MFA Monday: Observations

by Lydia MFA Mondays

MFA right

 

 

Please welcome back Amanda Diorio to MFA Monday on the Frame Dance Blog. Enjoy, dear Framers and have a happy Monday!

 

 

 

Observations that helped me create my MFA thesis

 

 

 

It will happen.

As those of us who have worked in show business are well aware “the show must go on”.  It is amazing when you think about all that needs to get done in a production like an MFA thesis concert but miraculously it all happens.  This was a helpful attitude to take when I was working on my own concert.  I had no idea how all the work would get done but I knew that somehow it would all come together and of course it did.  Remember this when you are at your wits end and about to freak out about not finishing your work for the show.  One benefit of having a concert as a final project is that you have no choice but to get it all done. The dates have been set long in advance and cannot be changed.  This is one advantage that those seeking other kinds of terminal degrees do not have.  I have friends who have been working on their PhD dissertations for years.  The have no specific end time so it can be drawn out.  We as performers have the benefit of having a set date to be done by, a finish line to look towards.  When you are in the thick of it and your life has consisted of this crazy schedule for years it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel but remember grad school is not real life.  Your concert and your degree will happen.  Hang in there!

 

 

The project is still a part of the learning. 

While your final project is a reflection of your overall work in graduate school it is still a part of the learning process.  There is this sense that your thesis concert is representation of all your work in graduate school.  This is true to a point but you are still in graduate school while you are creating it, therefore making it part of a whole and not a separate entity representing your entire MFA education.  As a first year MFA candidate it is easy to look at the third years that are settled in and comfortable in their working grove and think of them as finished products of the program.  But as any third year will tell you, they are still in the thick of it.  After your concert is over you will have to defend it to your committee and get an approval in order to receive the MFA.  As you create your work you will learn new and valuable lessons along the way, thinking of this time as part of the learning process instead of the representation of that process can help you keep an open mind in terms of your own work.  I found it extremely helpful to gather opinions from my committee members during this time just as I had done in my previous choreography classes.  In the end I think this made my show better than it would have been had I considered myself a full-blown MFA while I was creating it.  Keep the learning doors open all the way until graduation (and hopefully beyond) in order to get the most out of your MFA education.

 

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 Amanda Diorio is an adjunct faculty member at UNC-Greensboro and Elon University.  She teaches adult classes open to the public at the North Carolina Dance Project where she is also a member of the board of directors.  Amanda holds an M.F.A. in Choreography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a B.F.A. in Dance from Temple University. She has taught, produced, and choreographed dance extensively in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Florida and North Carolina at universities, studios, public and private schools and community centers. Specializing in Contemporary, Jazz and Hip Hop techniques she enjoys spreading peace, love and understanding through her teaching of dance, choreography and culture.

Dinner/Dance 19 Character Cheat Sheet

by Lydia Uncategorized

You’ll need this tonight.  Read up!

Dinner / Dance 19

 

The scenario: Search optimization and marketing company, Search Optimizer, is currently low on exciting on clientele. Eager to get creative in their work, they have identified tonight’s hotspot restaurant as a fun and exciting gig, and they all want to land the deal.  They show up with you tonight, not only to dine, but to take care of a little after-hours business.

 

Deuce Ticklebeetle (Alex Soares) was brought in to learn his father’s business, Search Optimizer, so he could run it one day, but lack of interest and disastrous performance have kept him at the same position for the last 12 years.  He is the secretly adopted only son of Tramell Ticklebeetle, who lost his once sizeable fortune on bad investments.  Beetle is not exactly motivated, and he’d rather do anything than work.  Gretchen says he plays on his phone, takes naps, and that she once caught him drinking toner. (The new, new beezin’?)  He barely managed to graduate from high school with the help of his tutors.  He has a specific vendetta against Gretchen, but you’ll have to ask him about that yourself.

Shelley Kelly (Laura Gutierrez) has been with Search Optimizer for 5 years, that is she’s been hovering next to the Ozarka water cooler for five years trying to fit into conversations.  The oldest daughter in her Arkansas family, she attended Vanderbilt.  Rumor has it she’s quite smart.  But something is off.  She is the epitome of awkward, and she cannot seem to get into the work social circle no matter how much she tries.  She just wants to be accepted.  The others call her “Smelly Shelley,” for some pretty obvious reasons.  Have we mentioned she’s weird?

Roxi Wright (Danielle Gonzaba) is a summer intern with Search Optimizer.  She is the youngest daughter of 4; her parents are successful business people.  She is currently in college studying business.  While she’d rather do nothing over her summer break except be with her friends in Austin, she’s working to make friends with all the employees because she feels pressure to be hired by Search Optimizer when she graduates. So she’s putting on her game face. What drives her?  Love and acceptance, and as the youngest of four, she’s used to being the center of attention without having to work for it.  Also: she’s in a sorority.

Gretchen Charise Kittridge (Ashley Horn) started at Search Optimizer out of college.  She accepted lower pay than she wanted because she was promised that she would move up quickly in the company, she was one of the first employees of the start-up, but has only had one promotion in 11 years.  Comes early, stays late.  Gretchen is only child of overachievers– always planned on going back to law school, but can’t seem to find time.  She’s not particularly liked at work, she’s a little bitter and hated by one of her colleagues.  All she wants is fairness and the success she deserves.  That’s not too much to ask, right?  Where would you find her when she’s not at work?  Reading a book with a glass of wine.  Maybe adopting another cat.

Gwenevieve Hues (Jacquelyne Jay Boe) is a recent divorcee and mother of two young children.  Only on the job at Search Optimizer one month (but out of the job market for seven years), she is just now beginning to settle in and become comfortable with her colleagues.  Determined to make a living without her ex, she is invigorated with this new chance to reinvent herself.  But is she looking for more?

Alyssa Roberts (Shanon Adams) is a very recent transfer from California.  We don’t know very much about her yet, except that she doesn’t seem very nice…