By Emily Gastineau
Charlottesville, Virginia
Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Dance minor
After Mac: Dancing and working in the Twin Cities
The dance program at Macalester has given me the opportunity to integrate thinking and moving in a way I didn’t know was possible. My interest in doing choreography has been well supported here, and I have presented six of my own pieces in Macalester dance concerts. These concerts every semester provide opportunities to perform in faculty or student work, or to choreograph your own piece. The performances are supported by technique classes in modern dance, ballet, dance improvisation, African-based movement, and dance composition courses.
After taking courses in dance history and theory, I did an independent research project through the Lilly Summer Fellows Program. I interviewed 14 Twin Cities dance artists about their social responsibilities as artists and how dance can function as embodied activism. As a senior I worked on an honors project connecting my work in dance to my major in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies. I’ve created two dance pieces focusing on the relationship between the body and subjectivity in contemporary dance, and movement as a political strategy.
Macalester students are really lucky to have access to the vibrant dance scene in the Twin Cities. The dance faculty are all active artists in their own right, and I’ve worked with several guest choreographers—Minneapolis choreographer April Sellers, David Gordon at the Walker Art Center, and 9x22 Dance Lab at the Bryant Lake Bowl. I am confident that my dance education in a liberal arts setting will help me make unique contributions to the dance community.
|
