The University of North Carolina Greensboro’s School of Dance presents new choreographic works from Dance MFA Candidates Allison Beaty and Caitlyn Schrader March 25 + 26, 2022 - 7:30 pm - Coleman Dance Theater
Caitlyn Schrader
“As an artist I aim to design spaces, places, and environments that reframe and reconsider, presenting dance as a shared human experience.”
My research orbits around the broader consideration of what is performance. I am interested in reframing, rethinking, and reconsidering from an interdisciplinary perspective. Current works blend together movement, conceptual art, and design. My methods are immersive and have utilized stage, film, architecture, new media, and social practices, presenting on both traditional and alternative spaces. Collaboration is central in the making of my work, having worked with composers, filmmakers, writers, social practice artists, musicians, costume designers, and fellow dance artists.
PC: Hannah Long
A Manifesto of Sorts…
There is a subtle difference between embodying ideas and studying ideas. I believe in the former. I am a collaborative spirit. Curiosity it at the heart of my being. I work from the belief that dance is a shared human experience and that to be an artist is to be a citizen of the world. I am deeply influenced by the power of transformative environments that open new possibilities for relationship. I employ experiential methods of production to explore themes of connectivity, intimacy, presence, authorship, empathy, and agency. I am drawn to those who are both interesting and interested – those who share a mutual conviction that dance is a transformative process and educative experience that can change the way people think and act. In our present cultural context, I believe that choreographic research that promotes democratic habits and activates both dancers and audience is of paramount importance. I recognize the value of community engagement and the potential for dance to impact the lives of citizens. I seek ways to make dance accessible to the public sphere and connect with audiences both within and beyond traditional dance contexts.
PC: Hannah Long
of liminal space, offers an unfolding, migratory journey of exploration. In witnessing from the threshold, viewers occupy the liminal space, between the visible and invisible, perceiver and perceived, teasing boundaries of beginnings and ends, arrivals and transitions. Through the intersection of space, bodies, and time, audiences are left betwixt-and-between, with the hopeful possibility to discover something new.
"If the artist carried through his idea and makes it into visible form, then all the steps in the process are of importance. The idea itself, even if not made visual, is as much a work of art as any finished product. All intervening steps, scribbles, sketches, drawings, failed work models, studies, thoughts, conversations, are of interest. Those that show the thought process of the artist are sometimes more interesting than the final product." —Sol LeWitt, "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art,” Artforum 1967
INSIDE THE CHOREOGRAPHER’S BRAIN: The Making of "of liminal space"
Early Stages: Choreographic Seedlings + Conceptual Development Spring/Summer 2021
The Choreographic Notebook
RESEARCH BEYOND THE BODY…
Beyond my movement research, I find kinship with certain artists outside of dance whose concepts I explore and then translate into movement, spatial design, and performance ideation. I am inspired by artists like James Turrell, whose work often focuses on how one sees in negotiation with physicalized space and conceptual artist, Sol LeWitt, whose approach to simple forms through logical and rational permutations are imbued in my own choreographic process. For this work in particular, I also utilized the foundational design principles of the Bauhaus art movement to guide my costume palette, lighting design, spatial pathways, and movement development. Bauhaus sought to standardize and unify design to serve as both function and aesthetic. Embedded throughout this work are iterations of the three colors of Bauhaus, red, yellow, and blue along with permutations of the Bauhaus shapes, square, circle, and triangle.
In Summer 2021, I visited one of my favorite contemporary art museums, MASS MoCA in Western Massachusetts. While visiting I was particularly drawn and inspired by three exhibits: James Turrell's "Into the Light," Glenn Kaino's "In the Light of a Shadow," and a curated group of artists in "Close to You." It was here, during this trip, and in witnessing and interacting with these exhibits, that the inspiration for the balloons on the prop wall was born.
Costume Design + Consultation
This was the first choreographic process where I had the opportunity to work closely with a costume designer as a consultant from start to finish. Working with Tara Webb has not only resulted in a lovely and genuine collegial connection, but it served to be extremely educational for me as a maker. To start, Tara introduced me to Color Theory and Josef Albers (surprise - Bauhaus affiliated!). In my meetings and conversations with her throughout this process, I gained new insights and perspectives in terms of how to think about design, color, and fabrics when considering costuming. I learned how to train my eye to see how colors change when interacting with stage lighting and to consider fabric as an additional layer of movement. Through her guidance I was able to arrive at a final costume selection that embodied, reflected, and complimented the design principles I was exploring in all other areas of the work. What Tara taught me was that costume choice is another way that I, as a maker, can guide the audience eye in and through the space; it's another layer of the overall design, in conversation with lights, props, space, and the movement.
In Josef Alber’s 1963 treatise, Interaction of Color, he remarked that the most fascinating thing about color is witnessing them shift in situ. “Colors present themselves in continuous flux…constantly related to changing neighbors and changing conditions.”
