DIVINE.

     Divine came to be from two different ideas. The style of movement for the performance came from a paper that I wrote on Beth Gill who I studied in the Spring of ’22 in my Dance History II course. I was intrigued by the way Gill manipulated time in her works and that was an idea that I wanted to challenge myself with. with respect to the concept of the performance as a whole, I wanted it to be an expansion of two pieces I made my sophomore year Off Record and Off Record pt 2. These were intimate works bringing the viewers into a world of someone who is struggling with their self-confidence and self-worth. Those pieces were about my particular journey with those struggles, how those thoughts and feelings manifested in my body and the reactions my body experienced. Divine is about the journey of finding yourself, your self-worth, and your confidence. It offers space for individuals to intimately know how beautiful they are and to begin that personal journey with a community of supportive and loving individuals. 

 

     The process of choreographing Divine was very collaborative between the dancers and I. This work was about me and my journey with self-worth and realizing I should take up space, or own my position in this world. But in that discovery I also realized that each individual dancer could elaborate on those same ideas. That is why it was important to me that the dancers had a voice in the work and were seen. Aspects of community, love, and support were also strong ideas that I hoped to create in the rehearsal process. 

 

     The title Divine stems from the idea of the divine feminine. How I view divine feminine is the power and strength of being a woman. Some of the characteristics I connect the divine feminine to is healing, connection, growth, compassion, and love. The performance is entitled Divine because I didn’t want to simply connect that feeling to the heteronormative feminine or masculine energy, but instead create a space for everyone to feel that energy and quality. 

 

     The show will be an accumulation of multiple different creative mediums to build an immersive dance experience that I hope everyone can connect and feel a part of. I received a Black Box Grant from the Theatre, Dance, and Arts Administration at SUU and the CONNECT Grant from SUU to create this work, Divine. I've loved every second of this process and am beyond excited to share it with you! This production could not be possible without each dancer involved in the creative process bringing this concept to life. I'm beyond grateful for the moments I was able to witness throughout this process with each artist. 

    

To learn more about this process take a look at the online journal made for Divine