Twinkle Toes: Personal Development Project

TWINKLE TOES
Supervisor: Mrs. Conrad

Mentor: Lisa Driscoll
Name: Jame Fuerte
TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3

PLANNING 5

INVESTIGATION 7

DESIGNING & THE CREATION 9

EVALUATION 10

PICTURES 12

Bibliography 14

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever experienced something so incomprehensible that the only words that your mind could stumble upon were “There are just no words to describe”? The moments that take your breath away? There are dictionaries that provide some necessary description. Professionals that could encompass a snapshot of your feelings. Doing such things however, only limits these feelings to the binding words. Personally I have never been one that could sway the thoughts of an audience. I have never been able to accomplish the basics for social conversation. Plainly, I can’t speak with a voice that echos that of Winston Churchill. My echo is left in the darkest of caves; surrounding nothing more than dirt and coal. Going back to the original statement of “there are just no words to describe” I notice the error presented that most people often overlook; “words”. The world doesn’t purely derive from the sound, meaning, and usage of words. If it did: deff people would have a very hard time getting to know the place, silent movies never would have made it that big in media, and slang would never really exist because it would then be added to an exponentially growing dictionary. Instead we use: movements, gestures, and actions. There are really no words that inflict the same feeling of being punched in the stomach; then that of you being punched in the stomach. Dancing I feel is the same. I don’t have the words to describe what it feels like to have your: heart shattered, joy that overwhelms the fact that is a Friday after school, or the moments of love that leaves you blank; but I can sure show you what my voice can’t. I wanted to learn how to choreograph, to create stanzas of movements, that not only told a story, but voiced the inner part of me that weeped for attention. I wanted to chose a song that not only kept up with my speed of movements, but that could also help the viewers understand through lyrics what I am getting at. I am not rhythmically challenged. This project wasn’t about learning how to dance, or counting beats, or even choreographing a piece that was mandatory for passing. My project, my actual project, was more than that. It was tapping, if not releasing, the inner love and passion inside for the life I am blessed to have. More of a “spiritual journey into my soul” type of deal (English, Teri. Personal interview. 2 Jan. 2012). Creativity in all aspects of the word played a part in my end product. It was the basis and catalyst for my whole project. For what is choreography other than that of sheer imagination and creation. There is not a defined label for the dance that I choreographed neither. It was a fusion of Lyrical, Contemporary, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Ballet; sown from the needle that is my mentor. My research question bluntly states “How can choreographing expand my creativity through multiple styles of dance?”. I will explicate no further. In what ways does the expression of creativity, evolve an art? “Creativity only steps as far as your mind limits.” (Benson, Dannie. "Evolution: Art." Front Range Dance Speech. Front Range. Dance class, Fort Collins. 12 Mar. 2012. Speech). Art is really the continuation of creativity. Therefore, Art, “can only truly go as far as your willing to stretch” (Buck, Sam. Personal interview. 17 Jan. 2012). in a sense. I believe I “stretched out” far beyond that of any before me. Generally when you think of art you may envision paintings, writing, or maybe even dance, but really what does it do for us? In what ways does it benefit you? Thats really the question; is it not? Where would we be without: music, paintings, dance, political speeches? Where would you stand today if the Renaissance never became a point in time? The very basis of Human Ingenuity stems from the most simple acts of creation known to man; Which is why the very fiber of my being now stems from this insurmountable AoI.

PLANNING

Now that I have your attention, and before I really investigate deeper into my project, my behind the scenes information must be provided! My process really started on a piece of paper. Much like the paper you are holding. I was assigned a supervisor that was in charge and oversaw the deadlines and regulations of my project. I was never given an exact date that was required for the meetings for my supervisor; only dates that we needed to personally set up one-on-one. The main problem that I faced with most meetings that were set up with my supervisor were nothing more than the conflicting schedules we shared. Plans don’t always follow through to the exact outcome; and boy did I learn that the hard way. “You can plan for a sunny pic-nick in the North Pole in April, on the 13th, 5 years from this exact second, but that does not mean that it will be everything you planned for.” (English, Teri. Personal interview. 2 Jan. 2012). I addressed the planning problems more so toward the end of my project because thats when it seemed like the more crucial deadlines needed to be met. In all actuality I still don’t believe I fully respected nor took into account all the time-management that was necessary for the successful “gold sticker,” but I most definitely did not give up. My initial planning that I set out in this project was nothing close to the product that I have produced. My initial plan was to have this elaborate 30-45min. choreography routine set at one of our more prestigious and reputable theaters. It was composed of my choreography, sets, and costumes that originated from the “careful planning” I set out to establish during the first few months of my sophomore year. There were simply three things wrong with it:

