They say they see me

They Say They See Me seeks to reveal the navigation of a performer’s identity and sense of self within a concert dance framework. Using myself in the position of the performer, I will analyze my own performative habits and conditioned responses to dance performance and then utilize performative and choreographic strategies to break these habitual pathways. This process will be conducted in two different works. They Say They See Me is a self-choreographed solo in which I use my position as both choreographer and performer to uncover aspects of my identity that are hidden under conditioned performative responses. I situate the spectatorship of the audience as the key factor in my habit to conceal parts of myself. From this process, I hope to complicate the spectacle nature of dance performance and re-pattern the way the audience connects to their gaze. Unearthing edges/constructing caps is a work directed by Ailey Picasso in which I analyze my conditioned performative response with in an ensemble. Through more of an emphasis on process rather than product and the use of improvisation as a generating tool, I hope to re-orient my engrained values of movement aesthetics and uncover a more genuine way of incorporating myself into the work of the ensemble.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.25820/kqy3-fh23