Professional development: Amy Morvell
Photo by Amber Tanc
Amy Morvell is 3rd year dance student from the University of Chichester. She spent a week with Lîla while we reworked The Deluge for rural touring. This is what she had to say about her week…
My week with Lîla dance has been wonderful and extremely insightful, everyone in the company was so welcoming and friendly and really made me feel at ease. In the mornings I joined the company warmup classes which consisted of contemporary, yoga, improvisation an contact. These classes were so enjoyable and I really felt part of the company dancing alongside the dancers! Being able to dance with Lîla has been such a privilege and has made it clear that this is what I want to do with my future.
Throughout the week I got to learn different material from The Deluge such as KJ and Sarah's duet, Carrie’s solo and some of the unison repertoire that is seen in the final section of the work. Learning the material really pushed me as a dancer and challenged the way I usually move. I got lots of feedback from the choreographer Abi Mortimer, and from the dancers, which helped me to understand the depth of the work and once again pushed me past what I previously thought when my limits.
Another part of the deluge that I got to learn was the text that KJ performs. As a dancer I found this the hardest part of the week! Remembering lines rather than movement was very difficult but I enjoyed the challenge – (although it was very nerve racking!) - and I was glad I was able to try something new.
My favourite part of the week was when Abi set me a creative task to make a ‘20 count phrase’. This task takes you away from creating movement in the usual eight counts , which was brilliant as it made me create something new and exciting and I was happy with the outcome that I made.
Overall… well what an experience! I had the most wonderful week and I would have loved to do it all over again.
Good luck to the company on their rural tour!
Amy X
Originally posted September 2016