TIME
PEOPLE
MONEY

Not only did my schedule time get smaller and smaller as the year progressed, but I also realize that I am not the only person in the universe that faced this reoccurring problem. Although I would like to believe the world revolves around me; it simply doesn’t. The amount of time it would take to teach a 30-45 minute dance to students, assuming they had something similar to my schedule, would be equivalent to practices lasting from 9:30pm-2:30am and endless hours on weekends for a solid 2 months (not including school the next day or extra curricular activities). I am a 16 year old IB sophomore. I would love to meet the one who could spare $5,000.00 for a project like this. Planning for this project was really more of a learning experience than it was an actual attempt for greatness. In the future there is really only one way to plan from here on out; it is to plan for error. To leave some gaps and understand the possibility that, “Maybe the North Pole really isn’t the best place to plan for a pic-nick. Let’s go to Taos, New Mexico; its closer, warmer, and cheaper!”. Even though our supervisors were the more considered asset to our project, scheduling times with our mentors to help us guide the project, was also something we had to consider. Luckily enough my dance teacher, Lisa Driscoll, was a person I had the pleasure of meeting with five days out of the week for the past 6 months. Greatly making my planning schedule lighter on the mandatory mentor meetings. Something I will most definitely take into account on the next planning arrangement I am involved in.

INVESTIGATION

“The very first step I created was a slow paced walk towards the audience as the song dragged across the soles of my feet.” I immediately stopped the music and realized that I had no idea what I was doing. I knew absolutely nothing of the forms of dance needed to portrait what my body was feeling. I could have just swung around and flailed my arms and legs everywhere because thats what my body felt, but thats the hard part of dancing; of art. Being able to present something you feel with so much passion; yet at the same time controlling the emotion enough to see it somewhere between beauty and intensity. I realized I needed to investigate my dance teachers. Who else other than the very molders of the person I 've be come? I thought I would stay true to my first realization that words can’t describe the moves of the stories and feelings they motioned; so I watched them. Analyzed the music, facial expressions, and movements of all the dances they had to teach me. It was non traditional research to say the least, but it helped me in ways that only my body can describe now. There were several, if not many, discoveries I made visually depicting their choreography, but these were the main three discoveries I found:
“every song has a life, a rode that travels from start to finish. and the better you drive on the streets and less on the gravel. The better you can tell the story of the songs life. (really its your life because the song you pick echos what your trying to say)”

“as any motion goes from one direction to another, the continuum, or flow, of movements should never just drop off.”

“WHEN IN DOUBT/WHEN YOU FORGET THE CHOREOGRAPHY. . . FREESTYLE!”

After learning, shaping, and applying the first two discoveries upon my very own choreography, I started to see an amazing shift in the movements and creativity I was placing into my dancing. Things started to piece together nicely. I started to take out the movements that seemed to be repetitive and replaced them with movements that kept the flow of my story. After this, the only challenge that I faced was convincing myself that the song that I chose still had interest to me. When the passion runs dry from the amount of times the song plays over and over for a strait 3 months, it starts to become harder and harder to feel how you once did when first listening to the piece. So I simply took a break from it. “Every thing, especially dancing, is fine in moderation” (Driscoll, Lisa. Personal interview. 6 Nov. 2011). I simply was just bored and tired with the song. I went without listening to the song for a good month or so and when I played it again, there was the spark! I continued to choreograph until recently finishing and will go without the song for another wail to keep interest in my passion. If worst comes to worst I can fall back on the third and most essential part of performing. “FAKE IT TO MAKE IT!” (Driscoll, Lisa. Personal interview. 6 Nov. 2011). If you haven 't realized it by now, this might be a bit of a shock, but no one is perfect. No body plans to fall on the ground when roller skating or fall off a bike when trying to do a quadruple double backflip; stuff happens. (Driscoll, Lisa. Personal interview. 6 Nov. 2011). The best thing you can do is shake it off and get back up and learn from it. Same thing happens when your dancing; except when you dance it happens in front of an audience, you have to recover a heck of a lot quicker, and you have to convince the audience that you did it on purpose. I have a solo. So honestly any mistakes I come across, unless I make a huge deal about it, can be simply covered up with not a soul realizing it. Its not something you can necessarily practice either; it just kind of happens. So when the time comes for the rest of my life I know what I need to do.

