The Lovely Deanna

Deanna came to ACC from high school without a decided major. She chose dance because of its facilitation of self-expression. “I did drill team in high school. You do the routines, smile, and that’s it. It’s different here. This is creative, you can be expressive,” she said.

Jennifer is on the left and Deanna is on the right. 

Her piece didn't start out as a duet. Deanna was originally inspired by an in-class exercise that used a piece of art to create a movement phrase. The image was a goddess-like statue staring up at the sky. “The theme of moonchild got in my head,” she said about her reaction to the artwork. It wasn't until Deanna incorporated aspects from her own life that she discovered an intention that worked well for a duet dance.

Jennifer and the shadows

The biggest challenge for her was generating enough movement to compliment the songs she had picked. The creation of her piece felt more like homework this semester than a creative process. “I was staying up until 4 in the morning thinking it’s due tomorrow,” she said about her state of mind. She laughed as she admitted that it wasn't the greatest approach. But in the end, as she puts it, “it all fell together.”

Her favorite style of dance is Ballet. “It feels really comfortable. Some people are good at running, I know what feels right,” she says about the technique involved in Ballet.

What makes her dance? “It’s just natural,” she said. She’s undecided about the future but she knows one thing, “I just want to keep dancing.”

Come see her and many other dancers in the Informance tomorrow night, the 12^th, at 7 PM in the dance studio, Room 130 in Rio Grande’s Main Building. Hope to see you there!

Pictures by Anne Wharton