Video Teaser

Because I don't feel all that comfortable posting my full works on the internet, but I do want friends, family, and other interested people to be able to see what I've been doing, I made a post-performance reel from my concert. Enjoy!

Rivulet Post-Thesis

In "Rivulet," I worked with graduate Composition student, Ned Emerson, Jr. to see how we could create a more dependent relationship between music and dance. Rivulet was meant to ask a simple question: Can a dancer be both a physical and a musical performer? In preparing to create this piece we both realized that music in dance often has little interaction within the dance itself. Music is sometimes written or chosen for a dance, but once the dance begins, the music has little to acknowledge about the dance itself, though dance often acknowledges or ignores the music.

We wanted to find out if there was a way to make music aware of the dancer on stage and have it react to the performance. In "Rivulet," the movements on stage are tracked by the costume we constructed, a ‘sensor suit’ that monitors acceleration and light-exposure. The sensors send data to a computer, which, via prescribed instructions, subtly alters the music being played. An example we left for the audience in our program insert asked the audience to listen for changes in volume as I would expose my right hand and left elbow to more or less light.

I found a number of challenges in working with a composer/programmer, most of which dealt with time. Being a musician myself and having taken the Electro-acoustic Music Composition course with Dr. Mark Engebretson in the Spring of 2012, I understood that I would have to allow for more time spent in programming than anything else. This did become an issue because we each had different expectations of what the sequence of events needed to be in creating our collaborative piece. As a mover and choreographer, I felt that a working construction of the suit and patches (program) was needed in order to experiment in a way that considered the sensors and created a more integrated way of moving in response to and in conversation with the music. Unfortunately, the programming aspect and physical construction of the suit continued to take more time and resources than we initially thought.

About a month before the performance, we realized that our physical construction of the suit had some flaws that were going to be unreliable in performance. To make the suit more wearable and flexible, we used conductive thread to connect the sensors to the main motherboard and power supply. Conductive thread is a creative way to connect various electronics onto clothing. This thread can carry current for power and signals and is a plated silver type thread (as opposed to stainless steel) and can be used in standard sewing machines. Something we did not realize originally is that proximity to skin caused interference, often jumbling up our numbers and making the program unpredictable and unreliable. We also found due to the threads low capacity for power and the distance from where we placed the sensors to the board, the thread was not the most reliable option. We were also overloading the capabilities of the thread due to the number of sensors we were attempting to use. We decided to reconstruct our suit using stereo wiring, which would not interfere with skin or matter if we crossed paths with other wires, and we were able to solder the wires to the sensors, giving a more reliable connection. We also decided to move the sensors all to the upper body, as I was finding that sensors on the legs were much more difficult to control.

Around the same time, we were still having difficulties finding a way to be wireless as the Bluetooth modules we were experimenting with did not have consistent ways of connecting with our program, MaxMSP. The week of the concert, we realized our only way of consistently communicating between the sensors and the computer was through USB, so we found a USB to Ethernet extender and powered the suit through an extension cord. Though this was aesthetically not my preference, it was a necessary compromise that many audience members actually found helpful in realizing that my suit was connected and communicating with a computer program.

Because of the various obstacles in construction and programming, it left little time to the artistic choices we made in creating the piece as a collaborative process. We both agreed to a particular idea and structure for the piece, but we did not get to put the music with the dance until the week of the concert. My preferences of physical aesthetics did not necessarily work with the addition of an extension cord being attached to my body, so that was a challenge I had to deal with as a performer and choreographer in considering how the physical dancing would be affected and how the audience might respond to this addition. The feedback I got from audience members was mixed, but after adding an insert into the program explaining the functionality of the suit and how the piece works, my audience’s response was mostly positive regarding the physical cord. Many thought the cord was intentional, referencing to the fact that I was hooked up to the computer, giving them some way of making sense, as well as linking the idea of a “stream” of consciousness, or “rivulet” by using the cord.

We are still working with this piece; the video above was from an outdoor performance on April 25 called Extended Humans Making Noise, a performance preceding screening of the documentary, “The Trouble With Being Human.” We also have an upcoming performance in ReVision this summer (a monthly series of performing arts that integrate live media and digital art) in Queens, NY with UNCG MFA alumna Rebekah Kennedy, as well as other future performances in the fall, including Ned’s Masters Recital. I feel that we are now in a good place to really start working in the way I was hoping to in December. We have working parts, so now we are trying to put the movement and music together more thoughtfully than we were able to for the March concert. Luckily, I was able to receive funding through the Graduate Student Association for the construction of the suit, but we are looking into artist grants to create a more reliable and less cluttered looking version 2.0 for August performances. Aesthetically, we are both interested in making a cleaner looking version, though some of our reasons for creating a new suit are more necessarily for reliability reasons.