DESIGNING & THE CREATION

Using the previous research I found when closely observing and analyzing my teachers, I soon applied the same principals on to my own system that incorporates, if not, better focuses in on the design/creation process. The process that took a considerable amount of time, was a process I called the ECD. Which stands for Evaluate, Create, and Demolish. When choreographing:
Evaluate the tempo, groove, and meaning of a section.
Create a flawed “rough draft” of your movements based on the Evaluation.
Demolish the: repetitive, sloppy, choppy, random, nonsense. “Final copy.”

This process can take anywhere between 1-2 hours if done efficiently and usually can only cover a good 10-15 seconds of a dance at a time. So if I am planning a dance that is 3 minutes long it usually goes through this process about 12-20 times. This method is one I formulated myself and is not perfect and does not do well with a busy schedule. I did not really have to return to any of my previous choreography because of the amount of time and confidence I placed into each ECD. However, I still had to overcome one of the greatest problems that I still can’t avoid nor cure; “brain cramps.” Of course I don’t literally entail actual brain cramps, but I am talking about the sudden loss of concentration, the blank stare when thinking of new ideas, and most reputable the sudden feeling that you don’t care about a single thing on the planet other than the sheer laziness you wish you could spend with your time. Other than this, the actual product is a great representation of how the process I found really lays down the foundation for a creative work of art.

EVALUATION

I love dancing. I have not said it enough throughout my process. I show it all the time in my movement, but maybe its about time I start translating to those of you who can’t see me grooving to my classes, in my shower, and on the stage. I didn’t meet the initial goal that I first started out with; I believe it was a goal that I stet myself up with that led to much unneeded stress, anxiety, and improbability. I intern set reachable goals like: being able to understand the works and basics placed into any dances with meaning, managing times that worked very well with my projects schedule, and creating a piece of art that I not only shaped, but that shaped me as well. The only questions that I still have left are for the dancers that are deff. Dancing is not subjective to only those that make it “look pretty”. (“Kent Boyd 's audition." Boyd, Kent. So You Think You Can Dance. FOX. 10 June 2011. Television). Dancing is for all those who love and respect the language that has no bias. There are dancers that have to feel the actual music in the vibrations on the ground to dance. The dancers that must have a deferent perspective on what dance means to them and that is all I have left to ask. I do not trust the internet for the interviews on deff dancers; it is something I plan to do face-to-face in the future. This project changed the way I communicate. It has showed me the power to tap into the depths of my very being. Before this project I honestly thought that dance was a-bunch of memorization and cut throat competition, but now I realize it is something that most people cannot fathom unless they can experience this similar process. I feel like there is so much more to learn and create with dance, but with the amount of time I had to analyze myself for this project, my personal engagement with the planning did not go as smooth as i would have hoped for. However, I know my effort was nothing short of pure love, commitment, and dedication to myself; and I feel like that is all that should matter in the end. I love my end product, and will probably continue to change it as my level of dance skill also increases. This has been an amazing stepping stone in the many dances left in my future. With my Guiding question dwindling in the logical response given earlier, If you were to ask me “How can choreography expand my creativity through multiple styles of dance?” I would respond with the knowledge that choreography itself is a very carefully woven display of ones inner most creativity; I am a living breathing example that can prove it. Dance comes in many forms and techniques and none exclude choreography. Through multiple types of dancing you are going to “hear” many different types of voices. “Listen” to the deepest pools of peoples hearts. Truly feel what it is like to “see” the choreography, not as a part, but as a whole.

PICTURES

Bibliography

Driscoll, Lisa. Personal interview. 6 Nov. 2011.

Cutler, Mason. Personal interview. 27 Oct. 2011.

English, Teri. Personal interview. 2 Jan. 2012.

Buck, Sam. Personal interview. 17 Jan. 2012.

“Kent Boyd 's audition." Boyd, Kent. So You Think You Can Dance. FOX. 10 June 2011. Television.

Benson, Dannie. "Evolution: Art." Front Range Dance Speech. Front Range. Dance class, Fort Collins. 12 Mar. 2012. Speech.

Bibliography: Driscoll, Lisa. Personal interview. 6 Nov. 2011. Cutler, Mason. Personal interview. 27 Oct. 2011. English, Teri. Personal interview. 2 Jan. 2012. Buck, Sam. Personal interview. 17 Jan. 2012. “Kent Boyd 's audition." Boyd, Kent. So You Think You Can Dance. FOX. 10 June 2011. Television. Benson, Dannie. "Evolution: Art." Front Range Dance Speech. Front Range. Dance class, Fort Collins. 12 Mar. 2012. Speech.