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What have you done to further the intentions and goals you set for yourself at the top of the semester?

Reading back and reflecting upon my first entry in this padlet, I wrote that one of my goals was wanting to participate in a guest choreographer experience, I had wrote that "I would like to experience a process that will build my confidence as a performer" and I really felt like Mz. G's process did that for me! I really worked on my emotions in this to get a better depth in my quality of emotions as a performer. It was so amazing.

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What has been challenging for you in this process?

Something that was challenging for me during show week was fatigue and taking care of myself. I found that during the week I had to prioritze myself and what I needed most before anything else. I think sometimes I would normally put other things above myself but this week I really had to find perpesctive. It was a challenge but also gave me room for growth.

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What have you learned from someone else in your cast and/or the choreographer/creative leaders of your project?

I learned so much from my cast! I learned so much espically from Maddy. She brought such a joy and confidence to this process and piece. She inspiried my cast each time they stepped onto the stage to go out there and spread the message of what we are here to do. She trusted the process and audience which was hard for my cast to do sometimes. I really appreicate her and the example she set.

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What has been a delight for you in this process?

A delight for me in this process has been the gratification at the end of every show. The piece relfects so many topics going on right now and gives the audience so many things to think about but in the end, you see the joy and the beauty of celebrating life. It really is an amazing feeling that I feel like my whole cast felt as well as the audience. It was really great.

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What connections are you making between this experience and other life experiences you are having?

As a rehearsal assistant, I feel a responsibility to communicate these concerns and serve as a liaison between the faculty and crew. This process has been challenging, but I’ve recently taken on several leadership roles outside of dance, and I’m applying the skills I’ve gained from those experiences to navigate these situations. I’m grateful for that growth and for the opportunity to support and respect my cast through this.

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What have you taught yourself?

I have taught myself to be empathetic with my peers and hear what they have to say. I have also taught myself that it is ok to be uncomfortable and to embrace it in order to grow.

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what has been challenging for you in the process?

One of the biggest challenges for me in this process has been fully trusting it. During spacing and tech, I felt that the meaning of the piece got a little lost for some of my cast members. As someone who always tries to find the positive—especially in dance—I struggled to help my cast feel comfortable expressing their feelings and empathizing with them. I understand their frustrations, but I also recognize that putting on a show involves many moving parts. It was important to respect what Ms. G envisioned for the piece, even when it didn’t fully align with some of our values as dancers.

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2/11 PDPR Reflection

This was written the week after residency

Some things about the residency that stood out to me was the ability to process my place as a white woman and what I can do to be an ally towards others. How I do not have to be afraid to learn and see other cultures while respecting and honoring them. I do not have to live in fear of that at all, which I think is something I am growing to realize in my own personal life. Mz. G saw me in my values and understood me which I appreciated so much. She taught me that seeing the humanity in others is a gift and to understand it in ways beyond movement. She also helped me feel confident when dancing outside of those comfort zones. I had a lot of imposter syndrome doing the second line just because those concepts are so foreign to me. Her comments and her celebrations of even me trying made the space feel safe to try new things and learn from my mistakes.

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What has been challenging for you in this process?

Something that has been challenging for myself in this process has been understanding and trusting myself fully as a performer. I struggle sometimes to trust myself when tasked with something out of my comfort zone but through this process those challenges are very present. I want to work harder to let myself go and trust what is being asked of myself and that I am capable enough to accomplish it.

What has been a delight for you in this process?

Something that has been a delight for myself in the process is seeing what ways I am growing as a dancer. I feel stronger and more energized from the first day and feel able to communicate and accomplish what is being asked of me. I think it has also been delightful to get to learn from Mz. G. She holds so much knowledge and I appricate everything she brings to the table.

How have you grown?

I have grown so much in such a short amount of time. I have found that I have grown a lot in the way of not doubting myself before I try something and just doing it!

What connections are you making between this experience and other life experiences you are having?

The dance reflects on how we see the humanity in people and noticing and aknowledging other people and their cultures and being an ally and meeting them where they are. I have been reading and reflecting on these ideas a lot based on our current political climate at the moment and trying to see where my position is in it as a white woman in 2025. Mz. G came in talking about this same idea and I feel like it has been a way to really connect this to my outside life. I use dance as an outlet to process everything and this being a topic that I am processing currently, dance is the best outlet for that to come from.

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Photo, gif, or publicly sourced video that connects to the piece/your experience & why/how it does

This is a video of a second line, which is something that we have at the end of the dance. Mz. G had us research and watch videos of second lines to help us understand what it is.

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https://open.spotify.com/track/7v6DvsyQHmsQQhmVDmrnZg?si=1c66386b875545a1

Personally created or sourced song, poem, drawing, or excerpt from a piece of writing that connects to the piece/your experience & why/how it does

We listened to this song and felt the spirit guide us through our movements. I think this song encapulates so many things about hope and grace that we give to others. We were asked to describe how we feel when we listen to this song and I used the word etheral.