Reflections

Discuss the aesthetic issues which you find guiding your choreographic choices, how they link your dances into a body of work, what the influences have been, and the thought processes that have led to the choices. In answering this question, avoid rehashing practical “how” questions (What I did in my concert; How I did it) in relationship to your concert in favor of “why” and “who” questions (Why do I work primarily in abstract form? Why is it important to include video with my work? Why is it important to audiences or to me as a dance maker? Who has influenced this belief?)
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In creating my culminating work, I focused my perspective to take the audience into consideration. Currently, Americans are fighting overstimulation and I find that many audience members have a hard time finding their own meaning in dance as they are so used to being spoon-fed meaning on television and in music. As a dance maker, I am interested in continuing to think about how I can educate audiences to create their own meaning for work and to continue thinking about it once they leave the theater. I hoped to convey a sense of diversity through a common aesthetic by considering overstimulation and attention span. As an artist and as a human being, I feel that my interests have a vast range and I don’t feel that I fall into just one category. In order to create a cohesive and meaningful experience for my audience, I decided to attempt to create work that was similarly fashioned in the concert dance style, but to vary my approaches in form, content, and tone. I wanted to explore the range of possibilities within my own aesthetic choices but also recognize the modern attention span of the American audience member.

I believe that modern technology has had a large impact on the way in which Americans think and live. We are interested in overstimulation, yet we are not sure how to divert our attention to really understand it. In my culminating work, I was interested in exploring this idea of overstimulation, but instead of trying to confuse my audience, I wanted to see if there was a way to both create interest through overstimulation, but also to direct focus at the same time. In many of my choreography classes at UNCG, we have focused on clarity and form and I was hoping to draw from the experiences I have had in my graduate choreography classes and keep the wisdom of my professors and classmates in the back of my mind as I created my concert.

In “As I Recall,” I hoped to create a piece that was comprised of shorter sections in order to form something that was connected, yet different. It may not read as one piece in the traditional sense, but I tried to explore one idea in five different ways. Each of these ‘movements’ could most likely exist without the others, giving me the possibility of reuse or expansion in the future, yet for my audience for this performance, they existed together as one entity. Some sections seemed more connected, such as movements I., II., and IV. (Recollection, Forgetting, and Remembrance). These were made up of the larger cast and more clearly through numbers and space were representative of the process of memory than the duet and solo, making that more tangible to the audience. The duet, Refraction, and solo, Rivulet, felt more personal to me as an artist, and though I did not approach them all that differently, I believe that the presence of technology greatly impacted the audience’s perception and understanding of their integration into the larger work. Audiences see this unnatural form, in this case video projection and electronic sensors, and are interested in how it all works, drawing attention away to the larger question of ‘What does it all mean?’ An added stimulant for Refraction was the integration of tap dancing, layering one more distraction for the audience.

I think audiences were interested in my work because of the layering of multiple stimulants. The change that came after intermission was well needed, in order to create contrast, I began the second half with two pieces that were emotional and physical, yet had no extra stimulants for the audience, allowing them to just enjoy the physicality onstage and really see the dancing. Because of this shift, I think the audience was able to appreciate the sheer physicality of the work.

In thinking of my own aesthetics overall, I realize that I like to see bodies moving in a way that is beyond the average human’s capabilities. Dance training is completely necessary and functional for most of my choreography and even in the less technical work; the training should be visible underneath the simplicity. Line, shape/gesture and motion are the three elements that are most important in my own sense of aesthetics because that is how I prefer to move as a dancer and what I find most interesting as an audience member. I do not want to pay to see things that I could easily execute; I am more interested in movement and structure that is beyond my own thinking and abilities. Because of this, I often ask my dancers to be involved in the creative process so that the range of possibilities extends past my own ideas and challenges me to continue thinking forward. Another reason for having dancers create movement that I learned in my time at UNCG is that dancers often create movement that they like to do, in turn making it easier for me to get them to look good doing it. This year I feel that I found a system that worked really well for me, guiding my dancers fairly specifically in their movement invention and really working with it to my satisfaction.

