Audience Response to "Carragheen Moss"

How does the artist use repetition to develop a sense of group and individuality?
The artist uses repetition to develop a sense of group by choreographing long, sweeping, outstretched fluid movements that allow the individual dancer to transition their movements into the flow of the group's movements seamlessly. Each individual began their dance with their own set of repetitive movements that mimic that of the ocean and the way life moves with the water. The long outstretched arms that constantly move back and forth like a flag in the wind to the twisting of the hips remind us of the how the ocean moves things in a beautifully slow motion like fashion. The transitions are so seamless in this piece that when the individual and the group begin to interact with one another by engaging in a series of simulated push and pull movements, like the ocean rocking back and forth. The space they possess as individuals becomes wider and the movements become more like the group's and eventually they begin to repeat the same movements as they are immersed in the group. The repetitive movements within the group reminded me of the way seaweed moves in water and I have always been fascinated by its movements. Sometimes it is bunched together swaying back and forth, bending and twisting, reaching far up and then laying flatter. It gets separated by the movement of the water or life in our case and creates its own movements while remaining within the unit or group sharing space.

How does this concept of "the need to stand out from the crowd" apply to your own personal experiences?
The concept of the need to stand out applies to my own personal experiences by being my motto throughout life. I have a desperate need to not do things the way everyone else does them. I have always marched to beat of my own drummer when I was younger I used to dress like Punky Brewster and my stepbrother's name was Brandon the same name as her dog, my poor step brother. I was not aware that other people had opinions about what I was doing when I was younger and that gave me the freedom to be able to keep that free spirit part of me through all of life’s ups and downs. I have been told many times that I need to act more ladylike and this always confuses me. I am indeed a woman therefore however I act I am acting like a woman simply because I am one. The choreography in this dance made me feel like I was in another world. I felt like I was watching a dance underwater, I got carried away with the sweeping, drifting, twisting, and the fluidity of the piece as a whole. I am an only child and have a very vivid imagination, so to me creating your own little world to create, dance, and live in is something I do everyday in order to survive, the dancing part I do in my head as to not offend anyone. The concept behind this dance was to invent her own world and I personally felt as though I was in her world of dancing fluidity.

As children it is often natural to stand out from the crowd. But as we grow up society pressures us to conform to certain standards. I am happy to see that you are trying to hold onto that natural individuality. As a child I liked to watch the old MGM musicals, especially the ones where the dancers performed outside of traditional stages. It amazed me that people could just burst into song and dance on the street or in an office building regardless of who was watching or what they might think. Unfortunately, people don't actually do things like that – they often want to, but usually don't.

The concept of feeling the need to stand out from the crowd is one that I think is shared by most people. My own personal experience with this is one I feel most within my carreer and family. Working within a hospital and with other sonographers, I often feel that I am just one of many caring for patients. It is hard to go through the motions, day to day, and feel a sense of being unique and special each day. I make sure that I stand out from my other co-workers by going above and beyond each day for every patient. I don't care if it makes others look bad, I know I am doing the right thing and being true to myself. In my family I have always been very strong willed and independent and that is still the case. Although I am married and my husband is able to provide for our family, I still strive for my own carreer, education and interests. Growing up in a deep southern family, it is only expected that I get married and have children, like every other "good Southern woman". I refuse to be stifled in that life. I am the only woman in my family with a college degree, that works a full time job, is NOT having children and who runs marathons. I hope to be a source of inspiration for my neice and nephew, to show them they can do anything and be whatever they want and that they are not required to live the same life of every other person in our family. This dance showed the uniqueness of each dancer, while still being able to move seamlessly within the group. I think that concept can be applied to many other aspects of life.

I believe that most people, deep inside, want to stand out from others but I do not think that it is something that they actively pursue. As a child, I participated in a few choir perforamances at school and some various school plays. I enjoyed choir because I felt as though I blended in - I did not want to stand out, because I didn't have confidence about my singing ability and blending in helped people to not notice if I made a mistake. I also played a "storyteller" in a school play in 6th grade. While I had more spoken lines and was onstage more than others, I was simply the narrator and I felt most of the focus was on the actors performing the parts. I was comfortable in that role. As an adult, I have shed a lot of the shyness and am happy to stand out from the crowd. There are leaders, and there are followers and I never want to be a follower again. If I were a dancer, I would want to be one of the ones that stand out.

"Thank you for your comment about playing a "storyteller" in a 6th grade play. Many people wouldn't equate a part requiring the most amount of lines and time on stage as an outlet to avoid standing out from the crowd. Perhaps it is because reading is such a passive act, requiring direct focus on the book and only indirect contact with the audience. I also am a shy person am not sure I could have maintained the vocal clarity to verbally perform such a role. I think that is what makes dance so appealing to me – I can engage with a large audience often in a dark theater without seeing them or speaking. When dancing on a lit stage surrounded by darkness I feel the atmosphere creates its own environment separate from the spectators. For me this directly relates to what Melissa is trying to accomplish in this piece."