Sculpting the Space : Props + Set Design
From the initial stages of development, when I first proposed this work back in Spring 2021, I knew I wanted to design a textured stage space. In addition to achieving this end through lights, movement, and costuming, I was also interested in exploring the use of props and set design, considering how I was using the physical space to help experiment and support my curiosities. How does the set design alter, enhance, or simulate proximity and intimacy?
I knew I wanted various props placed in space or suspended from the ceiling grid. I also knew I wanted to have the dancers interact and manipulate some of these props, intentionally making the space adaptable. In this light, the props and sets became yet another collaborator and “mover” in the work. In the essence of Bauhaus design principles, I was considering my props and set design as serving both function and aesthetic.
The Wall
The choice and purpose of the wall, specifically, was trifold: to dance with or on, to help design the architecture of the space (which then could obstruct an audience member's view), and to project/reflect light, causing shadow effect. Again, this allowed me to explore ways to design a textured stage space and environment for both audience and performer.
The Mirrors
The choice and purpose of the suspended mylar mirrors, initially was straight function - to provide yet another perspective from which to view dance. However, as the process unfolded, and I ran into unexpected roadblocks in terms of the construction of the mirrors, I had to learn to let go of what I thought the role the mirrors would play and instead lean into the new direction they were offering me – another aesthetic element sculpting the architecture/space, where at times, and from certain angles/orientations, could still serve as a way to offer a new perspective and reflect what was unfolding below in the performance space - in conversation with the people, movement, costumes, and light.
Balloons and Bubble(Wrap)
In general, I am curious about arrivals and transitions in my everyday life, on both a micro and macro level - specifically I often ask myself, how am I arriving and transitioning? This curiosity presented itself in this work through how I guided the audience members in and out of the experience of viewing, which included additional prop elements such as balloons, bubbles, and bubble wrap. For the arrival, I chose balloons and bubbles. For me they both act as physicalized representations of how we “take up space” – it’s about presence, about seeing an individualized part to the whole picture. My hope in the audience taking part in this activity and experience is that they are presented an opportunity to consider space differently and to potentially alter their perception of the space and their role that they play in that space.
Additionally, it was also a way for me to include the audience in the work, in the making. Asking the audience to blow up and then tack their balloon to the prop wall, it is a way for the audience to literally dance with us, without getting out of their seats – for them to sculpt, shape, and mold the performance space alongside the performers – to share in this human experience of movement and dance.
For the transition out of the viewing experience, I chose to have the audience walk out on bubble wrap. The idea here was a to exhale out of the experience - opposite to inflating a balloon, they now, transition out, releasing air, moving onward and forward into their lives.
It should be noted too that the choice for balloons, bubbles, and bubble wrap play off the circle shape of the Bauhaus movement.
Designing the Theater Space
From a phenomenological perspective, how we orient ourselves to the world is how we then understand our world. In playing with this notion of “orientation,” I was immediately drawn to having my audience surround the performance space and giving them choice in terms of where they choose to sit, thereby giving them agency in terms of how they “orient” themselves to the work. From here, I wanted to utilize props as an element that would then shift the audiences’ perspectives, at times obstructing and/or enhancing audience views depending on where they were seated and the way the props move and sculpt the space throughout the work. The reason for this choice aligns with my interest in proximity and intimacy – by placing the audience up-close to the space of making they begin to also see what it feels like to be in the work, as if they were in the studio with us in the process of development – they are a part of the making, not just in consuming the product from a distance.
I was also interested in re-orientating my own relationship to a traditional theater space, so I questioned early on how I can I potentially use this space differently? In addition to placing the audience around the perimeter of the performance space rather than in the stadium seat, I made intentional choices about how and where I had audience members arrive (enter) and transition (exit) out of the space, as well as what they space looked like - I attempted to "strip down" the space to a more raw, open space where audiences were privy to the "behind the scenes," industrial and technical aspects of the theater. Again, depending on where they choose to sit, could determine what and how they are seeing the overall theater space, not just the work itself unfolding in front of them.
Open Rehearsals
During the month of February 2022, I hosted a series of Open Rehearsals as another choreographic tool. As my design involved the audience surrounding the performance space, with audience and dancers in close proximity, I was looking to best prepare my cast – getting them accustomed to performing in this way and getting them in the practice of “having an experience” versus “performing an experience.” Attendees were encouraged to share their thoughts and reactions after witnessing and experiencing the work.
