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The Process of Dance

When you see a dance you see a product of pieces strung together. Have you ever asked yourself how the movers got to where they are? In this blog, the process of dance will be discussed. On Monday, October 5, 2015 I interviewed director and teacher of The Center for Dance, Movement and Somatic Learning at Stony Brook University, Amy Sullivan. The topic of interest was the different topics and genres dance has to offer. The interview was carried in numerous directions. Professor Sullivan and I briefly spoke about writing in the dance field along with her personal experience with dance as a teacher, a choreographer, an artist, and a mover herself and her thoughts on the purpose of work.

On the topic of writing in the dance field, Professor Sullivan spoke about the difficulties faced by many. Being that the nature of dance involves many components: visual, creative, and physical. Keeping that in mind Professor Sullivan explains how dance can be described anatomically, physiologically, and kinesthetically. The kinesthetic use of language allows one to speak on quality descriptive terms. Professor Sullivan mentions how “all [of] Laban’s principles of dance have been very dependent upon, for years there are stylistic differences in dance that are defined by terms.” The use of Laban’s work and theories allows dance to be described and translated from the visual world onto the textual-visual world. Professor Sullivan mentions to be the most challenging aspect of capturing dance in writing is the experiential component of the art. These two different “reference points,” the writer (observer) and the dancer form a gap.

Amy Sullivan has been a professor at Stony Brook University since 1986 where she began in the Physical Education department. Stony Brook is Professor Sullivan’s third university. She enjoys all that her work has to offer. Professor Sullivan “enjoy[s] the process of things unfolding, whether it’s a choreographed work or a classroom where I’m working with people with all different perspectives, ideas of how they bring forward their creativity.” She loves and honors the “transmission of information” from dancer to dancer or dancer to herself or dancer to audience or herself to dancer. When she teaches and shares information, Professor Sullivan always interested in seeing how the information transmits to the dancer. The process of creating and understanding “what it means to be grounded in mobility” and to take your space in a way that is both satisfying and involves a sense of curiosity, fascinates her.

Professor Sullivan believes that dance is “an agency,” this artistic, relational, and cultural skill invites and “draws one into the imagination.” Professor Sullivan speaks of the gestural vocabulary; movement is another language. Dance and the diversity it has to offer is much like the diversity humanity has to offer. Professor Sullivan makes is a profound comparison. Movement is just as complex as the mover because all that that person is and has become is brought forward. Just like the body, that’s a living, organic system that changes, the work of the mover also grows, changes, and connects.

Dance has been apart of Professor Sullivan’s from the time she was in second grade to today. She believes that the artistic (creative) and physical (athletic) dynamics have always been apart of who she is and that’s how she sees the world. These, along with other factors, play a role in the process of creating dance, for professor Amy Sullivan. The process of creation begins with “an intuitive question or a pressing question.” With this question she then examines and begins to look at music, human behavior, history, and literature, all components and different angles to help answer this question.

Professor and Director of the Dance and Somatic Movement Center at Stony Brook University, Amy Sullivan provided the information and experience to help create this writing piece. Starting with a few questions about writing in the dance field led the interviewer, myself, to take work in many directions ultimately discussing dance as an art and a form of research: a research looking further into the human and reasons behind movement.

 

Works of Movement by Professor Amy Sullivan

In the previous blog the process of dance was discussed but let me take you further into the philosophy of dance. Dance is a form of communication that challenges a dancer to question their intentions and pushes them to explore this unique form of expression. During my interview with Professor Sullivan (Founder and Director of The Center for Dance, Movement and Somatic Learning at Stony Brook University), we briefly spoke about the process of creating dance. During the interview, Professor Sullivan mentions two pieces of choreography: “We Have Yet to Find the Words” and “The Table Where We Met” and she also mentions investigations she would like to delve into in the future.

The Table Where We Met

“We Have Yet to Find the Words,” was a performance dance piece choreographed by Professor Sullivan that investigated human rights and the struggle behind finding the right words to say on these issues. She speaks about how “we cannot quite say the right things that will make things right” and to solve the issues. During the piece, Professor Sullivan focuses on intention, thought, and action.

Similar to the piece “We Have Yet to Find the Words,” “The Table Where We Met,” is another performance dance piece choreographed by Professor Sullivan that investigated relationship between spoken word/language and body movement/language. Professor Sullivan found it odd that spoken words were not used while dancing. Some of the questions that were brought to the piece included: “why are we all so quiet? Why is that missing? Why is that not there? What would happen if we examined that?” These questions of curiosity and the feedback Professor Sullivan was receiving from her dancers was what fed the piece.

Professor Sullivan addresses the difficulties during the process of creating. It’s just about finding enough time, enough rehearsal time, resources, such as people, “that can bring something forward” to the process. The fact that everyday we, as humans, experience something completely different is another blessing and difficulty that is experienced during this creation process. Professor Sullivan mentions how “the body is always constantly changing and our experiences today isn’t what we had yesterday and these are things that happen in the world.” With this idea in mind, Professor Sullivan delves deep into the question at hand for the dance piece and tries to test every possible answer to the question.

