My corner 

My Corner 1/9

Work description

Will Jessup - Will’s project was improvised tasked with the change of speed, a moment of reputation and continuous movement. Will’s biggest challenge with this was finding clarity in his movement while maintaining a connection with the tasks. 

Lázaro Silva - I made this video in my room because during these quarantine times, it is the place that I spend my time the most. 

Amy Staples - The movements in my research represent a place of safety and judgement. I am looking at myself in a mirror the entire time I am dancing. The mirror, to me, is a balance of comfort because I am seeing what I am doing and feel less alone, and on the other ends of the spectrum, it is where I judge myself most and hyper analyze my flaws. I am trying to show vanity and self-judgement and how those can hold you back from growth

Choreographers: Will Jessup | Lázaro Silva | Amy Staples

Music: Saturn - Sleeping at Last  

Video editing: @barichini

Lamondance Training program season 11

My Corner 4/9

Work Description 

Jessie Shigetomi - During these times, I've found myself to be a bit lost, I've lost a lot of motivation and direction with my life. Being at home with your thoughts every day didn't seem like it would be an issue until it actually happened; I second-guessed a lot of my goals in life. I've come to realize that it's completely okay to feel this way, with all of the negative news that fills our head it was bound to get to me at some point, but now I have the time to think through my life and where I've come to and where I want to go. We have a lot more time on our hands, so I've just been taking that time to think things through, my path may not be completely clear, but I have an idea of which direction I need to head towards. Through these hard times my bedroom has been such a safe space for me, so that's why I chose to dance in one of the corners in my room; while improvising I mainly wanted to focus on the idea of acceptance, as that's been something that I've been trying to work on during these times. I'm very thankful to be happy and healthy, this may be a dark time in our lives, but I'm trying my best to keep a happy spirit.

Sasha Pinder - In my research, I feel my movements represent feeling trapped. The corner represents the walls to an outside world, where we can be free. With everything going on in the world right now and everyone is kept inside, I wanted my movements to show worry, frustration, and the overall feeling of being confined to one place. While creating these movements, I discovered that I was able to let all those feelings of being trapped out while dancing. Putting meaning behind my movements gave me a chance to feel free for once. I discovered that even though I may be "trapped," dance will always be there to set me free. 

Gregory Jungco - The corner I chose was an outside corner of my old middle school. I chose this corner because I have spent much of the quarantine thinking and reminiscing about past events that have built me into becoming the person I am today. The corner is related to them because this was the same corner I realized I was gay in the 8th grade, and wanted to explore my movement in the same place that I learned so much about myself in. The movements are syncopated, and freeing at the same time, just like the hesitations and liberating feelings I had in that past event. 

Choreographers: @Jessie | @Sasha | @Gregory

Music: Veins - Palace

Video editing: @barichini

Lamondance Training program season 11

My Corner 7/9

Keira Douet - Throughout completing this project I had to work through my troublesome feelings towards improvisation. This song relates to those feelings of overthinking. In contrast, I chose this corner of my family room because it is where I feel most comfortable; where in the past I have been surrounded by family and friends. Through lots of trial and error I discovered which type of movements I wanted to investigate, and push myself to include in my improvisation. In completion I found an outlet towards being more comfortable with improvisation.

Isla Spotswood - Having so much time alone in the house, I spent most of my childhood in has allowed me to reflect more on my past. Recently I have had so many memories suddenly reappear in my mind that I had either forgotten about or put aside. The nostalgia of being back in Calgary, a city that I know like the back of my hand, is very comforting. Taking time to contemplate these memories and comparing my past to my life now has been eye-opening. I have gained a lot of clarity in my values and what I believe is significant. This corner of my dining room offers me a lot of comforts and symbolizes the safety I feel when I am home.

Natasha Pavan - I decided to dance in the corner of my room, as it is a place where I have been spending a lot of time recently. As improv is something, I am still learning to work on and be comfortable with, being in my room brought me a sense of comfort. The movements I decided to research during this improv related to the corner that I'm in because it shows that even though everything in the world is uncertain right now, the things that I can rely on are helping me stay sane and feel comfortable during these hard times. During this process, I discovered that it's okay not always to feel comfortable and not always feel 100% with everything. That is a good lesson for me in life, as I feel that I always need to be perfect. This process helped me realize that it's okay to fail and not constantly be the best that you can be.

