Dancers perform with pendulums during Elon’s spring dance concert

By Lilly Blomquist

Four large metal pendulums shaped like diamonds dangled from the ceiling in McCrary Theatre inside the Center for the Arts at Elon University. Six dancers moved their bodies in alignment with the swaying pendulums while dancing around the objects, hanging on them or swinging them.

“It’s a conceptually based work,” said Assistant Professor of Dance Renay Aumiller, who choreographed the piece. “Every moment, space change and timing change has to do with an idea related to pendulum swings.”

Aumiller created the 10-minute long piece called “Parabolic” for “Echoes,” the spring dance concert, which the Department of Performing Arts hosted from Friday, March 9 to Sunday, March 11.

Elon University’s Center for the Arts.

Moving in unison

In the piece, while the pendulums swayed from side to side, the dancers moved in ways that mirrored qualities of pendulums, which Aumiller and her dancers worked together to identify as swinging, time, change, extremes and balances.

Aumiller said unity was central to this piece. She explained that her dancers had to be acutely aware of their surroundings so that they moved their bodies in unison and so that they swung the pendulums simultaneously.

“The whole work relies on the dancers to work together so that these pendulums are swinging at the same speed,” Aumiller said. “There’s a great deal of listening.”

Rather than listening to verbal cues, the dancers relied on one another, their senses and the counts of the music in order to know when to move together.

Senior Alexandra Fung, one of the dance majors in “Parabolic” said dancing in the piece required full concentration and alertness in order to create a unified image.

“When we’re performing, we need to be on the counts, but we also need to reference each other,” Fung said. “We need to be aware of others so that we stay together.”

Expecting the unexpected

Aumiller said interacting with inanimate objects led to unpredictable outcomes, so her dancers had to work together to anticipate the unknowns and overcome potential barriers.

Lauren Kearns, the artistic director of the show, the associate chair of the Department of Performing Arts and a professor of dance, said the dancers in “Parabolic” could have easily run into the pendulums, which would have thrown off the unified image.

“The sense of the piece is very risky because these are very heavy pendulums that are suspended above the dancers,” Kearns said.

Fung agreed that the presence of the pendulums increased the likelihood that dancers made mistakes, which she said was stressful for her.

“You really have to keep on your toes and make sure that you are really focused on what you’re doing because if you mess it up, even a little bit, you can completely throw off the aesthetic,” Fung said. 

She said all four showings of “Parabolic” were different because of the unpredictability of the objects.

“Sometimes, it might be right in your way when you are trying to get somewhere, so you just have to be ready to make a split-second decision and get around it any way you can,” Fung said.

Designing the atmosphere 

The pendulums not only drove the dancers’ motions, but they also set the mood. Aumiller said the weight of the pendulums inspired her to create a heavy, dark and cold atmosphere for the dance. The dancers’ movements around the pendulums likewise reinforced this message, she said.

The music also helped create this dark environment. Aumiller chose Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” done on a baby piano.

“It has this really cold and hard ding to it that is very high pitched,” Aumiller said.

She also chose the song because it is in a triple meter, which is the same timing and pace of pendulums’ swings.

The other portion of music Aumiller used in the dance was the sound of heartbeats that she edited with composer David Yarwood to alter the speed, which added a weight and heaviness to the dance.

Aumiller also worked with Bill Webb, the lighting designer, to make her vision for the piece possible. The lights were blue and turquoise, which Aumiller said enhanced the icy feel. The lighting also directed the audience’s focus since some areas were brighter than others.

Kearns said dance is non-narrative and non-linear, so all of the design elements worked together to evoke emotions. She said the pieces also helped the audience members interpret the performance in a way that makes the experience uniquely theirs.

“It’s really an invitation for people to interpret the pieces and to have an individual reading of the pieces,” Kearns said. “We really do want our audience members to engage with the material.”

Audience members received programs to read about each piece.

Planning the process

Kearns, Aumiller and the other designers and choreographers have been preparing for the spring dance concert for one year. The dancers auditioned in the fall, and Aumiller casted eight dancers in a split cast in which some of her dancers had shared roles.

Then, Aumiller had four weeks to create the dance. She outlined the spatial structure of the dance, the timing and where she wanted the energy to climax. She also researched pendulums and compiled images that were similar to the mood she wanted to create.

Aumiller said her creation process relied on collaboration. She constantly asked for her dancers’ thoughts and opinions to incorporate their perspectives into her choreography.

“I often ask my dancers a lot of questions, and there are moments where we create phrases together,” Aumiller said.

She used these discussions to generate movements, and then she refined the movements and taught them to the dancers. Aumiller then helped the dancers practice the dance.

Kearns said this process is not an exact science but rather one of trial and error.

“It takes about 10 hours of rehearsal and creative exploration to get one minute of choreography that you really like,” Kearns said.

In preparation for the show, the dancers practiced three hours a day during winter term and six hours every week during the spring semester.

After rehearsing, the 60 dancers performed seven pieces in the spring dance concert. Five faculty members each choreographed their own piece. Guest choreographers from Summation Dance Company in New York City created another number. The dancers in the other guest piece used choreography from Anna Sokolow, a choreographer from the 20th century.

Aumiller said the performance exceeded her expectations. She said she is proud of her dancers for overcoming the challenges that the pendulums presented and making her vision come to life.

“Watching all of the elements come together on stage, and seeing the dancers take ownership on stage has been the most rewarding part,” Aumiller said. “The choreographer creates the movement, but it’s really up to the dancers to take ownership over what they do with the movement.”