Proposal

Proposal

            I initially had several very nebulous ideas for my pieces, but I finally narrowed them down to just three specific ones. I wanted to create three things that are very personal to me, while also making something presentable to an audience. I decided to challenge myself by being more honest in my concepts, rather than solely relying on narratives from outside sources. I normally “cheat” by beginning with a very specific concept and ending with something so abstract that it doesn’t really relate to the original idea in any clear way.   

            My first idea is a duet for two male dancers. Throughout my life I’ve taken mental notes on the relationships that men share, the way we interact with one another, how the world sees male relationships etc. This is not limited to romantic relationships or friendships, however. I wanted to incorporate the relationship I have with my father, my uncles, my brother, my grandfathers, and even myself. It’s a very rich subject matter than allows for a wide array of interpretation. The duet is about 5 minutes long and at the moment its set to Philip Glass’ “Opening”.

            My second idea is a group piece for as many dancers I can get to commit to the rehearsals. I want this to unapologetically be about race. There was a terribly striking clip I found online of the Ku Klux Klan rallying together around the dead body of a black man. There’s a burning cross in the frame and it really captures the essence of the time period. I wanted the clip to be a short preface to the piece. I'm still working on what I want the choreography to look like, and where I want to draw material from. I want the piece to be about how black people feel and have felt for the last century and beyond, without lessening the subject matter. I think perhaps that might be the biggest challenge with this idea.

            My third and final idea is a solo. I would love for this to be collaboration with theater students, because I'm going to write a monologue for a single person as well as a group of actors. The piece is about a lot of things and is by far the most personal thing that I've ever choreographed, not only for the movement but also because of the words layered over it. The dialogue includes my personal experiences with being black, gay, my thoughts on going to hell, the Bible, death, joy, depression and many other things.