::Week 10:: Beverly Jane Bautista - Passion

© 2019 UC Regents, all rights reserved. Photo by Leandro Glory Damasco Jr. 

This weekend I had the honor and the pleasure of working with Savannah Van Leuvan, a first year graduate lighting designer with New Slate 2019. My piece was called "Qualitative Dispute" and this picture captures the final moment of my dance. One of my main passions in life is dance, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to focus and grow in what I love to do.

The piece initially starts off in a stark, isolated world where everyone is very robotic with their movements and eventually, the viewer begins to see moments of different people breaking off from the conformity within the group. I remember Savannah and I were brainstorming about how the piece was going to end, and at that time, I had not choreographed the end of the piece. 
My piece was mainly about feeling isolated in a vast world and the feeling of the need to compete with others to get to the "top". I realized that these are all moments that are created in one's mind because I can relate to that feeling. I, personally, have created whole scenarios of "predicting" how moments will pan out or sometimes base a small, negative interaction on how someone feels about me! I realized towards the end of the piece that I wanted to end with a feeling of hope. I believe it is better to fill the gap with trust or give anyone the benefit of the doubt as long as it is a healthy situation. I know I would want someone to do the same for me in return. So, in my staging, I created a way for everyone to finally see each other in the last section of my piece. I love how Savannah's lighting is captured in this picture with the dancers' focus pointed upward. Right before this moment, the dancers in this piece see each other and their focus slowly pans up to the last, drawn out bass drop in the music. To me, this symbolized how we are all equal and are running in our own individual lanes. The last moment of light from above shows how we can truly see each other and move forward with unity. I am passionate about storytelling through dance and making human moments come to life through movement, and I am equally excited to see how lighting can enhance my thesis idea next year!

@Lonnie: I have learned so much from your Lighting for Choreography class and I am extremely grateful for the empathy, compassion, and connections you have led me to in this process! Thank you for doing what you do and for allowing me to see how important lighting is for dance and especially in our every day lives. I will forever see the world differently!

Comments

  1. Lonnie AlcarazDecember 9, 2019 at 5:51 AM

    It was my absolute pleasure to work with you and the other students in the class. I am so thankful that you were able to put so much of it to use in your piece - the way you talk about the piece in your blog would inspire me so much to create the lighting cues and looks - nice work.

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