INTERVIEW WITH MELISSA SANDERSON

Faculty member Melissa Sanderson is a dance artist whose work spans choreography, performance, dance film, and education. For this semester’s showcase, she will present a new piece, In the depths of her being, a radiant flame rises, choreographed in collaboration with 7 students in the Freshman Dance Performance class. Hear more from Melissa about the process: "As a choreographer who rarely uses music as a starting point to create dances, I’ve been curious to create a piece using Dance IX (In The Upper Room) by Phillip Glass for over 10 years. My initial creative desire was to juxtapose the upbeat, commanding intensity of this music with slow, sustained movement. In the studio, the dancers and I explored slow/sustained movement through improvisation which helped expand the imaginative world of this dance to include imagery and themes such as swirling flames/smoke, strength in softness, energetic action/reaction, Grecian goddesses, and a nod to the 80s. I love crafting dances with detailed inner logic, and choreographing this piece has felt like solving an intricate dance puzzle. This piece is also a celebration of individuality; I want each performer to be fully seen for their unique strength, presence, and artistry through a personalized solo. In turn, the dancers had a role in crafting their solos to feature how they love to move within the imagery/themes of the piece."