On Elegance, Form, and Function: Exploring the Nexus Between Scientific Research and Movement Research

Live performance is an inimitable opportunity for a transfer of energy between viewer and performer. Through movement, I attempt to provide a foundation for this transfer. At the heart of my practice is a deep curiosity about movement as it relates to energy, a truly indestructible force. Moreover, systems need energy in order to function. When I think of a dance as a system, or a collection of dancers on stage as a system, the energy that feeds them is the energy that makes a composition . There is kinetic and potential energy within physical practice, incandescent energy from the lights, the energy between the audience members and the dancers, the energy of the dancers themselves and even with each other. As a performer and choreographer with an avid interest in the sciences, I seek to employ the research-based techniques utilized by laboratory scientists to make work, using human bodies as my primary medium. Employing this type of investigative practice, I approach making work as an experiment in space, time, emotion, and energy. Beginning with a movement hypothesis – a quality or a gesture in which I am interested- I improvise freely, tracking my trajectory by sketching and annotating. Ultimately, my goal lies in using the human form as a vessel of change and possibility, simultaneously encouraging others to view their physical bodies as powerful tools of communication and expression. Thus, I seek to collaborate with artists of various disciplines, such as studio arts, videographers, writers, and movement enthusiasts of all levels of experience, encouraging divergent interpretations of physical language, and ultimately reflecting the limitless potential for makers of all ethnicity, gender identity, formal training, and physical ability to have a profound impact on society through performance art