[[File:How-to-stand-out.jpg|thumb|Just though this was a perfect reference to standing out, even among sea life.

How to stand out. 2012. Flynndustries. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. .]] In this piece each dancer got their time to shine apart from the rest of the group. In my opinion this is just how it is in life. Everyone has their own special talents, things they are known for, and that make them unique. I've learned growing up that it's good to be original in what you do, however, this does not mean that you need to break apart from the crowd for the sole reason that other people are doing the same thing. There were times in the piece where three people were doing the same thing, while one person broke away from them and stood out. Each of the dancers who were synchronized with each other chose their time to break away from the others and chose their times to come back and be apart of the group. It's about choosing when you're ready to stand out, and for what reasons. I, like most people, always like to stand out for things I'm proud of and things that might influence others. Thinking in terms of the sealife in this piece, they do the same, possibly without even knowing it. There will be a fish on stage, swimming across and throughout the seaweed. That fish is pushing itself through the water causing waves, inturn causing seaweed to move or become inpacted somehow by these waves. That might be a far stretch for what my point is but that's the best way I think of it. You stand out and influence someone else to break away and stand out for the time to shine.

What qualities in the movement suggest ocean life, fish, or seaweed?
Ocean life is reflected through the fluidity of each movement. The dancers use wide movements with their arms and sweeping motions with their legs to imitate swimming. Fish and sesweed is most accurately depicted when the dancers are on the ground. They move their entire body in fluidly and uniformly to display a singular movement like that of a fish or seaweed.

Having grown up around the ocean and loving to observe marine life at any aquariame, I found the dance to be so similar to fish, seeweed and other ocean life. The slow, fluid movements of the dancers reminded me of jelly fish or seaweed in the ease in which they follow the flow of the water. However, the sharp, quick changes seen in some of their movements are very similar to the movements made by schools of fish when they are being threatened. The parachute added a visual point of interest and reminded me, again of a jelly fish. I really enjoyed this dance and the similarities to the ocean.

The fluid motions of the dancers suggested the fluid motions of the sea. They looked as though they were mimicking seaweed as the seaweed flows gracefully and gently through the water, changing position with the flow of the sea but still retaining the gentleness of the movement. Even if the movements at the top of the water are harsh (as in a storm), the water below can still be graceful. The parachute gives the illusion of a jellyfish and though it is not moving, it appears to also be fluid due to the way it is draped. At any moment, the parachute-jellyfish looks as though it will soar through the air as it would in the ocean. The dancers who dance together in uniform remind me of a school of fish - moving together as if they do not want to be noticed individually. This is a defense mechanism of fish and it is harder for a predator to single one out to pursue. When threatened, their movements can become sharper but they still tend to move uniformly, like the dancers.

[[File:Sunlight_and_water_waves_Aquamarine_water_in_Hawaii_JY049_350A.jpg|thumb|318px|The light on the water that the backdrop reminds me of.

Hawaii Beach Senery. 2008. Respective Artists and Publishers wallcoo.net. Web. 17 Mar. 2012. . ]]In the beginning of this piece there are three dancers on the stage at a time. Each section consists of two dancers in synchronization and one breaking out from the other two with her own movemenent. When there are two girls on the stage and their arms come out straight infront of them, they do this with a jelly like motion. Their arms don't just pop stright up from their bodies but almost roll away from their bodies as if they are seaweed being moved around by the current. My interpretation of the single dancers that break away from what I see as being the group of seaweed is that they are the fish swimming throught he water. The way they go from left stage to right stage shows that they are either swimming or being taken by the current of the ocean. There is a dancer that goes across the stage swinging her leg around her in a back attitude and then stopping leaned forward with her arms above her back and freezing. These movments remind me of a crab. I'm not sure if that was the intention but it's the freezing part that says "crab" to me. Her feet are flat on the floor with legs bent, hunched over and her arms look like the claws raising above her body. All of the dancers in this piece have different movement characteristics depending on what they are representing form the ocean. It's either rolling limbs making the audience feel like the current is taking otherwise limp structures and trying to carry them with the current, or bouncy movements which seem like jellyfish floating through the water, or alternating sharp and flowy movements for things such as crabs. Another aspect of this piece that reminds me of underwater life ist he backdrop. That large tarp that is handing behind the dancers. It reminds me of when you're underater and you're looking up at the sun coming through the waves. I'm sure everyone has done this at least once int heir pool. The reflection of the light doesn't come straight through when there are waves. It staggers throughout the tips of the dips of the waves that are being made in the water. The light reflected ont he tarpt reminds me of how that sunlight would be relfected onto the water.