Wednesday, November 11, 1998
Fallen into step
FEATURE: For choreographer
Julie Carson, personal experiences help shape the emotional and
insightful dances
that she creates
By Sandy Yang
Daily Bruin Contributor
The subject of postmodernism is daunting enough, but mix dance
into this concoction of high art, and visions of elitist
intellectuals and incomprehensible expressions can intimidate even
the most open-minded of people.
With "Finally Fallen," however, this postmodern dance concert
offers familiar subjects and entertaining performances, aiming to
touch the universal feelings of holding on and letting go.
In the performance’s seven pieces, choreographer and UCLA MFA
candidate Julie Carson uses all forms of art to convey individual
stories. Like the layers of dance, songs and theatrics in the
performances, Carson also infuses layers of emotions and meanings
to the pieces. Feelings of discovery, loss, fear and frustration
are shown in the light of humorous and humanistic situations.
"One of the pieces is about five women standing in line for the
women’s restroom and they dance to a piece by Bach," Carson says.
"You can see it as a comedy, but if you then go to the next layer
and go further, (you can say) these women aren’t getting anywhere,
and it’s very easy for these men to do exactly what they need to
do."
Another piece in the concert also draws on a female experience.
This solo dance performance portrays a young woman at the final
fitting for her wedding gown as she contemplates the role she is
about to take on. For Carson, the process of making this piece
became a personal revelation.
"I was married once before for the very first time, and it
wasn’t a very happy marriage." Carson says, going on to explain how
the bride soon sheds her dress. "I didn’t intend for that to be the
end of the scene … but at one point, I said ‘Improvise it’ and
(Mollie, the lead dancer) kept going and ended up rolling, getting
the dress off of her, kicking it off and walking away … there was
something so honest about it. When I originally went to make it, I
had no intention of revealing that about myself."
Comprised of 13 female dancers, the performances are not a
feminine portrayal of life, but rather an exploration of issues
that touch everyone. Though the pieces are not autobiographical of
Carson’s life, the performances are both intentionally and
unintentionally drawn from her experiences. But Carson finds that
the most personal performances are the ones that elicit the most
tangible and universal feelings.
Such a work deals with the fear Carson encountered when her
mother phoned to say she had taken Carson’s father to the hospital
for heart pains. Using that moment of vulnerability and fear,
Carson built a piece around the feeling that followed immediately
after the phone call.
"It was about my parent’s mortality. It was about me giving up
the idea that they are my security," Carson says.
"It’s also about not telling each other when you’re scared, when
you say everything’s all right and everything’s not all right,"
Carson continues. "I have performed it before, and one of my
teachers came up to me later and he said, ‘Julie, that dance’ and I
looked at him, and he touched his heart. And I think I
communicated."
For UCLA senior Jennifer Lafferty, who dances in "Intermission"
and the last piece, "Finally Fallen," the pieces also draw memories
and emotions from her own life, which she brings to her
dancing.
"For me, (‘Finally Fallen’) brings out the issue with leaving my
family for the first time when I went away to school," Lafferty
says.
For Carson, it is also a very personal piece that ties in all
the other performances.
"After you’ve made a significant amount of work and you know
you’re going to put (them) into a concert, you have to find some
thread that holds all the pieces together in some kind of concept,"
Carson says. "I am just really taken by the idea of letting
go."
Lafferty says, "What (Julie) has done is taken her own
experiences and transferred those emotions into a dance. Especially
for people who have never been to dance performances, it will be
interesting for them to be able to see a life situation put on a
stage."
Translating emotions and stories to the stage proved to be a
long and metamorphosing process for both Carson and the dancers.
Each dancer puts in five to 15 hours a week for rehearsals, while
the pieces are constantly reworked.
"It was extremely intense," says UCLA senior Mollie Quinn, who
appears in three pieces.
"It’s a schedule where you really have to come focused. You
can’t come and have other things going on. As dancers, we have to
understand that we have to come prepared for whatever might be
faced."
Come Friday night, the hard work and the emotional process that
went into the performances will be realized on the stage.
"It’s an amazing amount of work," says Carson, "but I know I’ll
treasure the experience."
DANCE: "Finally Fallen" will be performed at the UCLA Dance
Building Theater 200 at 8 p.m. this Friday and Saturday. For more
information, call (310) 825-3951Photos by Carol Petersen
Tiana Alvarez (front) and Christy Bolingbroke perform in
"Finally Fallen," a series of dances based on the personal
experiences of the choreographer.
Julie Carson performs in "Finally Fallen," part of the UCLA
department of world arts and cultures’ Upstart Series.
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