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The University of South Florida was named one of the nation’s top 10 dance colleges by College Magazine. The magazine looks at schools that specialize in technique, choreography and improvisation. In the list, College Magazine emphasizes the anthropological focus option of a B.A. in Dance Studies, in which students can combine their education with a focus in another field such as psychology or religion.
The college also offers a program, USF Dance in Paris, which is headed by Michael Foley. Along with the opportunity to study dance in Paris, students are able to work with prominent choreographers like Arch Dance Company founder Jennifer Archibald, or director of the New York Live Arts, Bill T Jones.
Videographer Thomas Prettyman captured USF student Hannah Smith as she took us through her interpretive dance, portraying the story of a young black woman’s journey through life.
Interpretive dance is a form of modern dance in which the performers use dance and contortion to tell a narrative story, or convey an emotion. The style comes from a dance tradition that began in the early 20th century, as a detraction from the more traditional ballet practices. As opposed to the restrictive clothing and disciplined form of traditional ballet, interpretive dance is focused on movement as a narrative vehicle.
Smith has been dancing for 18 of her 22 years, and her solo work is undertaken in the attempt to tell a narrative of the experience of a young black woman. The dance is, “an investigation of my own perception of reality and what is right in front of me versus what I see in my head, in my imagination.”
For Smith, this work is a continuation of an earlier narrative about, “the things that are killing her aren’t actually killing her, and this work is a continuation of that. But, the constant state of instability keeps her awake.”
The story is one of insecurity, and how we respond to change in our own cultivated environments. This story being relatable to other college students who deal with the schedule irregularities that come with intense academic schedules.
Smith hints at narrative continuity, stating, “all of my pieces that I have created, I want to form either an autobiography or really long form of autobiographical poem. I want there to be a part three, or four, a part infinity, going until I die.”
The work is to be taken as a reflection of the choreographer and her life, “they all have different things about myself, about people that affect me and different things I think I am trying to overcome as I grow up”
With interpretive dance as a vehicle for self-expression, Smith has an open platform to convey whatever story she desires. Given Smith’s dedication to her choreography, it is no surprise that she plans to make her story a perpetual chronicle of her experience, dancing through life.
Smith will be showcasing the next part of her work in March.