I work mostly in form, designing dances based on space and motion. I find that seeing space in this way is beautiful and compliments the type of movement I am drawn to using, especially in the more dynamic and athletic forms. Along with the idea of diverting and drawing the audience’s attention, this space was created sometimes by cutting off something else that wasn’t quite finished, especially in the larger group pieces, going along with the idea that Americans generally have a short attention span. In studying film and video, I’ve noticed how more current work is often full of short cuts and multiple camera angles, very rarely allowing for more than a minute on one particular shot, and I feel that this has influenced the way I structure my larger dances. “Habit of Change” is an excellent example of this as much of the dance was interrupted by other things cutting through the space or quick entrances and exits. Even in the Refraction duet from “As I Recall,” I used quick light changes to appear and disappear in the space, giving the audience little time to get used to anything going on.

Rivulet from “As I Recall” and “Stay.” were more challenging as there were only one or two dancers to deal with and I was more aware of time spent on stage and how the audience would react to lengthier and more focused work. In Rivulet, the elements of production and technology piled up on top of the dance, continuing to add to the piece, always giving the audience something else to see or think about. However, in “Stay.”, the only element existing on stage was the relationship between the two dancers. I wondered how the audience would react, but I also placed the piece there specifically to stand out in its simplicity after the other more layered dances. Instead of trying to choreograph new emotions into the piece with movement, I decided to let space speak, using distance between the dancers as an indicator of the development of the relationship, often repeating movement though in a different way to enhance the development of the perceived relationship.

Thinking beyond the physical movement of my work, I also found myself questioning intent and audience perception along the way. Many believe the choreographic experience is autobiographical; making it easy to believe that the dance author’s intent is the meaning of the dance. I found that I could locate meaning in the my own experience and/or in the actual form/structure of the work rather than fixing meaning in the will of the artist, though I might occasionally seek out artist or other connected intent for my own personal knowledge. I experienced a number of levels of this when I was approached about meanings of different pieces in my concert, specifically “Stay.” I had my own reasons for making the work, primarily to create a dance that could affect any human being based on their own experiences, but I certainly pulled from my own life experiences in rounding out the emotional curve I created. When approached about this piece, I had many viewers wanting to know if their interpretation was the “right” one and they were slightly disappointed when our stories did not align.

It seems that the post-modern movement did a great job at overturning the interpretive hierarchy of the choreographer as the “know all” of dance works. Sometimes knowing the artist's intention is something that I am glad to know because I can take less time trying to decide what I'm watching and can continue forward from a slightly narrowed lens. I think it can often be exhausting to try and figure this out every time I watch a dance. I don't think this is necessarily most the time for me, but I know it helps me be in the moment and enjoy the movement and bodies that I often get distracted from in finding "meaning" and "intention." It seems important to interrogate the artist’s intention to understand a positioning of art in the world based on power and such, but also we should recognize that dance doesn’t always do what we say or want it to. Thinking back to the overstimulation of American audiences, I find that many audience members have a hard time finding their own meaning in dance as they are so used to being spoon-fed meaning on television and in music. I am interested in continuing to think about how I can educate audiences to create their own meaning for work and to continue thinking about it once they leave the theater. I hoped to create a memorable experience for my audience that would carry on into their lives and perhaps they would think back and find their own meaning down the road.

Updates for the week

On Monday, Kasey and I finished learning the "Stay." duet. I feel good about it and made a few small changes to the original. Next week I plan to have a couple of people come in to watch and give feedback.

My Tuesday piece, which I'm currently calling, "What are we fighting for," is going well too. We had a very productive rehearsal yesterday and I'm only left with the very beginning 30 sec, the very ending 30 sec, and a small 8 count transition before it will be done. This piece is becoming one of my favorites and I can't wait for the dancers to become comfortable with it. There is a lot of partnering and just straight up dancing - I love that I can just watch them dance!

PPP: Poster, Promo & Press Release

Below is the poster I designed for my thesis concert....

Promo Video:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music, Theatre, and Dance will present an MFA master production concert, The Light by Which We Remember, by Sarah Wildes Arnett on March 23^rd & 24^th  at 8pm in the UNCG Dance Theater. For tickets, call 336-334-4849 or visit www.uncg.edu/euc/boxoffice . ($6- students, $9 - seniors and children, and $12- general admission.)  The Dance Theater is on the corner of Kenilworth and Walker and parking is available in the Walker Avenue Deck across the street.  

