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Artist of the Month
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Creativity & Arts Spotlight : Anna Leo
Family and Poetry Inspire Emory Choreographer Anna Leo
Inspired by her family, choreographer Anna Leo, Emory Dance Program Director, presents …me so much nearer home, a sequence of elegant dances blending delicate gesture with physically driving movement that honor the nature of family and community. The concert features music composed by Music Department faculty member Steve Everett, and Dance Program composers Kendall Simpson and Klimchak. Poems are by Robert Brown, Fran Castan, Lynne Thompson, and Cecelia Woloch. Dancers will be from the Atlanta professional community and Emory faculty.
Performances are Sept. 25-26 at 8 p.m. and Sept. 27 at 3 p.m., Schwartz Center, Dance Studio. For tickets ($5) call the Arts at Emory box office at 404-727-5050, or go online to www.arts.emory.edu.
What can audiences expect in this performance?
How is poetry incorporated into the performance? Did it shape the order of your program?
How did you discover the pantoum poetry form that inspired the solo?
Did you discover anything new about the works that you are re-setting you didn’t realize the first time around?
Why do you feel like you gravitate towards family as an inspiration for your work?
Do you have any other upcoming projects on the horizon?
How do you feel that Dance at Emory has evolved and changed at Emory since you arrived?What can audiences expect in this performance?
AL - This concert is defined by my desire to present a body of work connected by theme, and to collaborate with artists in other disciplines. I looked to create a structure or format that would allow the elements involved - movement, poetry, music, and design - to connect in a cohesive performance setting. The concert runs approximately one hour from beginning to end with no intermissions, and there are movement ideas that carry over from one piece to the next. Each of the four dances is introduced by a poem, and each dance has a score composed specifically for the piece. Costume and lighting design also play an integral part in realizing the theme, and connecting the works to each other.
How is poetry incorporated into the performance? Did it shape the order of your program?
AL - Each of the dances is introduced by a poem. For two of the pieces, Together with Eyes Closed and
Warrior Woman Pantoum the dances were created first and the poems written in response to the dances. For the trio the poem and the dance were created simultaneously, and for the quartet the dance was inspired by an already existing poem. I have varied the presentation formats for the poems in the performance. Lynne Thompson's poem Voice, which introduces the opening solo on the concert is recorded. The poem connected to the duet Together With Eyes Closed: A Suite for Two Solitudes by Cecilia Woloch is recited live before the dance begins, as is the poem Sister, Sister, Brother written by Robert Brown for the trio. The poem First Month's Blessing, which inspired the quartet, is printed in the program, giving the audience the opportunity to read it as opposed to listening to it. The dances are sequenced chronologically in order of my relationship to the honored family member: the dance dedicated to my mother is first, siblings are next, followed by the dance dedicated to my husband, and concluding with the dance honoring my daughter.
How did you discover the pantoum poetry form that inspired the solo?
AL - In much of my work, I gravitate to creating new or using already existing forms. Because my husband writes poetry, and we share a wonderful collection of poetry books, I read and listen to a good amount of poetry. After reading Cecilia Woloch's poem Bareback Pantoum, I did some research on the form and then decided to create a solo that would reflect Cecilia's poem. {Malayan pantoum poetry form: quatrains in which the second and fourth lines of a stanza repeat as the first and third lines of the next stanza, etc.} Soon after I completed a sketch of the movement material, my interest in the dynamics of that movement material shifted. In changing the dynamic range, the dance developed a new context not wholly connected to the poem, though the form remained intact.
Did you discover anything new about the works that you are re-setting you didn’t realize the first time around?
AL - The dances changed in the process of re-setting them. The duet will be performed again by Gregory Catellier and George Staib. As the dancers who originally created the piece with me, they were instrumental in shaping the movement
vocabulary and the initial character and feel of the piece. In restaging the work, rather than focusing on movement material, I focused more closely with the dancers on movement dynamics such as energy and nuance. In this way, we could refine the subtle ways in which the dancers relate to each other through gesture and placement in space, allowing the piece to further develop a context. For me, a key part of every dance is always the dancers in the work. I enjoy highlighting the distinct qualities of individual dancers, and allowing these characteristics to influence and shape the work. In my mind, the quartet is a community, and in the process of re-setting the work with two original cast members, Lori Teague and Blake Beckham, and two new cast members, Jade Poole and George Staib, we created a new community that embraces the qualities and personalities of those dancers. Again, although the movement material remains intact from the original choreography, the work is newly informed by the performers who realize it.
Why do you feel like you gravitate towards family as an inspiration for your work?
AL - I often begin my choreographic investigations with lists of words that will trigger the making of movement material. As a starting point for the trio Seven Little Dances for Three I asked my brother and sister, as well as myself, to draw up individual lists of characteristics that described each of our siblings. The one characteristic that appeared on all of our lists was the idea of the importance of family. We identified ourselves and each other as strongly connected to family. Perhaps there is a cultural connection here that informs my work - I come from an immigrant Italian family in which the notion of family, and by extension, community, are highly valued and practiced.
Do you have any other upcoming projects on the horizon?
AL - I am currently working on a large ensemble piece for fourteen members of the Emory Dance Company. All five of our full time dance faculty members are choreographing for the company this fall [Emory Dance Company Fall Concert, Nov. 19-21]. The unifying concept in all of our works will be the theme of "memory." I also am looking to restage the Warrior Woman Pantoum solo for dancers at other colleges and universities, and perhaps when I have five or so restagings completed, bringing those dancers together to create a quintet version.
How do you feel that Dance at Emory has evolved and changed at Emory since you arrived?
AL - Even in 1993 when I first arrived at Emory and there was only a dance minor, I thought the program presented a solid course of study in dance. Since that time we have added the major, and, with that, a broader range of course work. The faculty possesses a diverse blend of skills and interests. We continue to look for ways to deepen the dance experience at Emory for the highly skilled dancers who seek in-depth study in the form, while also broadening our curriculum in order to reach those students who have never been exposed to dance and want an opportunity to learn about it as a physical activity and an art. This fall we have moved from under the Department of Health and Physical Education to the Department of Theater Studies. I think that this move will further open the door to new ideas about teaching and researching in the two disciplines.
Back to Questions.
Edited by Jessica Moore
Communications Coordinator
Arts at Emory
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