Chris
30th-December-2003, 08:29 AM
Here's a news story I've just come across that might be inspiring (if you let it . . . )
It's Thursday night. Anne Megibow is teaching her dance production and choreography class at Piedmont Virginia Community College. "I want you to move across the stage as though you were a dot," she tells her students.
Nine pairs of eyes stare at her. "A dot?" one student asks. "What do you mean?" demands another.
"Well," Megibow counters, "what's it mean to you?"
In the world of dance improvisation, there's no right or wrong. There is only you, your body, and your unique way of moving. It's a concept that Megibow sometimes has trouble getting across to her students.
"If you're a technically experienced dancer, you have expectations about how things are going to look," Megibow said. "To toss all those teachings out can be difficult."
As a teacher, her challenge is to "not explain too much... to let people feel uncomfortable," Megibow says. It's a role she doesn't find easy. "I'm a person who likes to fix things and make everyone feel comfortable."
"You reach a point where you want to dance your own voice, you want to jump off from a technical background and create your own movement."
(Megibow learnt dance at the Martha Graham school of dance amongst other places)
It's Thursday night. Anne Megibow is teaching her dance production and choreography class at Piedmont Virginia Community College. "I want you to move across the stage as though you were a dot," she tells her students.
Nine pairs of eyes stare at her. "A dot?" one student asks. "What do you mean?" demands another.
"Well," Megibow counters, "what's it mean to you?"
In the world of dance improvisation, there's no right or wrong. There is only you, your body, and your unique way of moving. It's a concept that Megibow sometimes has trouble getting across to her students.
"If you're a technically experienced dancer, you have expectations about how things are going to look," Megibow said. "To toss all those teachings out can be difficult."
As a teacher, her challenge is to "not explain too much... to let people feel uncomfortable," Megibow says. It's a role she doesn't find easy. "I'm a person who likes to fix things and make everyone feel comfortable."
"You reach a point where you want to dance your own voice, you want to jump off from a technical background and create your own movement."
(Megibow learnt dance at the Martha Graham school of dance amongst other places)