Voyages: Chapter Seven
Presenters: Michael Duffy, Christian Price-Burnett
Mentor: Nigel Semaj, Theatre
Special Exhibit, 2 – 2:30 p.m., RAC Upper Track, First Floor
The National Aquarium provides an annual residency wherein local Baltimore artists create a focused performance piece supporting the Aquarium’s mission of awareness and compassion for nature. In collaboration with Submersive Productions, we researched and developed choreography to portray the interaction between flowing water and marine life. We discussed our personal emotional connections to ocean life, participated in guided improvisation exercises, and explored emergent ensemble movement behavior from simple choreographed rules; with this, we developed a vocabulary of movement, both in terms of dance and character physicality. This vocabulary synergized with puppeteering, costumes, projections, and sound to create a cohesive and immersive audience experience. The research culminated in a one-night performance throughout the Aquarium, directly welcoming the audience as part of the experience. We gained exposure to collaborative devising practices, interdisciplinary methods of embodied storytelling, and the unique challenges of site-specific theatre.
This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.
URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:
URCAD.umbc.edu