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Continued...FROM
THE OUTSIDE IN: FINDING YOUR DANCE NICHE
Lomask speaks of a turning point in her artistic development when
she began to “add some intentionality to her mental diet” by seeking
out information from specific areas of inquiry. Investigations into cosmology,
bio-mechanics, electricity, and other scientific fields form the basis of
Capacitor’s repertoire, including the acclaimed 2001 “Within Outer
Spaces” and 2003’s “Avatars”. As a result of this
objective approach to gathering source material, Lomask found her dances took
on a greater sense of coherence. Collaborating with musicians, costume, and
set designers also proved easier. “I didn’t have to be in the
position of continually impressing my personal experience on them,”
she reflects. “The conceptual theme of the work gave us all a place
in a larger discussion where we could filter our own personal experience without
losing track of the unifying themes.”
Through an investigation into what the scientific community has learned about
the Earth’s layers, Capacitor discovered new sources of movement and
emotional imagery in the creation of “Digging in the Dark”. “What
we found is quite amazing,” shares Lomask. “A burning inner core
rotating at a faster pace than the rest of the Earth, quite independent, a
circulating outer core convecting, causing the electro-magnetic field that
surrounds the earth. The creeping motion in the mantle layer causes all of
the volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis that we experience on the crust,
showing us that change on a deep layer can have sudden and magnificent repercussions
on the surface. With these concepts, so fertile with metaphorical possibility,
the show seemed to write itself.”
In addition to providing powerful fodder for dance-making, associations with
other fields can ground a choreographer’s sense of community both personally
and professionally. In Kreiter’s words, “Without the activists
being honored at the “10 Women Campaign”, I would not have access
to the information I need to participate fully as a citizen, information that
ultimately becomes synthesized into my work.” So next time you find
yourself “navel-gazing” in the studio, consider the potential
of other fields to re-connect you to your artistic roots.
