Festival of the Creative Arts: Magnetic Dances
By Emma Jowers
The Florida State University Office of Research’s Festival of the Creative Arts Magnetic Dances performance showcased the brilliant minds and creativity of graduate students and performers. This interdisciplinary event, a collaborative effort between the Department of English, College of Music, and School of Dance captivated audience members with a fusion of spoken word, sound, and movement.
The unique and dynamic experience is one that everyone in attendance will surely remember.
“It was just this amazing work all together, the music, the choreography, hearing other people read their poems,” says Chloe Rodriguez, a Master of Fine Arts student in English-Creative Writing and performing poet for the show. “The production in itself was amazing.”
Five English-Creative Writing graduate students recited poems they wrote inspired by a recent tour of FSU’s National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. They and the audience then listened to music accompanied by modern dance performances directly inspired by their writing. Students in the College of Music and in the School of Music supplied the compositions and choreography.
“The MagLab was definitely way over my head as a poet,” Rodriguez says. “I wrote down really interesting words that I felt would help my creative process. But from the MagLab to seeing it all come to fruition, it was just an amazing work.”
The poetry had a wide range of creativity and emotion, from doctoral student Landis Grenville’s poem about longing and desire to doctoral student Kyle Flak’s poem about being a magical space horse. As did the artistic performances of music and dance.
The graduate students who wrote poems for Magnetic Dances—Flak, Grenville, Rodriguez, Yusuf Akman, and Haley Laningham—say that seeing their work turned into various forms of art was fulfilling for them.
“Seeing an artist give inspiration to another art piece and then [a third] art piece; the show was intoxicating,” says Akman, a Creative Writing Program doctoral student.
The excellence demonstrated through all the performers helped to highlight the importance of supporting the arts and facilitating conversations where both art and science are present, one of the evening’s objectives.
“I just felt it in my veins—it cured my depression,” Akman says. “It’s just waves of good vibes and dopamine and serotonin, it is just so beautiful, the best night of my life. I don’t think anything can top this; you felt the performance and music in your veins.”
The month-long annual Festival of the Creative Arts is dedicated to facilitating artistic expression and education through each of its programs by incorporating the work of multiple FSU faculty and students. Twelve events took place from Jan. 26 to Feb. 23; English department faculty members and graduate students participated in four of them, including Magnetic Dances. Contributors to each one agree that interdisciplinary learning pushes boundaries and encourages the exchange of ideas, inspiring innovation in all fields.
“These are great minds engaged in scholarly pursuits with deep thinking and that’s incredibly rewarding for those who attend events,” says Professor of Organ and Coordinator of Sacred Music Iain Quinn, who has directed the festival for the three years it has been held. “There have also been great friendships formed between colleagues and by students across colleges, some of whom now work on interdisciplinary research.”
The collaborations emphasize the idea that the arts can enhance scientific innovation through research and integrative work. FSU’s Vice President for Research Stacey Patterson opened the evening or Magnetic Dances by expressing her continuing desire for the arts to be researched and supported at a greater level.
The English department continues to be a crucial partner in this conversation. Hamby and the graduate students helped to encourage a new basis for exploration by combining the science behind powerful magnets with the beauty of poetry.
“The whole arts festival is very exciting because you get to connect with people you wouldn’t necessarily connect with otherwise,” says Distinguished University Scholar of English Barbara Hamby, who facilitated Magnetic Dances. “I love these interdisciplinary programs. They are so wonderful for me and the students as well.”
Encouraging research in the arts and fusing that work with scientific achievement can further the breadth of innovation and create new spaces for audiences, which Magnetic Dances accomplished, serving as a testament to the festival’s dedication to interdisciplinary efforts.
Emma Jowers is an English major on the editing, writing, and media track, with a minor in communication.
All photos by Casey Drayer, who is an English major on the editing, writing, and media track, with a minor in business.
Left: School of Dance Bachelor of Fine Arts student Camille McInnis; center: School of Dance staff and Master of Fine Arts alumna Kimberly Ruth Allen; right: School of Dance Bachelor of Fine Arts student Lilian Baker
Left: Kimberly Ruth Allen; center: School of Dance Bachelor of Fine Arts and English-Editing, Writing, and Media major Abigail Stinnett; right: School of Dance Bachelor of Fine Arts students Grace Alvarez, front, and Marissa Uhler
Left and middle: School of Dance Bachelor of Fine Arts student Bailey Carson; right: School of Dance Bachelor of Fine Arts student Riley McDaniel and Camille McInnis
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