Choreographers: Keira Douet | Isla Spotswood | Natasha Pavan Music: Sincerity is scary - The 1975

Video editing: @barichini

Lamondance Training program season 11

My Corner 2/9

Work Description 

Ashley Rabinovitch - I tried other corners, but this corner in my home is what means the most to me, it's where I feel safe! I often dance and move freely at home, and dance is where my heart is. This is where I can be my true open and honest self and not hold anything back, no walls.

Hayley Galati - A single minute where negativity disappears, and the worries wander off. All fears have faded, and all sorrow has scattered. A minute filled with freedom, possibilities, and strength. A Scape from the world, a moment to just be. A simple sixty seconds, where the brain turns off, and the body starts to speak.

Ali Jenkins - Here I am, in my favourite studio, in the far corner, my favourite room from childhood 'mand I'm with the famous pink stool. During this time, when the world has come to a halt, I wanted to be more open to simplicity. Our day to day lives has become easy, calm, and simple. I wanted my video to resemble how my life is during the pandemic of Covid-19. We are now living in a world where silence and simple schedules are our new normal.

Choreographers: Ashley Rabinovitch | Hayley Galati | Ali Jenkins

Music: Float Dance - Thimk Remix

Video editing: @barichini

Lamondance Training program season 11

My Corner 5/9

Work Description

Piper French - Bedroom movement is the best. I chose to create and move in this space because it's safe and comfortable; my body recognizes it as an environment made for melting, flowing, writing, drawing, singing off-key and being its deepest, most vulnerable self. Clicking into what I am comfortable with, or uncomfortable with is easy in an environment that flourishes on vulnerability. This room is representative of me through all stages of my life and reflects my every emotion. Here I find childhood, teenage years, fear, guilt, love, hate, creativity, honestly, heartache, passion, and grief. Everything that's ever been within me surrounds me here, and it's comforting to know that its all in one place and will always grow with me. I discovered liquid gold and blue, and felt at peace with myself, I dove into new territory and old and found myself moving within the void of hiatus. I've spent countless hours discovering and exploring movement in my bedroom, and this is just one of them.

Madeleine Martin - During these turbulent times, we can often find ourselves trapped and encumbered in the spaces we live in. Isolation and loneliness can make our world feel a lot smaller than it really is. For this project, I decided to challenge myself artistically and dance in the smallest space in my house (the upstairs hallway) and use it to its full potential. What was a small and tight hallway became a boundless space for creativity and movement. 

• Sorry, Mom, for the scratch on the wall. 

Summer Sturm - The movement represents repetition and isolation, and I wanted to demonstrate that due to the circumstances that we are living in. The corner relates to the movements because there aren't many places to go or move if you are trapped in "the corner," so you end up doing the same thing over and over again. While creating my movements I discovered that my body can be isolated in so many ways but I only focused on the most mobile parts such as the ribs. When the idea of repetition became the concept, my brain tends to put up these walls and can't figure out other ways to repeat movements. I noticed that my movements were focussed around a ripple effect, which does work around the idea of isolation. Finally, the song choice helped with the idea of repetition and isolation since the selection had many beats, accents and queues, which I enjoyed working with. 

Choreographers: Piper French | Madeleine Martin | Summer Sturm

Music: Zoanthropy - Toonorth

Video editing: @barichini

Lamondance Training program season 11

My Corner 8/9

Work Description 

Isla Spotswood - Lately, I have been craving a feeling of exhilaration. Trying to find a sense of instant joy and rush of adrenaline has been difficult during these times. However, the exploration to achieve that feeling is exciting in itself. I have transformed my once dining room into a creative space where I can paint, draw, dance, express myself. The corner of this room represents this new challenge. The personal struggles I am facing has inspired me to create more and find new ways to utilise what I have in my house to make art.

Isabelle Dina - The movement presented is a representation of loneliness in mind. The intricate hand movements show how it feels to try and organize one's thoughts. Overthinking tends to cause anxiety in the mind. The flowing movements in the video represent trying to release one's emotions in order to de-stress. Overall, the dance shows one's attempt to cope with being alone, trying to break out of any mental barriers in order to be happy. 

Piper French - Choosing to use an outdoor space for my movement research project, proved to be both liberating and constrictive all at once. I found myself feeling deeply compelled to reflect the changing weather through my movements, while also feeling playfully at ease in the open air. I discovered that I was drawn to moving with a sense of longing for something that is no longer possible; touch and the feeling of being held by others. I explored a treasure trove of indulgence and had a fleeting love affair with the rain, which I moved under. This is only a small moment of a process that showed me how vastness creates endless opportunities.

