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Emengini “Eme” Chukwuma | What We Carry

What is femininity?
What is sensuality?
What is confidence?
How are femininity, sensuality, and confidence shown throughout different generations within African culture?

Emengini “Eme” Chukwuma is a Nigerian-American dancer. At UMBC, Eme has choreographed and performed in department showcases and the American College Dance Association Conference Gala. Eme received two summer research study awards and used the funds to travel to Italy, where she got the opportunity to perform “Echad Mi Yodea” by Ohad Naharin and research gaga movement under Ohad Naharin and past Batsheva Company members, Rachel Osborne and Ian Robinson. Eme will graduate with a B.A. in Dance in May 2023 including completing pre-nursing coursework.

 

Artist Statement

The anatomy of the human body has always been interesting to me. How the body moves and why it’s able to move the way it does is fascinating and I enjoy exploring these ideas. As a pre-health major I am able to understand the body on a “basic” level through labs and textbook assignments but dance allows me to explore the body with movement.

I am a Nigerian- American choreographer/dancer. My cultural identity is a big part of the work I produce and the way my body interprets movement. The movement I create explores the confidence, sensuality and sexuality of women through an afro-contemporary lens that is derived from my experiences as a Nigerian. When I begin my choreographic process, I usually begin with improvisation. I play music that I feel connected to and let my body move naturally, some of the movement will stick and I can piece those parts together to create phrases that I can teach to my dancers.

When creating movement, I hope to create something that people can use as a catalyst to learn and experience African culture. Although the piece focuses on “feminine qualities”, I want everyone to feel something when watching no matter gender, ethnicity, or religious background. I want there to be a level of excitement and joy that people feel when watching the movement from my piece. African culture is beautiful and I’ve been able to see it throughout my entire life, those experiences haven’t been shared with enough people. Without even knowing it, I hope that audience members can learn about my culture and see my experiences through movement.

 

Sara Ciniero | Elevated

Be comfortable with sexuality.
Be comfortable with female empowerment.
Be comfortable in your own body.
Do not shy away from what others may think is too much.
Be truly and authentically you.

Sara Ciniero is a transfer from Howard Community College (HCC) where she studied under Elizabeth Higgins and Joan-Nicholas Walker. She has performed in ten pieces throughout her three years at HCC with work created by choreographers such as Alex Krebbs, Chris Law, and Adrienne Clancy. While studying there she also choreographed four pieces including styles like modern, jazz, hip-hop, and heels. While studying at UMBC she performed in “Ella & Louis” choreographed by Brandon Russell and she choreographed two pieces exploring the idea of movement in heels. Sara will graduate in Spring 2023.

 

Artist Statement

I am a dance artist and I engage with dance because it brings beauty, possibility, and inspiration to me, and it is a way for me to express what my mind and heart is feeling through movement.

Central to my work is presenting as well as representing empowered, proud, and sensual femininity, and I create work dedicated to [re]claim space for women in their empowerment and sensuality.

While indulging in the smoothness in which our bodies can move I explore the shapes and lines our body can make, seeking to shape movement that is truthful and movement that provokes yet resonates physically and emotionally with the audience.

 

Michaela Emmerich | Mechanics of Memory

The process we go through when recounting memories is complex and can become a difficult experience for some. How do we piece parts of a memory together? When does a memory begin to fade? How can the recollection of the same memory differ person to person? Mechanics of Memory uses movement to explore and make sense of this process.

Michaela Emmerich trained as a competition dancer at Power Explosion Studio of Dance, then transferred in 2020 to UMBC to pursue a B.A. in Dance. She has performed in four department showcases in both film and live performance formats. In 2021, she choreographed her First Works piece, “In the Gradient.” The same year, she received an Undergraduate Research Award and studied The Six Viewpoints under Sophia Treanor and Deborah Black. She presented her URA work, “Under this Roof” in spring of 2022. In 2022, she received an Outstanding Junior in Dance award on behalf of the Dance Department.

 

Artist Statement

The thing I have always found most fascinating about dance is its ability to generate stories and understandings that deeply move people. Unlike commonly used forms of communication such as talking or writing, movement facilitates the use of all senses. I find that elements of breath and sensation especially work to create movement that can be deeply felt. For these reasons, I view dance as an experiential art form. Not only for movers themselves, but for audiences and people this work is shared with. In a space where there are both movers and viewers there is an exchange between what is done with the body and what is perceived and felt, an experience for all involved.

