Storm

 On September 10, 2010 I performed in the Philly Fringe Festival. The performance was held at the Performance Garage on Brandywine Street in Philadelphia, PA. It was an honor to be dancing Renee Banson’s (a local dance artist) choreography. The piece performed was called, “Storm” and involved a collaboration from musicians and visual artists.  Watching Renee work and create dance as art was an inspiring experience in its own. Every detail from the music, to the costuming and props were important. The piece had a cast of six in total; five dancers and a soloist with a prop.

 The work was fast paced and required immense stamina. I could feel all the muscles in my body burning with heat. Every movement felt comfortable like muscle memory, as I glided across the  black marly. The choreography  included everything from jumps, to flat-backs, to table tops, and more. In the middle of the piece the five dancers  were all spaced evenly around the edges of the stage. Everyone focused on the middle of stage and began in parallel plie with their hands above their head. Articulating through the spine, we rolled down and up with our eyes focused on the soloist (center stage).  Next we flipped the torso forward into an attitude back. Bringing the body upward again, the cannon started. I held for four counts and extended the leg in second position, stretching my arms directly above my head. I reached up and over in a circular motion-- switching my weight onto the standing leg. From their the phrase ended, dropping all my weight forward into a swing release. It  was the strongest section out of all the choreography in the piece.

 The Performance Garage, in Philadelphia, PA, was a three foot high black marly stage with a white scrim. There were two sets of lights on each side, and the wings were created by rolling mirrors. The audience in this space were tightly packed. Each person sat in an individual chair,stacked in rows, on  four story risers. This created a homey atmosphere while dancing. You could see the faces of the people watching the performance. The audience members could feel the heat of the blue and white lights as we danced.  Our costumes shimmered in the light and one could hear the whipping of the fabric as we turned. 

 Dancing this piece, in a well known art theatre of Philadelphia, was an exceptional experience. “Storm” came together as a work of art. At the end of the number you could feel the excitement in the audience. Dancing with each other for six weeks as performers caused us to become an excellent cast on stage. Every dancer took inspiration from the other to have improvement in their own performance. Renee Banson created beautiful art and I was so privileged to be a part of it.

Live-in the moment of the performance

Laugh-at your mistakes on stage

Love- every moment you get to perform