How To Make Art, by Artistic Director of Grounding Point Dance Company
How to make art…
I find myself searching everyday for objects, people, music that inspires me to create. It is not a outright search, but more of a curiousity that draws me into a subject. It might be an emotional conversation that inspires me to move or just the way the waves break on the beach (and, yes I do live in a place where I get to see the waves almost everyday, which is a blessing). I also give myself challenges. Especially with the video component. I might improvising with the camera using a hand held technique, or locking down the camera having the dancer move within a certain part of the frame. Exploring is the most exciting part of the work.
It is great to make the work, but I also enjoy reflecting about the work I have created. Being critical artistically about what more could I have done to make this piece have deeper impact. Sometimes I don’t get that perspective for a couple of years down the road from when it premieres. I have a tendency to fall in love with the creative process of the work. That is really what I love to do as an artist is CREATE.
For me, dance is at it’s best in the rehearsal studio working at a movement until it feels just right. For me, many great performances have happened in the dance studio with an audience of one — myself.
At the end of the day, I have to be happy with my work, and I am. I stand by my work, it reflects my life, my morals, and being a young American woman making a statement of emotion, beauty, and depth.
Enjoy the show!
