[flickr id=”9364587369″ thumbnail=”medium” overlay=”true” size=”original” group=”” align=”none”]This Summer I had the privilege of writing music and performing in a dance piece by choreographer, and Dance Movement Therapy and Counseling MA student, Courtney St. Clair, and it was one of the highlights of my summer.

Courtney was making a dance film and asked me in March if I was interested in composing the sound for two of the dances in the film entitled, “Going Through The Motions,” and “Elios.” A few months later, she asked if I would dance in one of the pieces as well!  I love to dance, and dancing with with this specific group of movers including Emily D’ Annunzio, Viktor Le , and Andrew Given was a fantastic experience.

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The piece I performed in was called “Elios.” The film was shot and is being edited by Eli Vasquez, who was a great person to work with. For two days in a row we all got up at 2:30 in the morning and drove together in Andrew’s van to Montrose Beach to film one of the dances on the pier. I normally hate waking up early (before 10am) but this was special. Watching the sunrise was beautiful.

I hadn’t had a lot of formal dance training, but I did take a wonderful movement class taught by Nana Shineflug which really gave me a love for dance, and in the words of Martha Graham, “Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion.”  It was a privilege to be able to work with such amazingly gifted and delightful people. This projects was definitely one of the major highlights of my summer, and I am excited to see what these artist do in the future.

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Last Thursday, there was a performance of the piece at The Columbia Dance Center, and the finished video piece will be on display in Chicago in August.

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