Dancers, composers fuse ideas in ‘Hammer and Nail’

The Contemporary Dance Program, along with the Student Composers Association, will present “Hammer and Nail 2007, An Evening of Music and Dance” this Friday and Saturday at the John Waldron Arts Center. For the student choreographers and composers participating, first impressions meant everything.\nPreparation for the show began with what could only be described as “speed dating.” The choreographers and composers were given just two minutes to share their vision with each other before the timer buzzed, signaling them to move on to the next person. \nThey each then ranked their top three choices of who they wanted to work with and the artistic collaboration went under way. \nThe Student Composers Association has put on “Hammer and Nail” for many years now. Student composers were originally paired with guitarists because classical guitar is often difficult to compose for, but it later included collaborations with harpists and organists.\n“All of these instruments are very difficult to write for because they are not in the orchestra,” graduate student Andrew Estel said. Estel is co-head of the Student Composers Association along with David Farrell. \nLast year was the first time that the composers paired up with the contemporary dance program and because the show was so successful, they knew they had to bring it back again. \nTruly a collaborative process between the choreographers and the composers, the show will feature 12 dances that range in musical styles and ideas, said Elizabeth Shea, coordinator of the dance program. She said that all of the choreographers have worked in very different ways.\nFor the dancers, “Hammer and Nail” is the result of two years of creative work, Shea said. All dance majors must take two semesters of dance improvisation and a semester of dance composition before they can enter the choreography class that allows them to choreograph for the show. “It’s a long process. Modern dance choreography is unique because every time you create work, you must also create movement vocabulary. The first job (for dancers) is to create new, organized movement that (represents) an idea,” Shea said. \nAlthough all of the dance majors will be used in the show, the size of the casts for each of the pieces varies greatly. Senior Abi Rich, who collaborated with Estel to create her piece “The Gentle Dusk Becomes Us,” wanted to explore the limitations of close relationships so she used only two dancers. \nShe said that collaborating with Estel put her at a great advantage when creating the piece because they could bounce ideas off of each other.\n“It was really great to work with someone who is going through the exact same creative process as you are,” Rich said. \nWhile Estel doesn’t know exactly what next year’s “Hammer and Nail” show will be, the collaboration between student composers and the dance department is just too valuable to give up, he said.\n“Working the dancers has allowed us to think about music that has a different purpose. It’s heard by a different audience and in a different context,” Estel said. “Our music becomes part of the experience and the work of art.”\n “Hammer and Nail” will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the John Waldron Arts Center at 122 S. Walnut. The show is free and open to the public.