Arnett’s choreography has been described as athletic, taking physical risks, but also tender, encompassing the fear and acceptance within human relationships. The Light by Which We Remember promises the audience a deep experience of space and sound and will leave the viewer questioning their own process of remembering.

The first half of the concert is one work comprised of smaller sections. Integrating unusual forms of lighting, As I recall investigates how light is representative of the human memory and the ways in which individual and collective memory functions. The piece incorporates household objects, video projection, as well as tap and contemporary dance to explore what is remembered as well as what is forgotten over time. Closing the piece is an innovative solo performed by Arnett and created in collaboration with graduate composition student, Ned Emerson, Jr. It uses electronic motion and light sensors to affect and create music throughout the dance.

What are we fighting for is a dynamic work that explores the hidden relationships within a larger group of people. It incorporates exciting partnering and athletic dancing sure to invigorate the audience after a reflective first half.

Stay. (2011) features Arnett in a duet that mimics the life of a relationship, the give and take required, and its ultimate destruction.  

Habit of Change (2010), set to the music of Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus, is an exciting large group work that questions unacceptable societal habits and how human beings hide or accept their true selves in the public eye.

A preview of the concert can be viewed at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk1AubS7epU

Sarah Wildes Arnett graduated from Vanderbilt University with a BA in American Studies. As a teaching assistant for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Department of Dance, she has taught a number of technique and academic dance courses as well as served on the Performing Arts Series committee, dedicated to bringing in national and regional guest artists to the university community. She has taught and presented choreography in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee and, in addition, performed in New York City and Mississippi. She is also a trained percussionist and performed with groups such as Music City Mystique Percussion Ensemble and the Colts Drum and Bugle Corps.

The cast of The Light by Which We Remember includes Ai Jia ‘Leia’ Ang, Megen Burgess, Chelsea Cross, JaQwan ‘Kat’ Cummings, Lindsey Davis, Paige DeRosa, Lauren Gibbs, Ruth Gibbs, Taylor Harrison, Kelcey Herrera, Bree Holstein, Kasey Howe, Trey Huntley, Abby Mathias, Jeanine McClain, Jonathan McDonald, Ashley Meeks, Nicole Ramsey, Jessi Tilden, Rashod Wells, and Kimberly Wilson.

Getting Things Together

Finally, Movements I, II, and IV of the "Lights" piece are complete... Transitions are all there too. I played the music for section III in rehearsal today so the dancers could see how much time they have to change costumes and prepare for the 4th section - it seems like plenty. Next Sunday I will be putting all five sections together (at least, what I have of it) so that Christine, the lighting designer, can start to think about lighting for sections III, IV, & V.

The "Stay" duet is coming along - I rehearse that piece tonight and I think we'll get most of the way through it. I have people coming in for that rehearsal over the next few weeks to be an extra eye since I'm dancing in the piece. The original dancers may come in and watch since they know the dance well.

"Habit of Change" is looking good - I'm done with all changes that I know of. I altered the ending slightly last week and I think its much stronger now. I've been thinking a lot about diagonals lately. Each of my committee members mentioned the presence of diagonals throughout the concert and suggested I stray away from it in other pieces since they are so prominent in "Habit"... it is something to think about for sure. I've tried to strictly stay on the horizontal and vertical with my Tuesday sextet and the "Stay" dance is more circular. I'm struggling in movement IV of lights and I keep running out of time where I need to change that one big diagonal moment.

2 months and counting

We are down to the two month mark - two months and my concert will have come and gone! I had a photo shoot on Sunday to get images for my poster and other promotional things and I have some beautiful images to work with. I have created a draft of my poster and one postcard so far - which I will share once I go public with my publicity. Below is an unedited sneak peek....

I have come to completion with a few dances/sections and I'm finding new directions with the incomplete dances. I'm still finding myself with casting changes, but I'm hoping the most recent will be the last! I believe I have a final order for the concert, now I just need finalized titles for a few dances and for the concert itself! My working title for the concert is "The Light by Which We Remember" - I want to somehow incorporate light and memory and the images reflect that in some way.

With my unfinished dances, I feel the time for playing with material is quickly diminishing, and as I said before, I'm at a point of making decisions. Luckily, I feel I can still make wrong decisions and the dancers are flexible with me and are allowing for change. I personally hope to have all dances "complete" very soon so that I'm not working to finish anything at the end of February before we break for Spring Break and ACDFA. After that, I have one week of rehearsals (in which I'll be missing a few dancers for another MFA concert) and then I'm in the theater for technical rehearsals.