Collaborators for "of liminal space"
Reflections From My Collaborators
In the words of Tara Webb (Costume Consultant)…I walk into the room. I take off my shoes. This is a new space and I am nervous. Caitlyn gathers the dancers around and we begin. She includes all of us in the room, advisors, dancers, designers. The dancers chat quietly and occupy space with Caitlyn in the center. I am in some liminal space between things. What do you need, she asks? We take out pens, pencils, and journals and share paper. I need a haircut, I think, and to solidify these vague plans for the future. What do you want? I don’t know. I write, community, gardens, art making. In this ritual of questions, this call and response, the next question is who do you trust? I trust my own two, I write. I trust the earth beneath my feet. I trust the rocks, the planets, the stars. And finally, who do you love? There are so many things and people, I think, and just write an ellipsis.
The unique opportunity to collaborate on a dance process as a costume designer calls for a different type of storytelling than plays or opera. The process of helping costuming this dance and participating in the creation reminds me how stories in dance are told in many ways. As a designer, I am drawn to how dance is able to encompass broad abstract ideas in ways that other performances cannot and to hold space for freedom and boundless boundaries. Rather than character shaping, costumes for dance like this one can much more easily center around the way the fabric drapes on the form or how the color draws the eyes in different directions and unifies the ensemble. The evolution of this process from rehearsal to performance as a costume collaborator is to celebrate these choreographic choices by nudging the mix of color palettes and fabric as they interplay with sound and light, people, and movement. The hope is that the juxtaposed ideas forming the costume design conversation might stutter to the surface along with snippets from art movements, novels, memories from theaters and distant dance halls, other spaces of creation and rituals of performance. The costumes help us travel imaginary pathways like the orbits of planets or wander into tragic moments of loss and joyful glee. The way the choreography layers with costumes and performers together flows into the space and into the absences the dancers leave behind as they move about the circle. We watch the wall move, hear the music and see shapes made by the bodies in space. Maybe we laugh at some visual that amuses us or are moved by a sound to tap our feet or bob our heads. We are reminded this is a moment in a time, a magic space, a place, an orientation. Maybe it’s our story or everybody’s story or both. We are invited into this language of intimacy and spectatorship, a way of viewing and of being viewed. We are part of a ritual of response arriving rushed and full, excited to be making something joyous, confident and hopeful.
In the words of Chris Snow (Documentarian: Videographer/ Photographer)… I am primarily a fine art photographer and video artist. Dance documentary requires a different strategy than does working in a controlled studio environment. Choreographers and photo+video/graphers must necessarily think along different lines, yet Caitlyn and I have successfully collaborated on documentation of her thesis work over two semesters. A large part of that success is Caitlyn’s spirit of cooperative collaboration, her fidelity to the principle of free and open exchange of ideas, even when this meant having to learn a bit of my language. Certainly, I have learned about the enterprise that is dance, and strategies for documenting it, as I watched Caitlyn shape of liminal space into a finished product.
But this is what I will likely remember from this experience: Caitlyn has given me the freedom to explore without the expectation that I even know “how” to make dance documentary. As I wrote above, the “free and open exchange of ideas” is so necessary to successful collaboration. A hostile environment is counter-productive and achieves very little of worth. Worse, a hostile environment is hardly any fun. It was clear to me from the very beginning that Caitlyn and her dancers were having fun and enjoying their lives despite the pressures upon them. And that is an Art in itself.
Costume Consultant
Tara Webb is a theatre artist specializing in costume design and costume technologies. Tara has collaborated with contemporary performance companies and artists that utilize interdisciplinary and contemporary playmaking and choreographic processes in San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia. She is currently teaching costume technology for the UNCG School of Theatre and working on a local color palette of natural dyes from plants and organic materials as part of her UNCG Sustainability Faculty Fellowship. She has an MA in Visual Culture: Costume Studies from NYU and a BA in Theatre Studies from Swarthmore College. You can find more images of some of her costume design work at tarawebb.com.
Documentarian: Videography/Photography
Chris Snow (Snovian Image) is a Greensboro based visual artist working in photo and video and design. He earned a BFA in Photography from UNCG (2017) and presently works in broadcast production at WGHP FOX8. of liminal space is his second documentary collaboration with a School of Dance MFA Candidate in Choreography.
Lighting Designer
Christopher Fleming has served in the capacity of studio assistant for a number of visual artists and blacksmiths, and as a Stagehand, Stage Manager, Technical Director, and Production Manager for many Dance, Theater, Opera, and live music artists and venues. In 2001, Chris began to explore working in higher education, first as a guest artist and speaker at Naropa University (Boulder, Colorado), followed by St.Olaf College (Northfield, Minnesota) and the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia). He is currently the Dance Technical Director at UNC Greensboro.
Dancer bios
Aubria Battle (Raleigh,NC) is a multi-hyphenate music artist, dancer, and choreographer who is working towards her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography, with a minor in Psychology. She enjoys all aspects of being an artist, but dance keeps her grounded. Her focus as a dancer is, connecting her experience as a mover and advocacy of mental health, to help others express themselves in a therapeutic space (dance therapy).