Choreographers: Isla Spotswood | Isabelle Dina | Piper French

Music: Maybe another time - feng suave

Video editing: @barichini

Lamondance Training program season 11

My Corner 3/9

Work Description 

Caroline Kiddie - I found this process to be very insightful into what inspires and motivates my approach to movement, alongside the mental hurdles I encountered throughout my improvisation. In the comfort of my bedroom, I can be inspired by almost anything that comes to mind. However, music is always a driving factor in my dancing and especially my improvisation. Since in this process, the music was not something that I could control, I began branching in unfamiliar directions to find new means of fuelling my movement. Instead, I focus on different qualities and flow, channelling into a sense of ease and relaxation with sensations of stretching and folding residing at the forefront of my mind. I also prioritize these concepts and sensations over my own desires for perfection or to be impressive, as these sorts of self-imposed judgements only serve to stunt progress and halt creative growth. Allowing myself to embody these open-ended prompts throughout my improvisation created the space for me to attempts foreign pathways while moving past sources of insecurity and anxiety. 

Thiago Rafael Ruela - I chose this corner because it refers to my intimacy with myself, which leads us to the name of the song "intimacy." this project is very important, especially nowadays. There I was able to express myself in a loving and passionate way, in a true way with my feelings, like a roller coaster.

Grace Willock - In these past few weeks, I've felt simultaneously trapped and free. Confined to certain places and spaces with limited opportunities to interact with others but at the same time freedom from most of my normal obligations and what feels like unlimited time. I had a desire to see how I could translate this idea of experiencing two polar opposite states at the same time into the body. For the creation of this movement, I wanted to interact with two contrasting elements and see how my body would react to the opposing sensations. I found that as my movement was restricted by the static concrete space, I had a greater desire to explore the free and dynamic sensation of the air. This led me to produce movement that was initiated by a desire to play with the quality of air, and an increased sense of freedom in the upper body.

Choreographers: @Caroline Kiddie | @Thiago Rafael Ruela | @Grace Willock 

Music: Intimidade - Liniker e os Caramelows   

Video editing: @barichini

Lamondance Training program season 11

My Corner 6/9

Work Description 

Oksana Maslechko - In my corner, I played with feelings of floating, as well as being pulled in different directions. I wanted the experience to feel surreal and somewhat dream-like. I was imagining sitting on the couch, and at certain points, part of me would step outside my body, expressing what I’m feeling inside.

Katrina Del Villar - During this research of movement, I discovered that dancing is one of the ways that I've chosen to find release. It's helped me to maintain my sense of motivation during these times. I also discovered that no matter how challenging we may find things we can choose to see it as an opportunity for us to grow and learn new ways to better ourselves. I found that this project was a good process for me to find a different way and a different place of movement whiling using my chosen location to dance in. It was a fun concept to approach dancing in a corner while trying to maintain openness and not feelings of being trapped. Though seemingly difficult to limit the size of movement due to my given space, I believe that it actually better represents the idea of finding those important moments of release when we are feeling most restricted or restrained. I also discovered that there is no excuse to stop moving when in actuality we able to create movement and try new things no matter the location or situation we're in. 

Cleo Agar - The definition of a corner is when two walls meet. Which is why for my improvisational project, I chose to dance in front of a window. To me, a window can represent a pathway to a brighter future- something I think we all need right now.

 Choreographers: Oksana Maslechko | Katrina Del Villar | Cleo Agar

Music: Topanga - goth babe

Video editing: @barichini

Lamondance Training program season 11

My Corner 9/9

Work Description

Will Jesup - Will's project was a tasked improv with the challenge of not stopping and trying to connect with what makes dance fun. The biggest challenge with this project was completely giving in to my body's wants and needs for movement and just dancing rather than try and think about what my body is doing and just DANCE!

Mariana Camarena - This small room/corner makes me feel like I can still express my self in the way I like even though I am not in a studio. This room has become my second home, and as I was filming this, I felt open and grateful.

Gregory Jungco - The corner I chose was the corner of the backyard patio at Colton's house. This corner is relevant to my present due to how Colton and I have been quarantining together for the last month and a bit. This corner has been a big part of our relationship because lots of conversations and fights that we have had in the past have happened in this corner. But, without those moments, I wouldn't be such a believer in the love we have and share with each other. I discovered that music can change the way you communicate movements to an audience. I also discovered how quickly my moods and emotions can change through finding the happiness in the music and my movements.

Choreographers: Will Jesup | Mariana Camarena | Gregory Jungco Music: I'm A Believer by The Monkees

Video editing: @barichini

Lamondance Training program season 11