As a choreographer, I find myself making a variety of works, spanning multiple genres and styles of dance. Yet, a through line that I often find in all my pieces is the influence that math has had on my life, as this shows up in movements I choreograph. Even before choreographing an entire piece based off of mathematics, I could see how I drew inspiration from mathematical ideas. In my work, there is always attention to shape, and more specifically, angles of the joints. This means that my choreography includes lots of focus on the elbows, hips, and knees and their mobility.
Along the same lines, I have an eye for spatial patterns and I am very particular about how dancers are spread in the space. Often when making a group piece, I draw out where I want my dancers to be moving because I think that there is a lot of meaning making to be found in the organization of bodies. I find that one of my affinities is to organize dancers into lines of all sorts, which is possibly just another way that math has influenced my process.
In addition, I am driven largely by my emotions, so part of my process is improvising to songs that reflect my current mood. Movements that were created while I was experiencing a certain emotion seem to flow better when paired with those created under the same emotion. These strings of movements often create phrases that reflect the feeling state that I was in when I made them, and I have the ability to translate them into emotionally invested works. Many of my works have been based off my queer experiences; I hope to convey those thoughts in a way that is relatable to the LGBTQ+ community and create productive conversations around queer art.
Something that I consider with each work is my audience – who is watching my work, and what do I want them to see, hear, and/or sense? I think each of my works appeal to a variety of audiences. For example, my work Axioms & Automorphisms appealed to both dancers and mathematicians, and my works how to be without and so we thought appealed to even the non-dancer because of the raw, relatable emotions that my dancers expressed.
Along these lines, I believe that I am a versatile choreographer, as each of my pieces differ not only in intended audience, but they also differ in genres of dance, themes, and movement qualities. I have choreographed modern, contemporary, jazz, and tap. Works like how to be without, persistent, so we thought, and it was always you showcased my emotional range, while Axioms & Automorphisms and spark blaze burst explored upbeat movement qualities that did not have any extreme emotional backstory. Even within the works that are emotional, there is a spectrum of feelings I have explored including, but not limited to: fascination, determination, insecurity, comfort (or lack thereof), lust, infatuation, confusion, fear, anxiety, feelings of being overwhelmed, disillusion, frustration, and isolation.
I enjoy working with a variety of movers, but there are always certain qualities I look for. An aspect of my choreography that I have not yet elaborated on is my musicality, likely stemming from my tap training. I understand that I often hear music differently than other dancers, but I enjoy working with people open to listening for the parts of the music that I am choreographing to. I like to work with people who are very teachable and will take suggestions seriously and in a timely matter. However, I also like my dancers to provide something new to my work, whether that is the occasional recommendation for a movement or experiences that inform the performance quality of the work. I hope that I challenge my dancers and give them dances that help them to grow as artists but also enjoy performing.
I make work for the simple fact that I love creating dance. I was trained in dance starting at age three, and by time I was five, I was at the dance studio for three to four hours a day, which has not changed much since. I am grateful for the amount of performance opportunities I have been given, but during high school, I started to create a few works for my school dance team, and I fell in love with choreographing. At Muhlenberg College, I instantly knew that I wanted to be a choreography concentration within my major to be able to learn the skills and gain the tools necessary to continue to create engaging work. I am always itching to learn and create, which I believe I will never stop doing. Choreography is my passion, and I hope I continue to have the opportunity to create throughout my life.