Composition Study Reflection “Deconstruction”

This study was a deconstruction (to the best of my ability) of what would be normally seen in a competitive dance group’s version of a Musical theater dance. The work, for me, landed in an incomplete, unfinished place that makes me want to come back to it in the future with new eyes.

The work that I put into this study was very unapologetically simple and straightforward. While this isn’t a bad thing, I noted it when I was performing and again as I look back on it now. With the song I chose, “Beauty School Dropout,” from the Glee cast being very wordy, I didn't have to worry too much about the actual moves, since my artistry already has such a connection to lyrics to begin with. As well as my knowledge and history with the style, it was also being something that I was able to lean back on in places where I felt stuck.

With the Deconstruction of this style, I changed not only my facing to not be facing the audience during most of the work, but also in those moments where I was facing them, I did my best to “drop” the super high energy and “performative” facial expressions that are very common in competitive dance. While the changing of the facing was not the most difficult thing, the act of dropping the energy, even just in the face, was very difficult, as competitive dancers and musical theater dancers are drilled very early on never to lose the energy on stage.

While this study was simple for me to execute due to my choice of song and style, I do think that the option to “break” or “deconstruct“ a rule in chorographing, whether it be a personal, written, or socially accepted rule, is something that I will be taking forward as a way to make material for future works. As it lends itself to the new and possibly uncomfortable, which is a current focus of mine for my work.