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Photo, gif, or publicly sourced video that connects to the piece/your experience & why/how it does

I used this picture of the gesture of hands over eyes because at the beginning of the dance Audrey and I are resisiting to notice what is going on in the world around us. We use this gesture in our movement.

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I was excited that I felt so challeneged in her audition. I came out of the audition like I just ran multiple miles, and I haven't felt that way in a while. I was also excited by the way she incorporated spirituality in dancing. I find dance to be a very spiritual practice but I never know how to truly think about it in that way or even incorporate it in my movement. I felt like I felt truly connected to my movement.

While it was exciting to feel challenged and fatigued after one hour of the audition, I cannot even imagine myself after 4 hours for a whole week! I think it is a scary feeling but also a challenge I am willing to take if given an oportunity.

This process would help me grow in so many ways. I think I would learn so much about myself as a performer and it would grow my confidence in the way I just have to let myself go and trust a process. Mz. G has a process that you have to buy into in order to be successful and that means I have to get out of my head. The way she teaches takes me out of my head and has me fully present because there are so many moving parts. I would grow so much.

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An exciting thing that came out of this process for myself was the ability to actively listen and watch to pick up as much choreography as I could with how fast he taught it.

A challenging thing about this process was that I was cut. I felt like I had pushed myself out of my comfort zone and knew basic parts of the choreography but I guess my transitions were not as clear which is something I need to work on.

I think this process would help me grow if given the chance, to show what I lacked of in the audition. I would become more confident and would love to work with his posititivy and creative outlook on movement from his various backgrounds.

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I was excited to be able to move my hips! I want to get better about feeling more confident in more mature movement.

Something I found challenging was the ballroom movements. It was hard to coordinate everything that was going on in my body.

I think Annie's process would help me grow by seeing different ways of movement. I feel like I do a lot of contemporary but it would be nice to incorporate contempoary with other styles.

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Something that shook myself out of grief was when I told a group of friends what was going on in my family and personal life, my two closest dance friends. When I told them something that I was grieving and going through, they met me with love and empathy. While maybe this is just a basic friend response, their ability to show vulnerabilty and empthaize with me brought so much clarity about the shit that everyone goes through and how much of it can build who you are and the relationships you are able to create off of that. It are those friendships that help you realize how some other ones don't do that for you as well.

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My performance journey at UT has been nothing short of lovely. I feel my confidence as a performer has grown signficantly and I feel more myself when I am dancing. I used to get very in my head during performances growing up which resulted in not dancing to my fullest potential but through dancing in college at UT, I have learned basically to not give a fuck about how I look but to listen to my body and how the movement makes me feel. Megan's piece in fall 2024 really helped me gain that confidence. Also my S.E.E.D dances have really helped me flex my muscles in different styles.

I would love to particpate in any experinces but really would enjoy the oppotunity to perform. I did not perform at all my first year of college and my dance expereince felt so empty. When I was able to perform last semester my cup felt filled and I felt joy getting to learn from soemone I looked up to since I came to the univeristy, Megan. I loved getting to see her process and I would love to see another student process. I also have learned from my peers about their experience with guest choreographers and how the process is so different with every single one. I really would just like to expereince a process that will build my confidence as a performer.

I am pretty much free because I made a commitment to PDPR when I signed up for the course and have based my time in other actvities around that. Since the timing is a little bit more short, those opportunites I take to go home or involve myself in organizations, I will take post performance.

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I enjoyed the audition process of Nadia. Grief and dance are things I never really assoicate together and I enjoyed Nadia's ideas for their piece. I am from Birmingham and have learned about the history of the 16th baptist church bombing and found it so interesting how they want to incorporate the spiritual aspect of greif with movement and performance.

A challenging aspect of the audition was the ability to let myself go during this time. With her process it will be a very emotional driven piece with using our own personal experiences to fuel how we emote in the performance. I think that will be challenging but ultimately a place of growth.

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Alabama - Live At Birdland Jazzclub, New York City, NY, 10/18/1963

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Alabama - Live At Birdland Jazzclub, New York City, NY, 10/18/1963

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1/15 Cam and Presley Audition Reflection #1

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1/15 Cam and Presley Audition Reflection #1

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I was excited to feel pushed in this audition. Their audition being the last audition of the week, I was nervous about my lack of focus and effort due to my fatigue. I felt the opposite of that in their audition. I felt pushed by their energy and ability to work so well together that got me excited if given the opportunity to work with them. I admire student choreographers and love to see their process since it is so new to them just as it is new to us. I really have been working through the idea of feeling alone and the relationship between loneliness and love in mulitple aspects of my life. To hear that is what they will be working with in their piece really excites me.

A challenging aspect of their audition was defenitly my transitions in their choreography. When learning in such a fast environment like an audition, I sometimes loose my transitions and overall groundness in my movement. This is all how I felt in my head about it, who actually knows what I looked like doing it.

I think I would grow in so many ways in this process. I think the way I can work on my transitions in a very musicality driven work would be very benefical for my growth as a dancer and performer.