7/27/14
Earlier this week I met with Denita and she walked me through her process for creating choreography. After selecting the song, she creates an energy flow chart for the song to map out what she envisions the dance will look like based on the different sections of the song. For a salsa song for example, you could plan an intense footwork section at the climax of the song toward the end. This process requires really listening to the song and the story it’s trying to tell, and building a dance around this story, taking care to preserve the integrity of the music. I’ve always admired Denita for her musicality, and now I realized that it began in this process. I was getting to see the methodology behind the creative and seemingly spontaneous choreography. I will be making an energy flow chart in the coming week and creating two eight-counts for a song we’ve selected, so I’ll be able to get a taste of this process.
Denita’s birthday coincides this week with the one-year anniversary of Desueño, and so what a great day to start learning a bachata piece to round out our repertoire! It’ll be valuable for Desueño to be able to perform complete shows, especially with our more community-oriented audiences. To me this different market segment differentiates Desueño from other dance groups. Bringing salsa to underprivileged communities, especially in a place like Chicago, is an amazing way to use something you love to help empower others.
