Hidden behind the
Pyramid is where a department full of innovative dancers, artists, and
choreographers can be found. Within the
CSULB department of dance, students are preparing for the annual Contemporary Dance
Concert. This concert displays the works
of undergraduate dance majors, like Katie Marshall and Molly Matutat.
Katie
Marshall, 21, a senior dance BFA student has two pieces in the Contemporary
Concert; including a tap piece titled “Tappin’ Out” which she co-choreographed
with another dance major, Melissa Sennewald, and “The Secret Pond”. Her piece “The Secret Pond” was inspired by
the John Steinbeck novel East of
Eden. Marshall’s choreography
portrays the battle between good and evil within people. She explained, “that once the facade people
put up is stripped away we are all just people.”
The
choreographic process for Marshall began as a duet that formed into a group of
five dancers. The phrases of movement
that were initially created for two dancers evolved into a completed piece of
work including senior BFA dance major Molly Matutat.
Matutat
has the experience of both the performer and the choreographer. She too has a piece being presented in the
Contemporary Concert titled, “Split Sync.”
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Dancers: Nikita Wardanian, 21, Senior dance major
Madison Ligon, 22, senior dance major
Allison Moorefield, 19, sophomore dance major
Jessica Egbert, 20, junior dance major
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As a choreographer, “I am not afraid to ask for what I want,” she explains. “As a dancer the choreographer is creating their work directly onto you, and it is up to you to manifest their ideas.” For this reason it is much more nerve racking for her to be the performer. Matutat understands the choreographer’s point of view, and how important it is for something to be done a certain way.
Marshall
and Matutat agree that as a choreographer you have more control of the
rehearsal process, the movement, and the dancers. Both seem to agree that as a student
choreographer and performer, a lot less intimidation occurs when working with
peers. This also means a level of understanding must be kept for the dancers to
remain focused and take the choreographer seriously.
For
Matuat, being in a piece choreographed by one of her good friends was “enlightening”. During the process she was able to grow to
closer with Marshall through portraying what the choreographer wanted to express.
She felt honored.
As a dancer and
choreographer different challenges arise during the creative, rehearsal, and
performance process. As a choreographer Matutat
worried about creating enough material, explaining movement in a way that her
dancers would understand and hitting what she called “the choreographer’s
version of writers block”.
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| Choreographer Molly Matutat overlooks dancers Jessica Egbert and Allison Moorefield during rehearsals for “Split Sync” |
Both Marshall and
Matutat believe that as the dancer, the greatest challenges are the physical
and performance aspects along with conveying the choreographer’s movement.
The dancer is also able
to experience the frustration of the choreographer during the editing
process. Matutat described the editing
process as, “a painter trying to paint a certain color but the paint is
not the color that they want. [As a
dancer] you have to find a way to match the color that they want.”
The overall creative
process that goes into a dance piece differs from person to person. Matutat was inspired by music and life
circumstances. Marshall was inspired by
concepts and characters from her favorite novel; but once the choreographic
process is complete the creative process is not over.
Before
performing on stage both student choreographers must meet up with lighting
designer Andrew Milhan and costume designer Liz Carpenter. The lighting and costume design process both
begin the same. The choreographer explains
what they want to portray onstage. Then
begins the process of communication between the choreographer and the designers,
and once all agree the final product is presented onstage for the audience to
enjoy.
