Her Campus Celebrities: Emory Dance Company Choreographers

Each spring a select number of students in the Emory Dance Program are selected to choreograph a piece that will be featured in the seasonal show. This semester five students were chosen: Alice Chen, Hannah Frankel, Lauren Kaplan, Julio Medina, and Megan Sypher. Over the semester they each worked countless hours to produce work that showcases a combination of natural talent and the training they have received here at Emory. Each unique dance invites onlookers to witness the creative process at work and the different styles of dance that went into producing each piece. What is not often given is a chance for these creative students to actually tell their peers about their work. Here, the choreographers give a little information about themselves, their experience with dance, and their choreographed piece.
 
The Emory Dance Company Spring Concert is Thursday and Friday, April 26 and 27, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, April 28 at 2 p.m.
 
Name:Alice Chen
Year:Senior
Major:English (Dance and Movement Studies minor)
Hometown:Salt Lake City, Utah
Extra-curriculars:Senior Editor and former Executive Editor of The Emory Wheel, AHANA Dance performer and choreographer, Emory Dance Company performer and choreographer, Her Campus editor, fashion blogger.
Previous dance experience:Pretty much as soon as I was born — I don’t remember a time when I WASN’T dancing!
What is the story behind your EDC piece:I was inspired by Niki de Saint Phalle’s “Shooting Pictures,” a series of post-war paintings created by shooting at canvases under which bags of paint were placed, resulting in small volcanoes of dripping colors. Despite the violence each painting embodied and the fact that de Saint Phalle claimed she only stopped making these images was because she had become addicted to shooting, the paintings were beautiful images. My piece explores the idea that beauty can emerge from even the darkest, most negative places.
Interesting facts:I’m obsessed with unitards, my favorite color is purple, I’m boycotting Gossip Girl until Chuck and Blair are back together, and I was a background dancer in the High School Musical 2 movie.
Why should people come to the show?The posters you’ve been seeing around campus are just a teaser of our beautiful faces, come see us in the flesh if you want to be WOWed!
 
Name:Hannah Frankel
Year:Senior
Major:Cultural Anthropology (Dance and Movement Studies minor)
Hometown:Snellville, Georgia
Extra-curriculars:Vice President of AHANA Dance, CIPA Peer Advisor.
Previous dance experience:I started dancing when I was five- we had a very flashy recital routine to the Lion King! Then I quit for a few years to play soccer (yikes) and I got back into it around middle school.
What is the story behind your EDC piece:I was once kidnapped by clowns and forced to join a traveling circus. This piece is about clown culture and happiness metaphysics. It’s very profound.
Interesting facts:I can lick my elbow.
Why should people come to the show? It’s high time you put that arts passport to good use! (And because it’s going to be amazing, duh.)
 
Name:Lauren Kaplan
Year:Junior
Major: English and Dance & Movement Studies
Hometown:Short Hills, NJ
Extra-curriculars:Emory Dance Company, AHANA Dance, Her Campus News Editor, and other miscellaneous dance-related activities
Previous dance experience:3-ish? That was when I ran around a studio in a little pink leotard and ballet slippers just because my mom thought it was cute. I started taking things more seriously once my dad gave up on me being an athlete and allowed me to choose between soccer and dance in middle school. I’ve stuck with it since then, but I’ve graduated from pink leotards to Lululemon.
What is the story behind your EDC piece:There’s not a “story” per se, as much as there are a bunch of ideas I’ve been working with. The most prominent are group dynamics and the use of space…can’t give away too much, because it’s up to the audience to figure it out!
Interesting facts:I’m left-handed, obsessed with chocolate, and I love a good list — squiggly lined cross-outs are my thing.
Why should people come to the show?To finally understand why we EDC-ers are always in dance class or attending/holding/planning/thinking about/going to a rehearsal, and maybe to be just a little bit impressed.
 
Name:Julio Ulises Medina
Year:Junior
Major:Dance & Movement Studies and Cultural Anthropology
Hometown:Los Angeles, CA
Extra-curriculars:Leader of TrickaNomeTry Dance Crew (TNT), Vice President of AHANA Dance, Emory Dance Company performer and choreographer, Administrative Assistant/ Teacher Assistant at Moving in the Spirit (Non-profit dance organization)
Previous dance experience:I started dancing hip-hop as a sophomore in High School. I picked up Modern freshman year and Ballet as a sophomore in college.
What is the story behind your EDC piece:There is no story behind my EDC piece. It is more about the feeling that the choreography and the dancers create on stage. It’s about the atmosphere and looking into a different world. I would say my piece offers two ideas: a moving community and controlled chaos.
Interesting facts:I like pizza and ketchup. I can make a bike horn noise. I shampoo my beard. I play the flute.
Why should people come to the show?People should come to the show because they will have a great time. The choreographies are entertaining and sophisticated, offering both aesthetic pleasure and abstract ideas through dance. Believe it or not, dance is important, and watching other people use the primary human instrument (the body) is wonderful to see.
 
Name:Megan Sypher
Year:  Senior
Major:Psychology
Hometown:Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Extra-curriculars:Emory Dance Company, AHANA Dance, Orientation leader, Teach for America Campus Campaign Coordinator, Wonderful Wednesday Moderator
Previous dance experience:I’ve been a dancing fiend since I was little, but once I realized the hard way that my athletic prowess was on the low side, I officially started taking lessons when I was 10.
Interesting facts:I don’t like any fruit that starts with the letter “P” (Pear, pineapple, plum, peach, etc.) and I have a yellow stripe in my eye.
Story behind my piece:Coming into this semester, I was really interested in the influence of society on individuality. But I feel like modern dance is often so abstract that you could pin any sort of plot to it, so I’m actually more interested to see how people react to/interpret my piece without knowing a full-blown synopsis beforehand.
Why people should come to the show:Emory people should make it to arts events of every kind at least once every year, and I think the dance program puts on really great, but underpublicized shows. I happen to think this group of choreographers is pretty cool, which must be true since I’m obviously not in the least bit biased. Oh, and Alice Chen choreographed an all-girls piece and they’ll be wearing unitards.