In my work, I explore narrative based ideas through the use of body language, gestures, and their relationship to space. My movement material generally comes from a variety of improvisation based explorations. Some of these explorations are prompted while others are inspired by a single gesture. I then manipulate my material in space to create relationships between the dancers and the movement. I find that emphasizing spatial design is the key to conveying cohesive ideas in my work. Through my creative process, I aim to create a framework of movement that welcomes various interpretations by conveying emotions and sensations that viewers can identify with. Using movement and gestures that people already understand allows them to interpret the work as something unique for themselves.

 

Allison McKitrick | amuarT

Trauma can be stuck in your body.
How do you physically release it?
How do you deal with trauma?

Allison McKitrick has trained in dance since she was eight years old. Her experience includes tap, ballet, pointe, modern, and contemporary with her dance training encompassing studio dance and public high school dance program. She is currently pursuing a B.A. in Dance, and M.A. in Education at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and is expected to graduate December 2022. Allison created a piece for UMBC’s spring 2022 dance showcase titled “Finding Self-Worth”. She teaches summer workshops for LOUD Dance Collective. She will continue her career in dance with teaching in a public high school after graduation.

 

Artist Statement

Art has always been present in my life, from my dad’s and brother’s love for music, finding solace in my love for painting, to my grandmother teaching me to slow-dance. It is in dance that I have found my true voice.

Dance enables me to deal with difficult situations or periods in my life. I create work through a process that infuses feelings into the movement vocabulary and the expression of the dancers. With my body and mind being the site for my creative research, I find purpose in sourcing from my own mental health and experiences of coping with depression, anxiety, and self-doubt.

The expressive and ever-evolving physical language of contemporary dance, provides not only an artistic place for my work but also purpose. I tell personal stories through my work, and in sharing these I have a personal healing.

 

Jillian Taylor | 3:1

In today’s world, we often feel the pressure to be self-sufficient, proving that we can pave our own way without needing the help of others. This can actually stunt our growth by causing us to miss out on the lessons we can learn from the diverse perspectives of our peers. How can we embrace collaboration and find unity within our communities, while maintaining our individuality and feeling a sense of freedom? 

“3:1” has a strong focus on the interactions between the dancers, and how these motivate the development of the work. The dancers find themselves shifting from a more individualistic mindset and behavior, to a collaborative, unified intention as the work progresses. It is my hope that the work demonstrates how it is possible to make this shift, while maintaining individuality and feeling a new sense of freedom after learning from the diverse perspectives of others.

Jillian Taylor grew up training under Ashley Canterna Hardy and Brandon Perry Russell, and has since been pursuing a B.A. in Dance, a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and an Honors College Certificate from UMBC as a Linehan Artist Scholar. She has performed in the American College Dance Association Conference Gala, Adrienne Canterna’s Sweetbird Productions Gala, Bald Ballerina Benefit Concerts for Maggie Kudurka, Maryland Festival Ballet’s “The Nutcracker”, showcases for the Rockettes Summer Intensive, and numerous UMBC student and faculty works. She choreographed her first work entitled “Inhibited” in 2020, which premiered in UMBC’s “Interactions: A Virtual Experience” showcase.

 

Artist Statement

Dance is my preferred medium because it allows art not only to be seen, but also to be felt in a highly physical way. I thrive under the challenges that the technical aspects of dance bring to me, while enjoying the emotional release that dance provides me with, whether in technical or improvisational work. Due to its live nature, dance has a dynamic quality that allows each performance to be unique, creating an ongoing opportunity for technical growth and development of nuance and intention.

My work focuses on the relationships between the dancers in space, and a significant tactic that help me with this is first blocking out formations, facings, and pathways in space, and then creating movement to carry the dancers through them. I have found that this allows me to expand beyond my usual choreographic patterns and create spatial landscapes that interest me, and lend themselves to the meaning of the work.

My favorite thing about generating movement is the beautiful shapes that can be created by bodies in space, and the play that can be done by adapting technical shapes into more abstract forms. With this shape-based development, I create work that lingers as evocative afterimages in the audience’s memory, while also having the momentum and push that will allow audience members to remember the feeling of the dance, even after they have left the theater.