INTERVIEW WITH CHOREOGRAPHER ELISABETH PLACENCIO

Elisabeth Placencio began her dance journey in San Antonio, Texas on her local high school drill team from 2011-2015. Upon graduating high school, she moved to Austin in 2015 to pursue her Associate’s Degree in Dance. Since then, she has cultivated a focus on modern dance and a passion for creating conversations about mental health. Modern dance has grown on her over the years and many famous dancers such as Martha Graham and Trisha Brown have inspired her. While focused on her vision, she is also active in the local dance community and is continuously learning and growing to expand her experiences.

The intention of her piece titled, “Cycles”, is to bring the audience into the world of someone living with mental illness. More specifically PTSD. Elisabeth says, “When an episode is triggered a wave of emotions rush through one’s mind. You feel everything, you’re brought back to that experience as if it’s happening in real-time. You’re not able to process each emotion one at a time but rather all at once.”

Her process was working with her dancers on structured improvised movements. She started to set her choreography towards the last few rehearsals to ensure the message of the movement stayed consistent. The main challenge was rehearsing to become “one” as a group. She wanted her dancers' emotions to be part of her piece and allow each of them to genuinely express how they would feel in that position. She wanted them to feel part of her piece.