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Our Thoughts on Dance
Read from featured faculty members of Contemporary Dance Lab
Q & A: Flora Ferguson
Teacher and Choreographer for CDL
We sat down to ask Flora a few questions about the ideas and values that underlie her choreographic creativity. Keep reading to receive valuable insights on how she brings movement and storytelling together!
What are your biggest inspirations when you create?
Currently, I find myself reaching for family memories, stories, or anecdotes I’ve heard throughout my life as inspiration. I’ve discovered that drawing from this helps me to find a very specific tenderness in my work that shows both in the works surface and its undercurrents. I enjoy the idea of nostalgia, and I feel that that too excites me – as I feel that this feeling of reminiscing often brings upon a sweetness to a work and it drives a lot of people’s daily pursuits and passions. I also find space integral to how I create. Especially how it interacts with itself, the dancers, or other artists, musicians etc, within the work.
Why do you like to create?
Creating something, anything, is such a wonderful and simple practice, and I love the challenge of turning something simple into something complex and layered. For example, people make words, signs of affections, conversations, drawings, sentences every day that can cause a myriad of emotions, and being a choreographer is like being a conductor of all these things. It is thrilling, and I have found so much joy in this. I love to create as well because of all the observing I find myself doing before, during, and outside the creative process. Dance is so unique because it’s one of the only art forms that has the capacity to burst with integration of every art form. I love the idea of integrating as many tools as possible that are not dance into a dance piece. It is spontaneous and taxing and wonderful – creation, that’s why I love it.
What do you think the creative process has to offer dancers?
Oh goodness, everything. The creative process is the height of learning as a dancer, performer, problem solver, it allows you to get to know yourself as an artist as you begin to form your own opinions of the work you are in, observing or creating. It is condensed, and full, and unlike anything else. The creative process is essential to the blooming of any work. It allows for a development of communication, openness, patience, trust and so many other things. The creative process allows all involved; dancers, choreographer, collaborators, to shed skins and create an invitation for something remarkable to occur. It also can be arduous and frustrating, which, I believe, only provides one with more knowledge as they continue their career as a dance artist. If you can’t tell it is one of my favourite parts of creative a new work…
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