Creative Assignment

Collaboration with Jen and Kelly


Title: Danger Danger


Statement of Intention: To exemplify the vulnerability of art in society.


Objects Needed: one performer


Description: The performer must create a dangerous situation that satisfies the intention of the performance.  They may include other performers and/or objects if necessary.


Conclusion: The performance concludes after 2 minutes.


I chose to perform my dance over a hot plate, while throwing water upon it and dancing in the steam.  I wanted to work with the idea of the artist pushing himself further and where that fuzzy line is between challenging oneself and putting oneself in harm’s way.  At the beginning of the performance, I found myself relatively far away from the heat, because I did not want to get injured.  As I moved through the steam, I worked my way closer and closer to the source of the heat, to the point where it started to hurt a little. 

I really found myself getting into this performance, because the idea of danger kind of turned me on a bit.  I think there has always been a part of me that wants to test the waters.  I love pushing things to the limit; as a child, I would push my parents to their limit.  I liked figuring out where the breaking point was.  To me, that is where I find my artistry - just before the breaking point.

I think collaboration in dance can be a lot of things.  I have had collaborations that felt very much like two parties contributing equally to a piece as well as collaborations in which other people (or myself) made small yet meaningful contributions.  Sometimes people can collaborate without their knowledge.  I have collaborated with famous musicians simply by using their music.  In this case, I collaborated with two dancers to create and perform a script in three separate locations.  For me, it was an interesting experience, although in hindsight, I wish the script had been a bit more specific, because I felt that our three performances couldn’t really be compared to each other because they ended up being so different.