You Are The Mirror

Abstract

As I near the final hurdle of my Masters of Fine Arts program, I begin to craft my thesis performance. Because this performance is supposed to be a culminating product of my learning in this program, I will endeavor to reflect my growth and experiences while challenging my boundaries. I have decided to propose a full concert of my own choreography. An evening of work comprised of pieces I have conceived during my tenure at UH yet not relating to a central theme. The proposed title You are the Mirror, taken from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, reflects a personal belief. I believe that the audience is the mirror of the performance; their experience and response is one measure of how successful the concepts of the performance were expressed. I also believe that one significant goal of dancers should be to encourage discourse about and accessibility to dance as art. In my thesis performance, I aim address these issues by creating and presenting entertaining, thought provoking, and engaging work. The work I chose to open the performance is Audience Sit Study. This piece is created from my ideas of the movements of a captive audience. When the audience attends a performance it is akin creating a contract. OK, you perform and I will watch. What experiences does the audience have in viewing a performance? This piece will explore some possible scenarios, from the mundane to the fantastic. I will explore the use of video in this piece to lend some depth of subconscious ideas the dancers might be experiencing. Perhaps video of the movement or film from the dances in the program or other random ideas might be projected over the dancers at certain times in the dance. You are the Mirror explores the idea of beauty through text and movement. Created in Advanced Composition Spring 2004, it follows an ABA structure that utilizes both recorded music and text from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. The movement was derived through improvisation exercises inspired by the text, which expounds on the subjective nature of beauty. This is a slower paced piece with a wide range of technical backgrounds from the dancers. hope to work with a composer to create an original score.