INTERVIEW WITH CHOREOGRAPHER AMY LOWREY

 

Place Re-Setting is the new dance film by Austin jazz singer Amy Lowrey, created for the Fall  2020 Choreographer’s Showcase presented by Austin Community College Dance Department. Featuring original choreography set to an original song composed and sung by Lowrey, Place Re-Setting promises to entertain as it explores themes of home and family. 

Originating in small-town Louisiana, where movement and music held her interest from childhood, Lowrey has fostered a lifelong love of dance. While attending Wesleyan University, she saw  Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, a key influence on her journey. “I freaked out,” she said,  recalling that even though she loves Martha Graham and Paul Taylor, the Jones/Zane company’s diversity of bodies and the individuality of expression struck her the most. As for influences on her musical artistry, Lowrey listed Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, Sarah Vaughan, and suggested I give Kat  Edmonson a listen. Lowrey is currently working on her second album, which will no doubt feature lyrical content related to the big event of 2020, the global pandemic, and the shutdown.  

Place Re-Setting also takes its starting point from this year’s new reality. I was lucky enough to watch Amy work last Fall in preparation for the 2019 Showcase. Her piece, Stay Home, explored the feelings of routine that define family life, and how things change when someone leaves. For her new piece, Lowrey is revisiting these ideas of family, this time exploring how a woman’s role in the family can change even when she doesn’t have the choice to seek out independence. Featuring an original jazz composition, Lowrey expects her audience to pick up a sense of melancholy in the piece, or perhaps a  sense of surrender. 

Taking inspiration from her role as a mother for content and the idea of frames, like the windows and doors that made up the set of her last piece, Lowrey conveyed to me her sense of wonderment at the power of framing and composition to convey a point of view in the film. Even more challenging for her was choreographing for herself by herself. “I am much more comfortable working with more people,” she confessed. But, as she proved last fall in the stunning At A Loose End by choreographer Nicolette Krabaoklang, Amy is not afraid to bring a total commitment to a solo piece. With her new piece, jazz-singer and choreographer Amy Lowrey is sure to bring audiences a song and dance that features her jazzy stylings and warm authenticity. 

Watch Place Re-Setting dance on film, December 4 & 5 at 7:30 pm. Visit the  Austin Community College Dance Department page for tickets and live streaming information. 100% of contributions fund dance student scholarships.

Interview by Philip Weaver