Dance can be a powerful tool to cope and heal from trauma. This is a performance video of a solo created in response to a personal trauma.

This project researched the different points of view between a dance film and a live dance performance. I examined how camera angles can capture a different perspective by guiding the audience's eye. In a live performance, the audience is able to see the whole dance and self select what they focus on. This is not true for film because the director chooses what the audience sees. The camera may capture only some of the dancer's body, for example a hand or a foot.

This piece is inspired by research on a phenomenon called musical anhedonia. This topic has fascinated me because I have such a deep connection with music and this affinity has informed my dancing throughout my career. Musical anhedonia is a condition where the brain does not receive music as a pleasurable response. This discovery has been researched in Current Biology and is a fairly new topic that still poses further questions. It is not completely certain why or how this happens but there is continuing speculation and research, including its effects on visual arts. I have always been intrigued by the workings of the human body and mind. This condition inspired me to create a very bold piece accompanied by original music and graphics. I wanted to embody the musical experience from inward to outward taking the feel of the music to an extreme. I want this piece to allow anyone who watches it to know how it feels to listen to music on a technical and personal level. This piece takes inspiration from many facets of artistry and I hope it can showcase exploration of this material and question how it can be displayed in a marriage of science and art.

Remembering Voices is a recital designed with two parts, each centering around a different theme. The first section of the program honors traditions in the classical music realm with art songs and arias that are close to my heart. The preparation for this portion of the recital has been a lovely trip down memory lane where I have had ample opportunity to remember my voice from years prior. I have also had the opportunity to acknowledge its growth while at Salem State University as a result of working with esteemed vocal instructors. The second section remembers voices that were silenced throughout history, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth century as a result of antisemitism. It attempts to pay homage to the struggle endured by European Jews during this time as they were mistreated, silenced, faced discrimination and hate, and often had to flee their homes or convert to Christianity, as Mahler did. While I am not Jewish, I am very interested in Jewish culture and am committed to honoring the challenges faced by both Jewish composers and non-musicians. Through this commitment, interest, and admiration, I resolved to dedicate a portion of this recital to the works of Jewish composers and Jewish music out of respect for their suffering and their incredible contributions to the musical world. It is both for my remembering of my own voice and for the conscious remembering of silenced voices that this recital is entitled Remembering Voices. Remembering the voices of these marginalized people, and the voices of all other composers represented in the repertoire for this recital, is exactly what I intend to do.

This dance film is about my personal experience with a learning disability and how dance has helped me growing up having this learning disability.