As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am intrigued by Philadelphia based dance company, MM2. On Sunday they launched their 2014 season entitled BREATH and I was lucky to steal a few minutes of Artistic Director, Brianne Scott's time as she prepared.
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| Photo by Bill Hebert…And all good things are yours Choreographer: Brianne Scott MM2 studio rehearsal |
karen Krolak: First off, congratulations on being named Artistic Director of MM2. How do you feel about your first season?
Brianne Scott: Thanks so much!! Well I have been with the company for a few years now, dancing and choreographing. This is just my first year as Artistic Director, but it's going great so far! I love being able to give my opinion on something I'm watching, and if that, in any way can help make someone's piece a little greater, it just makes my heart smile.
kK: I would love to know more about the creative process within MM2. How are choregraphers for each season selected?
BS: We have 7 members of the company, and everyone choreographs their own piece. We decided to do it a little differently this year, splitting the season into two seperate parts. So there are 4 choreographers this first showing and 3 with a guest choreographer for the next. There wasn't really a system for picking for was choreographing. We just decided amongst ourselves who was ready and willing to jump right into it.
kK: Was the theme of BREATH something that was selected through a group process or did you select that?
BS: The theme BREATH was decided between, MM2 founder, Steve Weisz, and I, with a finalization from the whole company after we pitched it to them. They were all on board for the idea!
kK: What appealed to you about BREATH as a theme for this season?
kK: What appealed to you about BREATH as a theme for this season?
BS: Well going in, Steve and I knew we were looking for a broad-enough topic that all choreographers could utilize and each create a piece that would give the show variety. Breath is a huge part of movement and life in general, so why not create a whole show honoring it's importance? No one would get anywhere without it, and I feel it's sometimes taken for granted because it's given to us so easily
kK: So how does your piece, ‘…And all good things are yours’, grapple with the theme?
BS: My piece this season is mainly based off my own experiences in everyday life. Learning that there are always going to be negative energies and negative people around you, but what you choose to pay attention to and take in for yourself really can change your mood and how you see things, and yourself, in life for yourself. The roughly-12 minute long piece starts off pretty heavy, slowly getting more and more positive with each section. Remembering to breathe through all this (like my main character shows) and remembering that those negative energies don't need to affect your day at all makes life a lot easier;...and all good things are yours... Ending with all dancers in bliss, I wanted the message to be positive showing that everyone can find their own personal, positive path in life.
kK: Your title refers to the Swedish proverb: "Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours." How does that relate to your choreography?
BS: I had seen this Swedish proverb a while ago, before I even started choreographing this season and since then I have always tried to live by it. I knew it was right for the title of my piece when I had finished choreographing and went back and watched the work as a whole. It had been such an important small group of words to me, that I felt I needed to honor it in some way, therefore titling my piece the same.
