Heroine and revolutionary artist of movement, Martha Graham, once proclaimed, "Dance is the hidden language of the soul"
When we discover dance that gives us something, that speaks, that feeds us, that agrees with us, that unearths us, that changes us, that asks us to feel, that destroys and rebuilds us - we are connecting with truth and the invisible world.
When I am creating dance I am unconcerned with conveying any ideas or expectations pre-established within myself, the world, reality.
I begin stark.
I begin with the stark canvas so that every stroke is an expression of what is possible. Progress. In my experience the process of creating art is the uninterrupted stream of possibilities which become possible, emotions which become emotional, visions which become visionary. Creating art - for me this is primarilly dancing - is about allowing realizations to come into the body and expressing these realizatoins honestly, wholly, and truthfully.
And though my creative process often begins within "nothingness" - facing a dance without presuppositions - there yet exists something - roots that run deep inside of myself, which ground the process and sway the process this way and that.
For example, I root myself in technique and my training when I create dance. My body must be fine tuned and strong. The tissues, muscles, and ligaments should harmonize to commit to movements and possibilities with ease and precision. My mind is rooted in limitlessness, so I am not frustrated by limits. I remain unconvinced in capping myself off or cutting myself off from movement, direction, and intention. Any impulse, I am witnessing and facing. Intentions in question forms, like, "where I am moving" "how I am moving " "why I am moving" are danced as answers, adding the importance of discovery within dance. In other worlds, discovering something is just as useful in the dance as the discovery itself.
I root my mind in ease and flexibility. I know the only constant is change - changes in direction, syncopation, phrasing, meaning, and emotion. My mind is rooted in a fondness for my self, for the process of creation, and for what is possible. Without this positive self-regured the dance feels constricted and the dancer is uninspired to express truths, instead settles for cover ups and lies.
Lastly, I am rooted in intuition, dreams, spirit, human emotion and nature. In this way the dance is created from a language that all can understand and find personal and universal meaning within. As with writing poetry sometimes writing what is literal cannot awaken the idea like writing what is metaphorical. Creating dance is the same way for me. Dancing meanings can awaken sensations far more profound than dancing forms. For example the form is a simple raising of the left palm towards the ceiling and the eyes follow the palm. With what quality the dancer follows her hand dictates meaning. How the palm moves upward dictates meaning. How meaningful is this movement to the dancer and why. We give meaning to all movements any time we move. Life is a dance that is entirely up for interpretation. Creating sensational meanings in dance is unique for each dancer. Yet always when the viewer sees dance that is meaningful it is often because the dancer gave the movements intentions, emotions, stories, etc.
As artists it is our gift to communicate what is meaningful in the ordinary and the extraordinary. So when opportunities present themselves to convey outwardly our truth we do our best to offer truthful intentions - clearly, universally, and with convictions.
My goal as a young artist is to maintain this great wave of creativity I am harnessing now. I awknowledge that I have a healthy hunger to present my work to anyone who will see me, to all interested parties, to the world, to critics, and to the "dance" and "non-dance" communities. I have arrived in a great moment personally to where I feel sensitive enough to expose my artistry and confident enough to support myself in light of every exposure, as each "coming out" is unique and intimidating in their own ways. I am no longer in the belief that funding is most essential to the successful artist and that I am somehow cut off from this privilege. It is never this black and white and I have all the time, the drive and the resources within me to succeed as an artist in all the necessary aspects, financials being one of many. My artistic goals branch out to include two of my most cherished loves: traveling and writing. I intend to travel with my work. I dream of creating meaningful dance within the landscapes of human diversity, natural diversity, and beauty. Writing is an important modality to bridge ties in my work: to write about dance is to tie together what can be nonlinear with what can be linear. To me writing about dance builds a framework for an otherwise frameless subject. I can clothe with words the speechless body in motion. I see dance within words and in poetry just as well as I see dance in three dimensional spaces. I love the notion of working with form and formlessness however fragmented or arranged.
I danced at The Passion Company's event "Shine" on April 16th in San Francisco, where I presented a performance of an eight minute dance peice. The music to this piece is titled, "Cajita de Musica" by a group called Aikyo, which consists of three instruments: Hang Bells, Cello, and Flute. I love the music because it captivates my attention from the first note to the last. The music is wild, untamed, creature like and nostalgic for something. It calls for an unresolved truth or perhaps a lifetime of seeking. Whatever it is, this music inspires the movement for this piece, so much so that only the beginning and the ending of the dance became "choreographed" after four studio sessions. The rest of the piece seemed to dance itself in practices and especially I felt the dance take on life of it's own in performance.
My style of dancing/choreography has many detentions to it, many symbols, and this particular piece for the Shine Event is certainly representative of this. My training is based in my experiences and understandings in classical and contemporary ballet, graham, Horton, Silvestre Technique, Orixa dance movement or Afro-brazilian folkloric/traditional dances and symbology.
My choreography moves through all of these forms, but aims to break out as well into new forms and lines to explore meaning, emotion, and interpretation of my own making. The best part about performing dance that comes from my heart feelings I get to feel while dancing. I feel "right" "natural" "resolved" "risky" "true" "loving" "possible" "open" "grateful" "alive" "happy" "comfortable" "safe" "undefined" "emotional" "sensual" "powerful", etc. A few people at the event after seeing my presentation shared with me their feelings. One person told me they thought I was creature and imagined me under the sea. Another person just hugged me with tears in her eyes and thanked me. A guy named Tyler emailed saying it was fierce and beautiful.
Knowing my dance connects me deeper with people and to my truth is the greatest achievement.
To taking risks
Creating more
and always being yourself.
The stunning photographs below were shot by Nina Menconi {www.ninamenconiphoto.com} live at the Shine Event in San Francisco, CA, hosted by The Passion Company {www.thepassion.co}
Special thanks to Jessica Semaan of The Passion Company for granting me this opportunity to express myself and follow my passion. And to my teachers Vera Passos and Rosangela Silvestre for their teachings, inspiration, and discipline. gratidao sepmre.
Kaley Isabella Dance - Shine - The Passoin Co.
kisabelladance@gmail.com