Azaria Gadson is a curious interdisciplinary performance artist and researcher working towards a degree in dance performance and choreography from University of North Carolina at Greensboro. With focus in both dance and visual art, she has curated original dance works Sexual Revolution and Find Your Wings with related visual arts series involving her interest in intersectional experiences and the embodiment of personal history and expression. Though born and raised in Charlotte, NC she is heavily influenced by her close proximity to her Jamaican heritage, and explores through-lines between black and Caribbean culture, the concept of magic, and the act of agency. Thus far she has collaborated with Theatre of Movement founder Duane Cyrus and UNCG alumna Faith Brown for dance research and media-based works.
Savannah Jenkins (Winston-Salem, NC), has trained in various genres of dance and is currently in the process of earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in performance and choreography while also obtaining minors in both arts administration and anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro anticipated May 2022. She was selected to participate in American Dance Festival in NYC under many artists. These artists include Urban Bush Women, Kyle Marshall, Christian Von Howard, Nia Love, Leah Cox, and more. She has also learned works from B.J Sullivan, Clarice Young, Juel D. Lane, Maurice Watson and many more. Her interest include, interdisciplinary art and culture as well as choreographic processes. She hopes to perform in a professional company and collaborate with more artist in the future. For serious inquiries please contact Savannah Jenkins at smjenki3@uncg.edu
Julianne Peebles, a native of Acton, Massachusetts, is a dancer, psychology student, and thriller film enthusiast. She began her academic studies as a Dance Education major and Child Advocacy minor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where she participated in their Teacher Education Program for licensure in Elementary and Special Education. She worked as an Early Childhood Education teacher at a Head Start program for two years before pursuing dual degrees at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography and a BA in Psychology. Prior to her time at UNCG, Julianne danced with the Acton School of Ballet, the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, the Ailey School, the Stephen Petronio Company at Skidmore College, and various faculty members at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She plans to continue on to pursue Clinical Psychology at the graduate level, intending to study psychopathology and risk and protective factors associated with aesthetic-athletic arts. Julianne hopes to conduct research at the intersection of dance and psychology as well as provide clinical services to artistic populations.
Genna Stott (Raleigh, NC) is a performing artist and choreographer, currently attending the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, receiving her BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography alongside a BA in Communications. She has performed new dance works like Breathless by Clarice Young, Moths to a Flame by B.J. Sullivan, and a re-staging of Shen Wei’s Re-(III). She has collaboratively choreographed Bag of Oranges for NC Governor's School and individually created Stage for American Dance Festival. Genna anticipates graduating in May of 2022 and exploring more performance and choreographic opportunities.
Aislinn Travis is a third-year BFA student in the School of Dance minoring in American Sign Language as well as Musical Theater. Known lovingly to some as "Travis," she enjoys making dances with her friends and sharing dance memes on Instagram. Aislinn is originally from a small coastal city called Saco, Maine, and enjoys spending time in New England with her family. She has maintained two hobbies from quarantine, sourdough bread baking and hand embroidery, and loves sharing the results with her friends and peers. This year, Aislinn serves as the Treasurer for Prime Movers, and looks forward to continued work in the organization. She has also created her own choreographic work in college, The Prettiest Sea Slug (2021) and complexus (2021), which were featured in Delta Chi Xi’s Barefoot Charity Concert and the Prime Movers Showcase, respectively. She credits learning from Caitlyn and Allison’s choreographic processes for the development of her own creative practice, and will be sad to see them go. Aislinn wants to thank her family for always encouraging her to pursue her passions, and the MFA choreographers featured tonight for continued faith in her as a dancer, choreographer, and person.
kt williams is a contemporary dancer, teacher, choreographer, and interdisciplinary collaborator currently based in Greensboro, NC. In 2015, williams earned her BFA in dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she received the Donald Carducci Memorial Scholarship Award for overall excellence in dance performance. Originally from Chicago, IL, williams has performed with various Chicago-based dance projects and her work has been presented Hamlin Park Fieldhouse, Links Hall, and Elastic Arts. Most recently, she collaborated with MFA Candidate Caitlyn Schrader on a three-part performance series titled, “Power Tools and Party Tricks,” presented by Adam Carlin at the Gatewood Gallery in Greensboro, NC. williams is currently a second-year graduate student in the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and serves as an Instructor of Record teaching introductory-level courses in contemporary dance to undergraduate students.
Folline Williford is originally from North Carolina and studied dance for 2 years at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, CA before transferring to UNCG in 2018. She was a competitive gymnast until she took a dance class in middle school and was totally hooked. The following year, Folline joined the competitive company at Releve Performing Arts Center (RPAC). During her time at RPAC, Folline competed at numerous regional/national competitions and was a member of their Elite company the last few years of high school. Folline will graduate in Spring 2022 with a Bachelor’s in Dance Education (K-12 licensure).
Credits:
PC: Hannah Long, Snovian Image