This study started with structure. I mapped the music clearly—Intro, A, B, C, Outro—and built the choreography in direct relationship to it. But what actually held the process together wasn’t the structure itself, it was this ongoing question of the “something.” I kept returning to that idea without fully defining it, letting it exist more as a sensation than a concrete answer.
The movement began with a circular motif. It felt contained at first, almost too controlled, but repetition started to shift it. The more I looped it, the more it revealed variation inside itself. Instead of trying to constantly add new material, I stayed with the repetition long enough for it to change on its own. That became the core of the work.
First Draft
Music: Lantern Flies in Mist — Black Taffy
I do not own the rights to this music
There’s a constant push and pull between staying with the music and resisting it. In some sections, I follow the structure closely, letting changes in the music trigger shifts in level, pathway, or texture. In others, I deliberately don’t change when the music does. That tension creates a kind of friction that keeps the movement from settling too quickly.
In rehearsal, the focus is on the opening material: Intro and Section A. The movement is still searching here. The circular motif is being established, but it hasn’t fully expanded yet. I’m working within repetition, trying to understand how much variation it can hold without losing clarity. The tension between staying with the music and resisting it is present, but it’s still subtle, more about potential than full disruption.That in-between space feels more alive than either full synchronization or total separation. It’s less about being “on” or “off” the music and more about existing in relationship to it.
Physically, this study became about precision. Smaller movements demanded more clarity than bigger ones. When the gesture is minimal, there’s nothing to hide behind, it either reads or it doesn’t. That shifted how I approached detail, especially in moments of stillness or sustained repetition. I also became more aware of transitions, particularly moving from floor to standing. Those moments started to feel less like connectors and more like their own choreographic events.
Music: Lantern Flies in Mist — Black Taffy
I do not own the rights to this music
By the final version, the work feels more grounded in its own logic. I’m not trying to “solve” the movement anymore, I’m letting it unfold. The repetition is clearer, and the spatial pathways feel more intentional, especially in how the circular motif expands and then returns. There’s also more contrast in dynamics, with moments of drive against moments of pause, creating a more layered relationship with the music.
What hasn’t changed is the “searching” quality. If anything, it’s more focused. I stopped trying to resolve it and instead let it guide the pacing and attention of the work. The “something” still isn’t fully defined, but it feels closer; not as an idea, but as a physical state.
Something Reflections
Right now, I’m more interested in how the material develops than in adding anything new. The structure is already there. The motif is already there. The question is how far I can push it; how much variation, distortion, and specificity it can hold before it breaks.
If I were to continue this process, I would push contrast further—especially in the later sections. I’m interested in disrupting the established pattern more directly and letting unexpected shifts emerge. I would also spend more time inside transitions, allowing them to stretch rather than moving through them quickly.
The biggest shift in this process has been trusting that the work doesn’t need to be forced into clarity too early. The “something” doesn’t have to be defined yet. It just has to keep emerging.