On Feb. 16 and 17, senior dance majors and Elon College Fellows Abigail Corrigan and Corinne Wilson will be presenting "Of Those Who Live" and "Reconstructing Jazz," a dance concert consisting of two full-length pieces choreographed by the students.
On Feb. 16 and 17, senior dance majors and Elon College Fellows Abigail Corrigan and Corinne Wilson will be presenting “Of Those Who Live” and “Reconstructing Jazz,” a dance concert consisting of two full-length pieces choreographed by the students.
Both Corrigan and Wilson have been conducting separate research projects through the College Fellows program during their time at Elon, and this concert is a demonstration of both of their findings.
Elon Dance Majors of all grades will perform the two works. The show will be on Friday, February 16 at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., as well as on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. The performances will take place in the Black Box Theatre at the Center for the Arts.
On February 16, Corrigan and Wilson will hold an artist talk back at 7:30 p.m. to have an open discussion with the audience. In addition, on Feb. 17 there will be a reception open to all members of the community following the 6 p.m. show.
“Of Those Who Live,” choreographed by Corrigan, is a full-length dance piece that utilizes a choreographic process that is emanated from Ernest Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory of writing, which she created through her research. The Iceberg Theory is a minimalistic approach to writing where only surface details, such as descriptions of setting and dialogue between characters, are included while larger thematic elements are left open to interpretation.
This form of writing evokes a more intense emotional response from the reader. “The first time I read a work by Hemingway, I felt as if I became a part of the story,” Corrigan observed. “I knew the thoughts and inter workings of the characters, making me feel as if I had my own role in the story. In “Of Those Who Live,” I aim to make the audience experience this same sensation through my piece of dance art that I had when I read Hemingway for the first time.”
It is Corrigan’s theory that the combination of the creative development behind the movement and the sensory experience of the dancers on stage will parallel Hemingway’s writing style in the medium of dance. In turn, the work will invite the audience of “Of Those Who Live” to engage with the work on a more intimate level, as Hemingway was able to do with his readers.
Through this process of choreographing that Corrigan researched, she and her dancers have created a work that explores what the phrase “you aren’t really living until you’re almost dead” means to the six dancers on stage and the audience in the room. In order to unpack the meaning behind these words, the saying will be analyzed from a physical, aesthetic and emotional perspective using intricate and humanistic movements. At the end of “Of Those Who Live,” the audience will be able to feel the true meaning behind the phrase “you aren’t really living until you’re almost dead.”
The research behind “Reconstructing Jazz” began with an analysis of the choreographic works created by five of the most influential jazz dance artists of the 20th century listed above. From the information uncovered in these analyses, Wilson created five new dances using the most prominent choreographic concepts and stylistic characteristics of each choreographer. Allison Ivan, a junior dance major at Elon and a dancer in the work “Reconstructing Jazz,” said, “Corinne’s research has helped me better understand the fundamentals of jazz, and her choreography has challenged me to develop another side of my artistry.”
In addition to the five pieces Wilson has choreographed in the styles of Giordano, Fosse, Luigi, Horton and Mattox, she created a sixth piece using influences from all of these choreographers in the way that feels most interesting and natural to her own artistic processes. “Reconstructing Jazz” is a result of all of the information and techniques Wilson has learned from her research over the past two years.
Through their hard work and research, Corrigan and Wilson have not only grown as artists, but also as professionals and scholars.
“This has been the most interesting, artistically challenging, and rewarding process I’ve ever been a part of,” Wilson said. “This show has changed the way I approach dance and has pushed me to become a better artist, choreographer, and director in so many ways.”
The work the two students have committed to this project is demonstrative of the quality of the performance. The combination of Corrigan and Wilson’s works in “Of Those Who Live” and “Reconstructing Jazz” will create a dance concert that is not only engaging, but spans a wide range of interest. With two varying styles of dance, every audience member is sure to be engaged by the work Corrigan and Wilson have created and will leave the theater having experienced an evening of dance like no other.
For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/ECFResearchConcert/
Email collegefellowsdanceconcert@gmail.com for reservations.