WAC seniors showcase their creative collaborations

Lisie Rosenberg cannot pinpoint when she fell in love with singing and dancing.

The fourth-year world arts and cultures and psychology student has expressed herself through dance since she was a child, especially over the past two quarters as she works on her senior project, the culmination of her four years of study at UCLA. The performance is an eight-minute dance piece Rosenberg choreographed herself, while employing the help of two other dancers and five members of a cappella group, Random Voices, which she was formerly a part of.

“(Dancing and singing) always seemed like the most natural ways to express myself. My mom said I would go around making up random songs and dances about everything,” Rosenberg said.

The World Arts and Cultures Senior Showcase will take place on Friday and Saturday in Glorya Kaufman Hall from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thirteen of the 14 seniors will appear on Friday, and all of them are set to perform on Saturday.Admission is free.

Rosenberg’s performance centers around the choral song “Wanting Memories.” Rosenberg said the song has nostalgic value for her, with a fitting soundtrack for the performance’s overall theme, and lyrics echoing the motifs of finding support from those around you and within yourself.

“When I first heard the song, it made me want to revert back to being an infant. In the performance, I wanted to explore the safe feeling of curling up into a ball and being with your mommy,” Rosenberg said.

According to Rosenberg, her performance reflects on learning independence, and the power people can give to each other through emotional support.

“Sometimes it’s hard to feel like you’re truly being taken care of in the way you need, or that you’re taking care of yourself in the way that you need. That’s also what this piece is about; me realizing that I have support, but also that I’m here for myself,” Rosenberg said.

Alissa Cardone, dance choreography graduate student and teaching assistant for the world arts and cultures senior project class, said the students had the desire to weave personal subject material into their performances.

“We really encourage them to live their ideas,” Cardone said.

Cardone said much of the class is based on critical feedback. She works very closely with students incorporating video into their senior showcase, as she performs with an intermedia dance company outside of UCLA.

“With the way society is, it’s only natural to include media in performances … as it is so saturated in our daily lives,” Cardone said.

Professor Dan Froot, who teaches choreography, research, interdisciplinary performance and other classes, has worked in tandem with the 14 seniors since they gave their “Junior Proposal” for their showcases last year.

“My role is to help students design and implement their own creative process,” Froot said. “(As an artist) I don’t see myself as being any better or more accomplished than any of these students.”

According to Froot, the class has a formula for preparing students for the show. Froot creates a sense of collectivity, and said that group members are dedicated to each other’s success, receiving intensive feedback from him, Cardone and fellow classmates.

“The critical response method is all about trying to leave your own aspirations … and understand what this person’s trying to do. Then you help them do it,” Froot said.

In the end, Froot said his goal is to give students the confidence to discover their creative process and share it with others.

“We’ve been giving each other feedback this whole time, and we’re so committed to each other’s projects and success. That’s the whole point of the class,” Rosenberg said.

Froot said that he tries to help the students remember that they are putting their work, not themselves out on the stage, and that the most important part of the art-making process is patience.

“I’m very excited to hand the viewing experience over to the audience,” Froot said. “I can only imagine how exciting it would be to walk in knowing nothing about the show, and be bowled over 14 times.”