influence their execution of the movement. These personalized variations gives depth to Melissa’s choreography.
Melissa also asks for input from her dancers as she works with them. She comes to rehearsal with an idea of what to teach, but uses feedback from her dancers to create movement they connect with. Melissa hopes that her dancers’ connection to the movement will give their varied styles a sense of unifying ease which will show in their bodies and their faces when they dance. She wants them to feel at home when they perform her movement.
Music plays an important role in Melissa’s choreographic process. When working on her piece, Melissa makes note of musical changes and reflects these changes in her choreography. Sometimes she simply lies down and listens to the music to see what feelings come up. Then, she uses those feelings to develop movement through improvisation. Also, sometimes Melissa choreographs to music other than the music for her piece and then implement that movement into her choreography, with the music the audience will hear in performance. This process adds diversity and complexity to Melissa’s work.
Melissa does not expect members of the audience to “get” her theme exactly, but she hopes that the audience connects with “what’s going on onstage,” or the movement itself. From her movement, she wants the audience to feel the familiarity of forgetting.
Research
Memory loss interests Melissa since it is a shared experience between people. Forgetting happens to everyone on some level. It may be small, like losing the keys, or it may be big, like forgetting major life events. Either way, the common feeling of having forgotten some part of one’s life is an experience that everyone can connect to.
Melissa has several connections to memory loss in her own life which have played a part in her research. For one, Melissa’s sorority, Sigma Kappa, supports the Alzheimer's association with charity work and fundraising. This association brought Melissa closer to the disease and its ability to drastically affect lives based on the memory loss it inflicts. Additionally, Melissa experiences memory loss (on a smaller scale) when she finds herself so stressed that she forgets exactly what she is doing or needs to do. She must work to draw her memory back when she finds herself at a loss.
Rehearsal
Melissa’s choice of dancers plays a role in her choreographic process. All of her dancers come from different technical backgrounds ranging from stylized jazz dancers to carefully placed ballerinas. These differences create subtle variations in performance styles, since the dancers' backgrounds influence their execution of the movement. These personalized variations gives depth to Melissa’s choreography.
Melissa also asks for input from her dancers as she works with them. She comes to rehearsal with an idea of what to teach, but uses feedback from her dancers to create movement they connect with. Melissa hopes that her dancers’ connection to the movement will give their varied styles a sense of unifying ease which will show in their bodies and their faces when they dance. She wants them to feel at home when they perform her movement.
Music plays an important role in Melissa’s choreographic process. When working on her piece, Melissa makes note of musical changes and reflects these changes in her choreography. Sometimes she simply lies down and listens to the music to see what feelings come up. Then, she uses those feelings to develop movement through improvisation. Also, sometimes Melissa choreographs to music other than the music for her piece and then implement that movement into her choreography, with the music the audience will hear in performance. This process adds diversity and complexity to Melissa’s work.
Melissa does not expect members of the audience to “get” her theme exactly, but she hopes that the audience connects with “what’s going on onstage,” or the movement itself. From her movement, she wants the audience to feel the familiarity of forgetting.