By: Heather Closson
We would love to introduce guest blogger and Choreographer’s Laboratory choreographer, Heather Closson. Heather is the current Outreach & Technical Director for the Fort Wayne Youtheatre. Her choreography has been showcased in performances at the American College Dance Festival, the American Dance Festival, several Miss America Organization pageants, and at various community and educational theaters throughout Indiana. Heather graduated from Ball State University with a degree in Dance Performance and currently performs with dAnce.Kontemporary.
For those who know me, I’m a relatively prepared person when it comes to setting a piece. I love to create concepts and movement that I believe fits that concept, preparing pages of choreography and imagery on paper before I walk in the door. However, this piece challenged my “standard” method of creating in unimaginable ways.
Last year, I went to Pennsylvania for a brief residency. Among many others, I designed a piece specifically for the dancer that attended with me. Eager to expand on this movement and music, I taught the majority of the solo to my dancers at our first rehearsal. Much to my dismay, I left feeling unsatisfied. I wasn’t quite sure why, but I knew that I had to take the piece in another direction. I felt frustrated- a piece that I had so carefully crafted for one person fell flat on a group of dancers. I was disappointed, untrusting of the choreography, and unsure of how to proceed.
After much debate, I changed my song choices. Suddenly, my concept became clear. Movement that wasn’t translating before the change suddenly had a new life. Each dancer reacted uniquely to the shift in music, allowing for a more interesting, collaborative process. We worked together (using an old improvisational exercise- the dancers literally spell out names of local rivers with various parts of their bodies!) to make water come to life on stage.
Oddly enough, it’s all so fitting to my piece, sift/flow. Using the St. Joseph River Dam as inspiration, I was keen on exploring things that filter and block various aspects of our lives, similar to how a dam filters all of the gunk from flowing along with the water to the next portion of its journey. Ironically, that very concept was blocked by my own frustrations- my personal dam. But with the gentle guidance of those around me- and chance inspirations- something filtered and more satisfying emerged from the other side.