For future work, Professor Sullivan is interested in examining migration and understanding what that means for this upcoming spring semester. She mentioned during the interview that a while back she had given a talk about migration and the thought and action behind this subject. She also previously completed a choreographic piece on immigration and emigration. Professor Sullivan wants to further investigate “what happens when we change?” through choreography and movement.

During an interview with Professor Amy Sullivan, it was mentioned how important it is to learn and understand what it means to change. Her thoughts and questions are what fuel her work and these answers can be found in her choreography. Professor Sullivan believes that, “creativity is a process and it requires that you embrace the things that surprise you.” Her work is proof of allowing her movers to let go of control. With direction, Professor Sullivan guides her dancers to places of curiosity and assists them in following “creative intuition.”

 

What is Work?

On Thursday, September 24, Dr. Gene Hammond, a senior Stony Brook professor came to one of the classes I am taking this semester, to speak with us about choosing a career path. Until I heard this talk about the philosophy behind work that day, I had never really thought this deeply about work in particular and professional career choices and trajectories in general. So, this talk helped to bring out some of the deepest feelings (including anxiety) and thoughts (including questions and dilemmas) that I must have started developing about entering the professional world beyond college.

The speaker discussed some of the many reasons individuals commit themselves to their work: vocation, to earn money, to contribute to the “engine of society” and the responsibility the society has on providing employment. Reflecting on his long and variegated career, our guest delved into his past experiences and his coming to know himself and the reasons as to why he works. There were many light bulb moments during that lecture.

“Why do we work?” is the question that Dr. Gene Hammond concentrated on. Why do people spend hours, days, weeks, and months applying themselves in work environments? But the main question that lies behind work for many of us is, “what is your purpose in this world?” For some that may be the solo purpose of earning money and building on luxuries while for some it is just a means to filter their interests into their lifestyles. “What do you value?” For some that may be money and for others experience may be the leading value.

So if one’s values for work interrelate to their career then one must focus on the self. I recently stumbled upon a video called, “Why People’s Opinions of You Aren’t Real” that delves into the philosophy of the self:

What stops us from creating and doing what we love? What leads people to end up in a nine to five day job that force us to file paperwork in order to make a living. The video discusses these life philosophies and the abandonment of people continuing to learn about themselves. These ideas are not directly related to Thursday’s guest speaker’s philosophies but it held a very close place to this idea of: “creating for and working in what you love.”

Dr. Hammond said his most difficult aspect of the job is to keep students motivated. It is evident through his years of teaching that students go through the motions and movements of passing classes to just pass and say they graduated, but not a lot of them understand and act on what they are working towards. These students are in a point of their lives where they’re searching for their purpose and their reasons as to why they commit themselves to their schoolwork. The most beneficial outcomes of students education career is if they continue to be active and challenge themselves by thinking. As a current student on the Undergraduate track I can relate to the difficulties experienced when searching for oneself like Professor Hammond had mentioned.

“Pay attention to what makes you happy, if you don’t pay attention to what that is, people will threaten this.” Dr. Hammond expanded on this idea by explaining that people’s varying beliefs on the purpose and meaning behind work has threatened others beliefs of what work should be.

“Very few people say, “I wish I spent more time at work,” when they pass,” was the thought that Dr. Hammond closed the class with. This idea in mind reinforced my idea of doing what I love and incorporating those passions into the way I live and teach. “You are what you love and not what loves you,” so why not love your job? This statement and proposed question were both reflected in Dr. Hammond’s talk and also in the video, “Why People’s Opinions of You Aren’t Real.”

 

Jobs Are Like Bicycles

It’s a familiar speech delivered by a professional: the ways in which you can become successful. They try to prep you by laying down a list of rules. But what a lot of these speeches fail to mention is the beauty of chance. On Thursday, November 12, 2015 Dean Kopp came into our WRT 304: Writing for Your Profession class and spoke about his journey to his career. Professor Kopp spoke about his interests, hobbies, and education growing up. As a college student he played an instrument and was interested in Physics. Dean Kopp stressed the blessings behind events that never go with the “plan.”
As time went on he realized that pursuing a career in music didn’t have much of a bright future for him so therefore Physics it was. Professor Kopp spoke about post grad and all of the positions he applied for. He was never accepted to the positions he applied for but throughout his career development he has been offered all of the positions he’s committed to. He believes that these positions were fate, meant to be.

Jobs are like a bike. You’ll always have the frame of the bike (topic), but you’ll always want to change the seat, the tires, the pedals, and the brakes because you’ll always want to adjust or add to what you’ve started with. Professor Kopp’s analogy was a way of explaining how many postgrads would not retire in the same job that started with directly after graduation.

