CREATION & PROCESS
A WORD FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR…
Some ETD company dancers and collaborators have fled New York, while others remain. Still, while we all shelter in place, I know how frustrated dancers are and left without an outlet for their expression. Our rehearsal director, Nicole Baker, implored me to give the company something to do, so I took a few days to think of a plan. I wanted to develop a project that would be, of course, physical, emotional, and flex their creative muscles while under confinement. I conceived and created Uncharted Territory: Dancers In Isolation Project out of this impetus.
Uncharted Territory is a choreographic venture that uses a chart I designed. It has four-lettered columns across and twenty numbered rows down — with upper body choreographic actions and steps paired with qualities, feelings, and dynamics. I scrambled the letters and numbers at random in a Google program to create a unique "sequence" that becomes a phrase of choreography — thirty-two in total per dancer per week. From April 20-May 20, these phrases were made by each company member and videotaped in their respective homes. Then they were shared with me and the other dancers — creating a unique and collaborative ETD company work in isolation. Rehearsals have been held weekly on Zoom to offer feedback during this unfamiliar process. When the dancers reunite in person, the work they began individually while in isolation will transform into live performances as a collective and result in ETD's first dance film.
DEVELOPMENT & REHEARSAL
The Uncharted Territory Movement and Expression Chart In-Development
To develop the choreography during quarantine, Eryc Taylor created an intricate Movement and Expression Chart with lettered columns and numbered rows, each with different directives, emotions, and inspirations. Each week throughout the creation process, the dancers were assigned randomized sequences of directives that were to become phrases of choreography unique to their experience and individual character.
PHASE 1- MOVEMENT SEQUENCING
Week 1
Week 3
Week 2
Week 4
PHASE 2- CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 3- IN STUDIO REHEARSALS, FILM STORYBOARDING, AND EDITING
Music and Video Editing by Daniel Tobias