#whydancematters - building bridges and community

What do you want the audience to know about this work? What have you learned from dance this semester? Why does dance matter to you? Why is sharing dance important?

Every semester, I ask my students to reflect and share their thoughts with the audience through written notes. I project these or add a page to the program. Here are a few of their meditations:

"Dance brings together all people of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds. The commenting thread allows for free expression and breaks down superficial barriers to help us understand the person behind the movement."

"Dance relieves a lot of my stress and anxiety. It never fails to put me in a good mood. Dance allows me to clear my head, and focus on only my body. I don't know what I would be without it."

"Dance not only expresses emotion but it also brings many people together. It creates a community and it can be used as an outlet for emotions, hard work, and bonding with others. This class has worked hard to do all of the above. We all have become a small family and this can hopefully be seen in some of our dancing. It is our hope that the audience feels connected with us while we do our pieces."

"Modern dance has taught me to grow as an individual dancers as well as collaborate with others. It has allowed me to express myself in a performance way and has led to an outlet from school for me. I have gained so many new experiences dancing this semester and I am more than excited to be able to share the stage with some of the greatest dancers and people I got the opportunity to know. I hope you enjoy the performance we put on for you and the pieces we collaboratively created with our teacher and dancers!"

"I have learned over the past could of weeks that dance is more than just for performance. It also has a great deal to do with self-expression. I dance because it makes me feel whole and I connect with my body. It brings me happiness whenever I need it. Dance can be used to bring peace and a sense of community because it is an art form seen almost everywhere. People can connect with each other because movement and expression of the body can often say more than words." 

"Dance is important because it acts as a release of emotions and stress that build up in everyone's life. It also acts as a medium to send a message through if there is something you feel you need to speak out about and are passionate about. Dance bring people together and builds bonds no matter who you are or your race or gender. It can be a way to send a message to the community about changes you think are important and need to be brought to attention. Educating the public is the first step to making change."

These quotes were originally published in the Widener University Chamber Music and Dance Fall Concert program, Dec. 2, 2016. 

#whydancematters was started by DanceAdvantage.net as a virtual rally for the dance community. Why does dance matter to you? (Add to the conversation by leaving a comment below!)

Creating Choreography; Cultivating Community

The DeSales University XTE (student-run honors Dance club) produces a monthly "Dancer Digest", specifically for the University's Dance Majors. I was unaware, and so was my colleague and DeSales Dance Faculty, Angela Sigley Grossman, that the students who participated in (in)visible veins: Rivers Merge planned and wrote an article about the experience.

In their words, I'm including the article below:

Rivers Merge: (in)visible veins
By Samantha Burns and Sarah Duffany

"During the weekend of September 25th and 26th, the Lehigh Valley was able to experience a performance of Jessica Warchal-King's piece titled (in)visible veins. This performance took place next to the river at Scott Park, which is located near Lafayette College, in Easton, PA. This piece used the music from Bach's Cello Suite No. 6, under the musical direction of David Cullen. There were over twenty dancers from the DeSales University Dance Department who performed in this piece, along with Warchal-King and Angela Sigley Grossman. The rehearsals for (in)visible veins ran for two hour sessions over three consecutive weeks at the Brission Dance Studio and concluded with a tech rehearsal in the actual performance space. This piece was divided up into six different sections and ran approximately for twenty-six minutes. Warchal-King's main focus was to create something to facilitate community building, while recognizing the importance of things both seen and unseen.

The site specific piece allowed not only the audience to feel one with nature, but also pushed the performance to open up their eyes and appreciate both the visible and invisible parts of their world. Gina Palumbo, a senior dance major, was touched by the tranquil scene, and was constantly reminded her of the message behind Warchal-King's artistic vision. "With the presence (of the) river, the traffic, the train, our audience members, and all of God's grandeur, remaining present during the performance was absolutely vital if I wanted to properly provide [Jessica's] art to the audience." Palumbo was also very grateful for the connection to the community found in the environment in which she performed: "If I can take what I learned in this piece out into the world, I can make a small, yet important, change in the world around me."

Similarly, Lisa Marie Levy, a sophomore dancer, immediately immersed herself in the natural world around her. "While I was performing, I was noticing nature and seeing the beauty in nature," Levy stated, "I gained a better understanding of beauty in everyday life." Levy also found solace in Warchal-King's intentions of creating a community: "We, as a community, need to recognize what we have and focus on the good rather than the bad."

(in)visible veins was created to help build community while recognizing the importance of things both seen and unseen. The movement in this piece focused on external and internal rotation, a constant awareness of being connected with the other dancers, and a sense of living in each moment as if the river was continuously flowing within the performers. The location for this work also set the theme of connectedness and community since this work was performed near the river which connects the Delaware and Lehigh rivers before moving onward toward Philadelphia."

This piece was re-posted with the permission of the editor, the authors, and DeSales Faculty.