Momentum: New Dance Worksopens tonight and runs for two weekends.
Here are some behind-the-scenes Q&As from each of the artists to give you a sneak peek on these brand new works. What will you ask them after the show?
Anna Marie Shogren
Are there any explicit / direct / literal moments in your work?
Anna: Nastalie does all of the movement from the scene where Bobby dies in Saturday Night Fever, which includes euphoric and dorky dancing, a sort of childish crying fit and falling off the bridge (or in this case a bed).
Is your work personal? How? Why?
Anna: Yes, thoroughly, perhaps to a shameful point, although I try to justify it in many different ways. It’s always helping me to get a grip on what’s in my head, embarrassingly. But it is helpful and necessary for me. And I hope/believe that one way to connect with an audience is to be specific and personal and detailed and not try to be reaching and universal. I hope it doesn’t seem selfish or indulgent. I hope it seems genuine.
Maia Maiden
How do you title your work?
Maia: The title, The Foundation, et cetera, came to me because the issues brought up in this work are related to the foundation of Black people in America and the exploration of self identity for everybody.
Did you use other art forms to develop your piece? How and why did you use those mediums?
Maia: Yes. Spoken word, theater, and film. These were used because it brings the work full circle.
Who are you artist heroes? Why?
Maia: Artists in the community who know their craft and do it well. These are my artist heroes because of their passion, knowledge, and connection to themselves and others.
Eddie Oroyan
What are some potent metaphors and symbols in your work? Why are they powerful for you?
Eddie: Pop – The opening scene is one of falling in love. It is all bubble gum and butter. This piece is based on love found on Craigslist and the opening section is a reference to the 200+ emails we wrote before we ever ‘met.’
The band is mine, but it’s her stage – This metaphor has probably directed me the most in my structural decisions for the piece. In the end, the band leaves with me and the stage is torn apart. It is real.
Smooshing – I also wanted some of the violence of the work to be playful. The smooshing that happens in the piece is similar to the severe affection a cat might have with your leg.
What is the intent of your piece?
Eddie: I want people to say, “We are like that, I am like that.” I want them to think, “Yes, this is true.” I am making this because I know it and I think others might as well. I’m not really making any judgment on this relationship. I think I’m showing some really great things and some hard things, hoping they feel legitimate. Then, where ever it takes people is where ever it takes them. Making the piece has brought up questions and ideals that I needed to revisit. Relationships are messy, but they are the meaning of life.
Chris Schlichting
Make a list of ten adjectives to describe your work.
Chris: Large and small, formal and vernacular, cute, clean, awkward, detailed, busy, choreographed.
Are there any explicit / direct / literal moments in your work?
Chris: It depends on what these terms mean. I try to make all movement explicit and direct. Dance to me is literal, but that doesn’t always mean the vocabulary is linear, narrative, or working with a universally familiar image.
What inspired you to make this work?
Chris: So many things: seeing other work and feeling the need to respond. A desire to interact with the world. A desire to consider the body participating in that dialogue in ways it might not normally be allowed to.
How does this work fit into your artistic development?
Chris: Many of my aesthetic and thematic tendencies have stayed the same, but others are constantly changing. I simultaneously love and hate work I made 2 years ago. I try to engage with topics and ideas that are exciting to me. Collaboratively, I am realizing how much better the work gets when I step back and allow others to invest and contribute to what we are making together. At the same time I’m still a control freak who needs to have my hands in everything.
What is you relationship to your audience? How do you perceive this?
Chris: I think of my audience as if they are me and then I think about what excites me and I try to create an experience that I want to have in the hope that others will share the interest.
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