Crescendo
World Premiere April 25, 2008 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Champaign IL
Original Cast: Jenna Sumner, Stephen West, Kaitlin Lang, Chris Knowlton, and Kristen Walterman (Matthew Johnson, Understudy)
Created for Ms. Deutsch’s BFA senior thesis, Crescendo tackles the question “What is romance?” Through a series of movement explorations and philosophical discussions, Ms. Deutsch worked with the dancers in an attempt to discern just exactly what romance is, what it means to be romantic, and whether this quality could be preserved when the movement in question was altered in various ways. Methods of manipulation included changes in texture, dynamics and accent, flow and sequence, isolation versus whole-body involvement, task versus emotion, environment, performer intention and focus. In the end result, five dancers move tentatively through an ethereal and mysterious landscape, exploring the possibilities of this strange world and searching for something just beyond their grasp.
