INTERVIEW WITH CHOREOGRAPHER AMY LOWREY

 

Amy Lowrey who is currently enrolled in the spring semester’s choreography class enjoys dance choreography but is not a dance major. She is currently a jazz singer and has one CD titled Fallen For You. She is currently finishing up her second CD which features some jazz standards and some jazz arrangements of pop and punk songs. Amy was born in Mansfield, Louisiana, and went to college in Connecticut. After she graduated from college she worked for a year in Washington DC and moved here to ATX a year later. Amy worked in the film industry as a post-production supervisor and an actor.

Fun facts about Amy are that her favorite color combos are green and orange along with fuchsia and orange. Her favorite film directors are Andrei Tarkovsky and Nicole Holofcener. Some choreographers she likes are Bill T. Jones, Arnie Zane Company, Martha Graham, and Paul Taylor. Taking Roxy’s choreography class has also introduced her to so many more choreographers and dance films. 

Amy’s dance film, In the Dollhouse,  builds upon the film she made last semester called Place Re-Setting. Both films use domestic set-pieces to explore the theme of how historical women’s roles in family life can interrupt their personal growth and freedom to evolve. Being at home so much has made Amy feel more aware of how her home life and domestic role as a mother supported her family and herself. Yet it also made a lot of demands that sometimes make it hard to find a balance as a mother while making time and mental space for her personal life and pursuits. She would like the viewers of, In the Dollhouse, to feel the tension between having a home and creating a supportive refuge for a family, and at the same time feeling the risk of being trapped in the demands of that responsibility. The dollhouse imagery and the visual effects are meant to relate and connect both films.  Amy collaborated with pianist Angelo Lembesis to create their own original music for this film. 

Choreographing during the pandemic has had its highs and lows for Amy. She misses being able to cast her dance with dancers from the class, as she did in the fall semester of 2019. On the brighter side, being forced to do a solo and create a dance film has been a great experience for Amy. Roxy has really prepared Amy and all of the choreographers to use setting, camera angles, editing, and special effects to add to the effect of their dances. Being able to do all of this has helped Amy focus on her choreography, rather than her limitations as a dancer. Amy does look forward to being back in person and working with a cast of three or more. Amy’s goals after ACC are to find more opportunities to choreograph and create more dance films. 

Interview by Taylor King