But what really stuck out to me during Professor Kopp’s discussion were two things: the direction of future jobs and his experience with parents at accepted student orientations. Professor Kopp stated how the jobs that the job field in fifteen years would have new jobs to offer. This was something I hadn’t put much thought into. He went on to describe that the jobs that are offered today were not even an idea in mind when he had first graduated. This occurrence is both frightening and exhilarating, to understand that nothing in life is certain. It’s important to understand the harm behind remaining rigid in the job field. In order to grow and succeed Professor Kopp spoke about accepting that we may not end up in the exact profession we sometimes force ourselves to believe we would.

Many students struggle with the uncertainty of career choice and the pressure from parents can be unbearable. Professor Kopp spoke about a time in his career path where he hosted and organized orientations for accepted college students. Before beginning the presentation that included only parents he began with an activity that asked the parents questions that all related back to the same idea. One of the questions included: is what you studied during university the same field you work in today? Those who remained standing currently worked in the same field they had studied. Let’s just say not many people were standing. If parents were regularly asked these questions I think a lot of the pressure pushed onto their kid would diminish because they would have a closer look on what their kids might be going through at this point in their lives.

It is not until one has driven down the road of twists and turns and experienced the blessings behind unplanned events, that they will understand that in some cases their success and purpose in work will find them. Just like Dean Kopp, my goal to become a Dance Movement Therapist found me one day in a class workshop. I will graduate with a Psychology major and dance and writing minor with the dreams of getting accepted to a Master’s Program in Dance Movement Therapy. From here on out, what will I add on my bike?

 

Intellectual Entrepreneurship

What aspects of personal growth and development account for an individual’s success? Successful professionals are what some call “intellectual entrepreneurs.” So your next question must be, what does it take to become an “intellectual entrepreneur?” In addition to education and an in-depth training in their field of choice ,these intellects are willing to step out and take risks, seize opportunities, and utilize available resources to bring their visions and dreams to reality. Coming to the realization of what almost guarantees success makes me want to shift the way I carry out these last few months in my Undergrad career.

What were some of the aspects that made up my old learning habits, is what you must be wondering. Was I engaged in my classes? Yes. Did I interact in my classes and actively participate? Yes. But it wasn’t until reading this article that I truly understood how I could become deeply engaged and how I can collaborate with others and look outside of my field to contribute more than just the one-sided angle I had been accustomed to before.

What can universities do to help foster this development? Follow the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Philosophy that is made up of different components: Vision and Discovery, Ownership and Accountability, Integrative Thinking and Action, and Collaboration and Teamwork. So what makes us so sure about this “philosophy” that guarantees success and resilience as an academic professional? Well take a look.

Step 1 Vision and Discovery: Individuals make learning about themselves and their field of expertise on a daily basis. You have to constantly reinvent yourself: be quick and adaptive. Never stop asking questions! Who am I? What matters most to me? What possibilities are out there?

Step 2 Ownership and Accountability: Don’t stop acquiring knowledge about yourself, the work in your field, and other areas of learning. Want more success? Well that requires a greater sense of responsibility for both your decisions and outcomes.

Step 3 Integrative Thinking and Action: Synergy isn’t a word that should be taken lightly. “It means something greater than the sum of the parts can indeed be produced when people engage in integrative thinking.” Don’t stop looking for the truth in your research. When completing research think to yourself: “ What matters? What issues are affecting my community and the world I live in?”

Step 4 Collaboration and Teamwork: One of the most important pieces to this puzzle of success is to go beyond the books and written notes. Generate professional networks with people. Spindle your web of human resources. Discussing and collaborating with people can surface ideas or questions you could’ve thought of by yourself.

So what are the Undergraduate programs of our education system missing in this day in age? They are missing the enforcement and preparation that is applied in Graduate programs. Why not start earlier? These four steps of the Intellectual Entrepreneurship Philosophy will only positively impact the student body. Telling them to look beyond themselves and to explore concentrations outside of what they would normally research broadens their minds. What seems to be evident in the academic world is that a lot of times students are unaware how to take what they’ve learned inside of the classroom and apply to real world situations. It is said that students live inside of this “Academic Bubble.”

So now I look back on my last four years in my Undergraduate careers and I think about the structure and application of all that learned. In order to successfully accomplish my Dance Movement Therapy certification I’ve learned that I will continue moving forward with this philosophy in mind: “The philosophy and practice of intellectual entrepreneurship serve as a catalyst, allowing students to identify opportunities to put their training and expertise to use in creative and innovative ways, whether in business or scholarship. Intellectual entrepreneurship mandates that students own and be accountable for their education. It recognizes the importance of students’ discovering their personal and professional identities, and then developing an academic professional vision. Intellectual entrepreneurship assumes that creativity and innovation are inherently collaborative – that the ability to integrate different viewpoints is critical to success—and it obligates individuals to act on what they know.”