Presenter: Francesca DeMartino, School of the Arts, Dance Department
Authors: Francesca DeMartino
Faculty Advisor: Ang Banchero-Kelleher, School of the Arts, Department of Modern Dance
Institution: Utah Valley University
COVID-19, an international pandemic, has had far reaching and devastating effects since its appearance in December 2019. From the wavelike pattern of cases rising and falling to social distancing regulations, COVID-19 has impacted everything from daily life to economics on a global scale. Our mental health is no exception with people’s emotional reactions ranging from loneliness, anger, panic, sadness, etc. that change daily. Joann Kealiinohomoku states that “Dance reflects the cultural traditions within which they developed.” One can therefore assume that dances created during 2020 will reflect current events. Within this research, I sought to use dance’s choreographic elements to explore people’s emotional responses to COVID-19. Using conversation and improvisation, my dancers used their own personal experiences with COVID-19 to create movements that reflected social interactions within spatial patterning, emotional states of quick versus slow, and emotionally charged energy dynamics, i.e the choreographic element of Space, Time, and Energy respectively. I utilized a theme and variation structure for the movement to develop and reflect the various emotional responses, like calmness (slowness) and panic (quickness). Space was utilized to show social-distancing and levels which represented the individual dancer’s respective emotional state. Circular and linear pathways reflected dancers' relationships to each other, the group, and the virus cases rising and falling. I utilized Time to show contrast with dancers who were able to remain calm while the rest of the group were moving quickly. Energy qualities become instrumental within these variations to show vibrating, exploding, sustained, and collapsing movements that reflect emotions such as panic, fear, calm, and hopelessness respectively. It is my intention for this research to reveal how COVID-19 can be translated into a physical experience which responds to the cultural environment of 2020 allowing the audience to empathetically connect and find personal meaning within their own pandemic experiences.