Artistic Statement

Rina van de Kamp artistic director

Rina van de KampAs Artistic Director I have the final say as to how a piece should look. But I rely on the dancers to find out what movement works through them and how they get into and out of moves, instead of setting a movement sequence on the dancers. We discover the movement as we go through it together. At the beginning of a piece we explore through improvisation using ideas or concepts, which may or may not develop the way I would have expected. This is a wonderful occurrence that brings the piece to new places. Over time choreography is then set. I prefer to work in story form, and frequently the story emerges halfway through the creative process. When using apparatus or structures we have a choice to use them as an obstacle or assistance to do something more than we could on our own. Once the choice is made, sometimes by me or more often by the dancers, a part of the story or theme is set. If new dancers are put into a specific piece that is already choreographed, then the piece will change too. All of this I find very exciting to work with! All of us in Daughter of Zion Aerial Dance Company are part of the creative process.