by Naomi Stapleton
If you aren’t big on dancing, chances are the terms échappé, tendu, piqué and frappe don’t mean much to you. And if writing and literature are not your things either, then it’s likely that alliteration, hypallage and synecdoche wouldn’t be high on your to-do list! For the Creative Writing and Envision Dance classes at CCA though, these skills are second nature.
The brilliant poetry of the Creative Writing class both figuratively and literally moved the dance class when the two groups were assigned to collaborate recently. Ms. Chufo’s creative writers composed poems for Ms. Stohl’s dancers, which were then used to choreograph interpretive dances. such as freshman Vivian Zhang, a freshman in Creative Writing, found this assignment to be particularly exciting as she is a dancer as well. She said, “I found it really interesting to see what my friends came up with after reading my poem.”
Not only did this project unite two branches of Canyon Crest’s extensive creativity, but it also highlighted some of the incredible talent of CCA students. Ms. Stohl commented, “The students definitely exceeded my expectations. Their pieces were breath-taking, and they really invested emotionally in the poems that Ms. Chufo’s class wrote. It was an amazing experience to watch on the stage, and amazing to talk to the poets afterward as well.” Once the dancers had completed the choreography for their poem, they put on a performance for the other members of their class and for the Creative Writing students as well.
With her group, sophomore Alisa Tang created a dance piece composed of several different styles to coincide with Zhang’s poem. In regards to how they went about deciphering the piece, she explained, “My group tried to make things more interpretive than literal. If you read the poem, you would know what was going on, but otherwise, it would just look like a pretty tricked out dance.” Of what she and her fellow dancers gained from the experience, Tang said “I learned how to collaborate with others, which, I have to admit, is a good experience, because without it, you won’t grow as a dancer.”
Loading ...