by Nicole Harris
| IMPACT Dance at NACHMO 2014 © Nicole Tomaselli 2014 |
We're only 10 days away from ChoreoFest, the one and only 24-hour dance festival dreamed up by Luminarium founders Merli V. Guerra and Kimberleigh A. Holman, and we couldn't be more excited!
The Connect 2 Choreography blog is running a series of interviews so you can get to know the choreographers of each participating group. First up, Nicole has some questions for IMPACT Dance founder and choreographer, Meghan Theresa McCaffrey.
Nicole Harris: What made you want to make the move from being a dancer to a choreographer?
Meghan McCaffrey: Great question! I have always loved dance and at a pretty early age I made the decision that being a 'professional dancer' was not in the cards for me. I was introduced to the craft of choreography in High School and fell in love. But the actual 'move' I believe was when I started IMPACT. I decided that I was going to step back and solely be the painter and not the canvas.
Nicole: What are you most nervous about regarding ChoreoFest?
Meghan: Hmmmm-I would have to say the fear of not being good enough- or creating work that I didn't like or my dancers didn't like.
Nicole: Have you participated in ChoreoFest before? If so, what is your favorite memory of that experience?
Meghan: Yes! We participated in 2014 :) My favorite memory is the bonding aspect within the process. I felt closer to my dancers and the other companies.
Nicole: What advice do you have for new ChoreoFest choreographers? Are there things you hope to do differently this time?
Meghan: My advice is to be open to the process- let it inspire you to be the best you can be in that 24 hour span! I am hoping to take more time to investigate and discover the dancers' movement.
Nicole: Since this is a very controlled creative space (in terms of time and topic) where do you see yourself starting when you get in the space?
Meghan: Last ChoreoFest the dancers and I settled into our studio and took out notebooks. We all 'popcorned' ideas and thoughts based on the topics we drew from the hat. I am envisioning a similar starting point.
Nicole: In creating a new work, what in the relationship between you and your dancers? Do they participate in the creative process? If so, how?
Meghan: I believe it depends on what type of piece I am starting, however my dancers always play a pivotal role in my creative process. I like to bring up topics that I know my dancers can connect their own voice to. I also am very image driven and sometimes it is hard for my body to display what I see or feel in my mind. When this happens my dancers are so important to figuring out what is going on in my head and translating it to their bodies.
Nicole: Knowing that Karen Krolak will be on hand as "choreographic guru", what things do you hope she can help with in the overnight process?
Meghan: I am hoping that she can offer us feedback, constructive criticism, inspiration, advice etc etc throughout the process and especially if we are having an "I am stuck" moment!
Nicole: Who are some of your favorite choreographers?
Meghan: Currently some of my new favs : Emma Porter, Emily Shock,Talia Favia, Jaci Royal, Kirsten Russell, Andrew Winghart.
Some of Always my favs: Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor, Moses Pendelton, Nathan Trice.
If you want to learn more about IMPACT Dance and see what other awesome things they're up to, check out the links below!
Website! www.impactdancecompany.net
Facebook! Impact Dance Company Boston
Instagram! _impactdance
Twitter! @impactboston
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