Lighting Design ECS Portfolio

Site Specific

For the sight specific project we were to brainstorm different locations from UB campus, to anywhere in America, to anywhere in the world that we would like to set a dance. It was important that the location of the dance not just be a prop or a setting but also be involved in the piece itself. The first step to our brainstorming process was to find photos of the different places we came up with that were both possible to use for class and possible to create but not necessarily for class. Below are the photos I generated in my thought process.

UB North Campus Mud Pit

Under UB Stadium

The Rainbow Bridge Connecting USA & Canada 

Backdrop of the Rainbow Bridge

Letchworth Sate Park Waterfall/Waterhole

Tulip Field 

Tulip Field

The Teacups at Amusement Park

(While in motion)

The Final Verdict 

I decided to team up with Julia and tackle the site of the Mud Pit for our project and also recruited Alexis & Emily to dance in the piece, giving us a cast of four. The concept of the piece is both an exploration of the mud but also is intertwined with the message of being connected to the earth. All four dancers will be dressed in white t-shirts at the begging of the piece and they will become dirty and covered as the piece builds. We are symbolizing how the authenticity of life passes us by and as humans we have become so accustom to living in this commercial and materialistic world. The white t-shirts represent the crisp perfection that is manufactured, but not authentic from mother nature. 

Below is a look at our rehearsal process.

Below is the video of our final in class performance on location of...

"Stuck"

Gesture Phrase

My gesture phrase performed twice, with two different readings of text.
The first performance is danced to a reading from The Onion, the text is a comedic paragraph about children living in "single parrot households."
The second performance is to one of m favorite musical theater songs read as a dialogue. It is "The Actuary Song" from I Love You Because. The change my classmates suggested I make for the second reading is that I face the back and show the audience a different angle of the study.   

The Onion's "Single Parrot Households"

I Love You Because's "The Actuary Song"

Dance for Camera Gesture Project

"Don't Stop"

Dancer & Choreographer: Jared Cutler

Videographer & Film Editor: Emmy Thomas

Song: "Don't Stop" by Foster the People

Outside Projects

Although these are not projects for the Choreography II course, I am including them for my own personal collection of choreography. 

Jazz V

"The Rules For Lovers"

Jazz VI

"Only Human"

Dancers Workshop
"l e v a r T  e m i T"

Dazzler's Dance Team
"Sassy"

Social Political Project: Divorce "De Voiced"

For my Social Political Project I found that it was important to choose a topic that means something to me and is very close to my heart (positively or negatively.) As a daughter & older sister from a divorced household this topic is something that weighted very heavily on me, especially growing up. Over the years I slowly learned that my parents divorce ended up being a blessing rather than a curse. It was by no means a clean and an easy transition. At the tender age of 11 I felt as if my world was falling apart, but as time went on I learned a) responsibility for my little sister b) how to be a good mediator (a skill that has been helpful in friendships and relationships later on) and c) that both my parents love my sister and I indefinitely and would both give up their entire world for us. From the day I heard the (what I thought was) heartbreaking news my life has only improved and my parents have been able to show me the miraculous human beings they both are with a much freer spirit. I have grown closer to each of them and learned so many wise lessons from their personal experiences. But most importantly I have learned that when it comes to marriage and creating a family of my own I must rush absolutely nothing and do it right the first time.  

Here I will post the step by step creative process of my work, eventually leading up to the final piece as a whole.

Part I: Mind Map

Part II: Texts

15 Truths About Divorce (Psychology Today)

Legal Information: Divorce (Cornell University)

Part III: Images

Part IV: Storyboard

Sound Selections

(In Sequence)

"Love" by Matt White

Thunder Crashing Sound Effect

"Cold" by George Mendez

Below is the video recording of my work in progress. Unfortunately I was not able to coordinate schedules with the other people I would like to have in my piece so all that could be recorded at this time is myself solo. With that said please note...

