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WORDS

Below are samples of my writing. 

Here and Now

Unearthing the MFA Thesis Performance Project:

"Until We Forget"

The relationship between language, movement, and image; perception, perceptibility, and presence; and the rhythms which mark our passage through life: these are among the major thematic threads that emerge in the ensuing pages. While the influences of this work span from 19th century phenomenological writers to natural farming methods to children’s book authors, they all converge on a uniting idea: the glistening here and now, the present moment and all the possibility that it affords. In other words, the current page in the story of a life. 

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How to Unfold

a choreographic essay

In The One-Straw Revolution, Masanobu Fukuoka writes of the “do-nothing” natural farming method as an alternative to conventional farming. His reasoning is that the earth has the ability to produce food naturally; rather than create a system that creates dependency upon the farmer’s intervention, the farmer should get out of the way in order to allow the natural growth process to take place. This method leads to a continuous regeneration of healthy plants and soil, rather than a depletion of the fertility of a site. Fukuoka’s legacy speaks to the importance of the continuous pattern of growth and decay in the agricultural world which persists without human mediation. Studying the pace of these patterns provides the insight needed to support their perpetuation. In the world of choreography, cycles of growth are present on numerous scales: from a single gesture, to a section of material, to the duration of the performance itself. The entire choreographic process is filled with instances of bloom and decay. The translation of Fukuoka’s agricultural ideas to the choreographic realm inspired the process I engaged in the making of “Growing rice in a dry field”, a 10-minute dance performance with two dancers, myself and Yun Lee, and one musician, Emmett Sher.

Enacting Phenomenology: Practice as Research

I propose to write an experimental phenomenological account of my experience practicing butoh-influenced improvisational dance in the Crew House Dance Studio at Smith College. After dancing, I will write, reflecting on images and sensations that arise during the session. Then, I will analyze this writing through the lens of phenomenology. Using a phenomenological method of description I will attempt to suspend my assumptions and prior experiences, in order to highlight most of all the phenomena that appear to me through my senses.

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