UA Theatre and Dance students work hard, on and off stage, and we love when they’re recognized for it. Like when senior Mallory Herzing, gets a shout out on the main UA homepage. So, when we heard that Mallory also received an Honorable Mention at the 2015 Undergraduate Research & Creative Activity Conference for her work in the Fine Arts and Humanities Oral Presentations category, we were overjoyed, and spoke to her about her experiences with her project and the conference itself.
Mallory described her piece’s movement from the stage to the pool to the screen:
Drift, an underwater screen dance, was created for the student choreography concert, Dance Alabama! The project explores the use of video editing as a part of the choreographic process. Originally, the dancers rehearsed set movement phrases in a dance studio setting. Then, when put in a swimming pool, they were forced to adapt the choreography in order to move underwater. This is representative of post-graduate life. The knowledge gained from college must be adjusted to negotiate a new and unfamiliar environment. The title of the piece, “Drift,” refers to being carried through this transitional season of life. The drift of the water carries the dancers along, just as life continues to move along.
From there, Mallory readied her project to present at the conference, and explained how her presentation to judges went:
During the conference I presented my project in a 15 minute talk to a panel of judges. During my presentation I talked about the process of creating the screendance, materials used, challenges, and artistic inspiration. I supplemented my talk with a powerpoint and multiple videos, including the actual screendance. I was also able to hear presentations from other undergraduate students in the Arts and Humanities department.Overall, it was very fulfilling to be able to articulate the process of creating my screendance in front of an audience.
We’re so proud of Mallory and all of our other students who’ve won awards this year!