The opening of the piece I would like to have very theatric to the song "Love" by Matt White. My dancers will be Jon & Maria, playing a young husband and wife. The choreography begins with Jon down on one knee in proposal stance and then progresses to fun section of literal choreography depicting the "honeymoon" stage of a relationship. This includes partnering, lifts, and all smiles;)
As the song continues they will begin to show dissatisfaction with each other and begin to act out an argument, ending with them faced back to back center stage at the end of that song.  

The next section of the piece is stillness. As the husband and wife stand angered in opposite directions The child (myself) will be laying behind them center stage. During this stillness the thunderstorm will sound and the lights will flicker, and end in a dim half light setting preparing for the final statement of the piece.   

The final portion of the piece is to "Cold" by George Mendez and the primary focus is on the child, and their point of view. Durning this the husband and wife will be used mostly as props but will still be present on stage, and do still have some set choreography. They are instructed to walk apart from each other to offstage as slowly as possible, and exit by the end so the child is left on stage alone.

**The entire 5 minutes of the final song will be used, when I was recorded parts were rushed and off time because of the lack of bodies and partner work**
Motions that I tried to show in the recording but will later have another person include (in order)...

-Grabbing of Jon's ankle and using it to propel myself on the floor, and wrapping my body around his leg, so I will end sitting on his foot. (he will then take a step with me on his foot)

-Jon lifting me up and circling me around cradles in his arms and then tossing me away.

-Grabbing Jon's shirt and attempting to pull him in opposite direction 

-Tugging on Maria's bun/ponytail multiple time, being pulled back to standing position (she will be lunging back to an arch and then release to a straight standing position)

-Pushing Maria's body from head to toe (facing her) and being defeated
-Physically picking up Maria's right foot and placing it one sep back
-Being flicked off of maria's foot

Divorce: Phase II

Final

The final title I chose for my piece is "De voiced." The main perspective I aimed to show was the child's, and the concept was to show how they have no say in the matter and are essentially left voiceless. "De voiced" is just a play on Divorce.   

Feedback

-Clear use of male role, established 1st then used it.

-Clear begging, mood, and relationship. Can I show "joy" rather than just "happy?"

-Clear staging of Parent to child & clear movement vocabulary.

-Clear staging of solo & intent of pushing Maria's feet vs Jon's feet

-Use of detail & full bodied movement

-The piece is about divorce but what is being said about it could be clarified. Not a social political piece, piece based on divorce. 

Broken Glass

This is the final revision of my repetition project. In class we discussed making contextual changes that can add to the audiences portrayal of the work. What I chose as my contextual change was to wear a glove on my focus hand to do just that, add more focus to it and emphasize its importance. 

I also decided to change the music selection from the previous presentation of this project since my music choices were so drastically different I wanted the opportunity to play with both. Since this selection was much more mellow and relaxed I could felt I could play with my timing in a different way than with the other selection.

Music Selection: Part, Fur Alina (For Alena)
Sostmann, Alexandra
TYX Art
(Selected from NAXOS database)

Peer Feedback: Strong choice to wear the glove, work on moments of stillness, could travel more, nice change in dynamic & tempo, Slow gaze at begging was powerful

Contextual Ideas: Although I chose to use a glove as my contextual change for this performance of the piece I feel this work could use different contextual changes in different settings, or even if it were to be re worked even further. As discussed in class, I would love to take part of the project on a bit of a literal route and incorporate a glass hitting the ground and shattering. I understand that this is one, more of a design element, & also two, very unlikely in a stage environment. However if this work was to ever be recored in a film setting I would love for the element of glass shattering to literally be incorporated.
A second contextual idea that may I developed that could work in a stage setting would involve other people on stage with me. I envision them sitting, kneeling, and standing at different heights and levels scattered around me. These extra bodies on stage would play off of the initial gaze of the head I do at the begging and end of the piece, only they would be gazing so slowly that it would take the entire piece for their head to gaze from one side to the other.