2008 Woodie Awards
An Ensemble Cast
Ethan Moore
Issue date: 4/14/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
- Page 1 of 4 next >
Behind every written letter there is a relationship, and the Hendrix Dance Ensemble is using this as inspiration for a dance titled "Correspondence." The dancers performed the piece, to music composed by Jeremy Crosmer, at the American College Dance Festival (ACDF) which took place March 11-15. "Correspondence" will also be performed at the Dance Ensemble Spring Concert on Wednesday, April 26 and Thursday, April 27.
The idea for "Correspondence" came about when Crosmer composed "Three Dances for Orchestra," which was a full orchestra piece he wrote for his friend Sara, according to Missy Irvin, adjunct professor in the Department of Theater Arts and Dance and leader of the Hendrix Dance Ensemble. She said his inspiration for the music came from the fact that [Sara] was overseas studying and they would correspond by letters, and even though he couldn't dance with her in the traditional sense, he could dance with her in his mind.
"The ensemble moved to this music first semester and experimented with it through improvisation techniques to begin a movement vocabulary. We then followed Jeremy's lead and brought or read letters from people or to people, and developed movement based on those relationships found in the letters," Irvin said.
Crosmer said the piece has grown from what he originally thought it was, and was inspired when he told the dance ensemble about the girl to whom he dedicated "Three Dances for Orchestra." After talking about the letters he wrote to her while in Paris, Crosmer said they began to explore different relationships and friendships that develop out of letters.
"I now see the piece 'Correspondence' as a big mixture of the lives of each of the members of the ensemble and myself, and how we relate to each other and those around us," he said. "While it has individual sections taken from different letters, there is also an underlying idea which ties everything together in the end."
This was the first time Crosmer had ever composed music for people to dance to and he said it was a very interesting process.
The idea for "Correspondence" came about when Crosmer composed "Three Dances for Orchestra," which was a full orchestra piece he wrote for his friend Sara, according to Missy Irvin, adjunct professor in the Department of Theater Arts and Dance and leader of the Hendrix Dance Ensemble. She said his inspiration for the music came from the fact that [Sara] was overseas studying and they would correspond by letters, and even though he couldn't dance with her in the traditional sense, he could dance with her in his mind.
"The ensemble moved to this music first semester and experimented with it through improvisation techniques to begin a movement vocabulary. We then followed Jeremy's lead and brought or read letters from people or to people, and developed movement based on those relationships found in the letters," Irvin said.
Crosmer said the piece has grown from what he originally thought it was, and was inspired when he told the dance ensemble about the girl to whom he dedicated "Three Dances for Orchestra." After talking about the letters he wrote to her while in Paris, Crosmer said they began to explore different relationships and friendships that develop out of letters.
"I now see the piece 'Correspondence' as a big mixture of the lives of each of the members of the ensemble and myself, and how we relate to each other and those around us," he said. "While it has individual sections taken from different letters, there is also an underlying idea which ties everything together in the end."
This was the first time Crosmer had ever composed music for people to dance to and he said it was a very interesting process.