Presenter: Falynn Mackey
Authors: Falynn Mackey
Faculty Advisor: Sara Gallo
Institution: Dixie State University
The question or artistic stimulus I researched was; How can I bring awareness to mental health (i.e anxiety, depression, etc.) through the language of movement? The dance genre I chose to experiment with was jazz and contemporary. I predicted that combining both styles of sharp, rigid movements from jazz and the soft emotional movements from contemporary would be the best course of action in order to convey my research questions. I expected my dancers to be open-minded to trying new and uncomfortable movements as well as having confidence in their own individual strengths. I really looked for dancers that are comfortable with floor work as my choreographic style incorporates a lot of floor work. I also look for the dancer's musicality or the ability to adapt to changing musical elements whether that be tempo or playing with emphasis. I used word association in the development of this piece. I chose words that were in relation to mental health and I asked my dancers to improvise, individually and in groups, to the words given so that I could use that generated movement to inspire the choreography I set for my dances. I was inspired by the constant battle many faces against mental health. Life is about the journey, not the destination. For some, this ideology is lost in relation to mental health and the trials we constantly face. We are often struck with the decision to either keep fighting no matter what or to give in and give up. This is my tribute to keep fighting, keep pushing forward because if you give up now you will never know what great things you missed out on.