THE PIECES
CAPSICUM
Classical ballet, while beautiful to both dance and watch, is often very formal, controlled and constrained within certain artistic boundaries. I wanted to choreograph a ballet piece for the older level that was not only technically challenging but that also pushed a few of those ballet boundaries. My goal was to have a piece that showcased the inner personalities of ballet dancers that come out after hours of rehearsals that you often don't get to see.
This piece is choreographed to allow the dancers' inner spice and strength to come out. Our culture places a great deal of emphasis on outer beauty but doesn't unusually point out that many times external beauty is a result of the strength that comes from having spunkiness, spice, or sassiness. We've pulled the curtain back to show you the strong and sassy side of ballerinas :)
WATERFALL
This piece was inspired by the playful and natural beauty of the youngest dancers. They are all exuberant, very open and willing to try new things. They remind me of a waterfall with their excited energy, beauty and willingness to easily shift direction when obstacles get in their way. Working with these dancers was a great reminder for me on stressful days to not be overcome by setbacks in life and to live in the moment. Thank you to these dancers for bringing so much light to our show!
BLOOM
While the other pieces in this show were inspired by events in my life, this piece was inspired by the actual dancers in it and is defined by their different relationships: sister to sister, brother to brother, older self to younger self, friendship and romance and how relationships change but stay the same. One of the most important relationships in my life is with my sister, Tatiana. I love her respect her, and can't imagine my life without her. I wanted to choreograph a piece which showed the incredibly close relationship we have and the beauty of siblings.
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Watching Maya and Zoe interact together reminded me of when Tatiana and I were younger and would have so much fund together, laughing at anything and everything. Our earliest memories include hours of playing with Bobby, and I felt that Maya, Zoe and Ian expressed all the joy, youth, and fun of those early days of the three of us growing up.
Coincidentally, Maya is very similar to Tatiana, and Zoe is similar to me. And, Ian emodies all of the exuberance of a young Bobby. :) I wanted the piece to show the significance of this friendship and the relationship between Bobby and Tatiana which added another beautiful layer to the piece. The relationship among the three of us has changed as we've gotten older, but I wanted the piece to underscore the strength of all the different types of relationships and the love, playfulness and respect that is the foundation for all of them. It also served as an amazing opportunity to look back at who I was when I was younger and think of all the things I would like to tell that young girl. This piece gives me the chance to embrace my younger self and appreciate all she has to offer me today.
I chose the name because I couldn't think of a more beautiful time than when something blooms. Each relationship in the piece is in bloom, and I tried to show its most beautiful moments. After watching this piece, one of our youngest dancers in the show told me that if she was creating a person, she would make sure to put Bloom in its heart. She said that it had everything that you wanted in a person; love, courage, kindness, family and joy and that everyone needs a little bit of Bloom. There couldn't be a bigger compliment to me and sums up the emotions I was trying to convey perfectly. May you all have a bit of Bloom in your heart!
WINGS
These dancers are at that point both technically and emotionally where they are moving from being the littles to being leaders of the youngers. It’s really beautiful to watch them come into their own. This piece represents them growing into their own wings and the beginning period of taking flight. These dancers brought a wonderful mix of joy and discipline to rehearsals. I could always count on them to break out in fits of laughter and keep things fun!
QUERENCIA
“Querencia” (n.) A place where one
feels safe, a place from which one’s
strength of character is drawn
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This piece is a compilation of different sections that reflect the various ways that I draw strength. It underscores the importance of self discovery and finding your own strengths both alone and as part of a group.
This piece was originally choreographed for the AIM dancers last year and performed at The Palace Theatre in Stamford as part of
The Young Choreographers’ Festival.
SFORZA
Caterina Sforza (1463-1509), the countess of Forli, was a strong, confident and intelligent woman who fought to protect her dominions from the most powerful men of the time, including Cesare Borgia. She remained strong despite the pressures of the time, the murder of her husband by political enemies, and her imprisonment by the same enemies. The Italian word sforza means to strive for something greater than what you’ve neccessarily been told you can have. For me, this has been what I’ve needed to keep forefront in my mind since finding out about my severe scoliosis and being told I would no longer be able to dance. On a lighter note, everyone has their own moments when they need to channel a bit of Caterina or apply a little sforza!
INVINCIBLE
Invincible is a piece that reflects the overwhleming strength of these dancers as a whole. It’s a piece built on intense precision and power. This group of dancers all work well together and are very aware of each other on stage. This three and a half minute piece of incredibly intense and athletic dancing is only possible with a group of dancers who are attuned to each other and technically advanced.
I am incredibly proud of the dancers in this piece and thank those who were part of it but are not dancing in tonight’s performance: Olivia Pouder, Grace Rundhaug, Kelly Gleason, Joanna Jung, and Emily Chin
ARISTOTLE'S SECRET
There are so many different types of pieces that you can choose to choreograph when you begin as a choreographer. Although I’d choreographed large pieces, they consisted of roughly twelve dancers who all had a similar level of training. I wanted to feel what it would be like to have 30 dancers of various levels coming together, bringing the different strengths inherent to their age and training. I knew that the energy of all those
dancers, if choreographed correctly, would bring a grandness to the piece which matches the sense of culmination that I have as I’m finishing up my senior year.
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Along those lines, this piece was inspired by the concept of synergy, Aristotle’s theory that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” The title of this piece is a play on the name of the music, Beethoven’s Five Secrets. The music is a compilation of One Republic’sSecrets and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and I feel that this compilation is so much more powerful than either of the original songs on their own. Likewise, I felt that in using all the dancers, I was able to use their individual strengths to come together as an ensemble to create a dance that was so much more powerful than any one of these groups dancing by themselves.
For me personally, this piece really required me to lead from the bench. With a piece so ambitious and large, I needed to have faith that the power and beauty of the group as a whole would be the focus of this piece and that I didn’t need to be in the wings troublshooting. We all have times when we need to trust that if we’ve done the work along the way, the journey will work out okay in the end. It’s a piece that requires the dancers to relax into the faith that their preparation will carry the piece and that their fellow dancers will be there for them. The littles need to trust that the olders will help them with the timing, the lead dancers need to trust that the dancers behind them have entered at the right time, the older dancers need to trust that the exuberance of the littles gives the piece a life it wouldn’t otherwise have without them, the turners need to trust that their hours of hard work in ballet classes will give them turns solid enough that they won’t be thrown off by nerves, the jumpers need to trust that their daily practice will pay off with rock solid jumps and Tatiana and Bobby need to trust their rhythm in partnering and that they are there for each other in the lifts. It is truly an ensemble piece where the individual strengths have synergized into something so much more beautiful, and it has been an amazingly rewarding piece to see on stage.
WITH SWAG
“There is nothing greater than love/ We are nothing without love/ No matter who comes with love in their hearts/ We will embrace them all/ We welcome everyone with swag!” (lyrics)
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As part of this project I wanted to create a community which followed the lyrics of this song. I think embracing everyone that comes with love in their heart and having swag while you do it is a great way to live life. I also thought the show should end with a piece that would bring all the dancers together to have some fun with the audience, and who can resist a Bollywood song with great lyrics?! Choreographing this piece brought back memories of celebrations with my Greek relatives...the Greeks love to dance! This dance isn’t about technique, it’s about having a great time embracing your inner groove with friends. Find your swag and join us
for a fun finale!
