Featuring works by Delaney Rae, Olivia London, Sydney Lemlin, and Autumn Christian
Propelling Dance Artists Forward
Momentum: Choreographic Mentorship is a five-month program that culminates in the showcase for emerging artists, both from within and outside of academia, to create artistic works in the Tampa Bay Area. This mentorship offers budding artists the opportunity to receive creative, financial, and administrative support toward a fully produced weekend of performances at The Studio@620.
The First Meeting
Artist: Delaney Rae
Dancers: Youngfolks and Alyssa Marie Braud
My work explores the concept of kinesthetic identity, or how we understand ourselves (as well as the world around us) through movement and physical touch. To start the creative process I had two dancers who did not know each other beforehand meet me to do an improv session. They each had their own time on the floor to get comfortable in the space and settle into their movement. Then, I had them contact improvise together which allowed me to examine how they used their understanding of self through body movement to interact with and guide the other dancer through space. I used the images and video I captured as a reference to start my paintings. I selected images that I felt reflected moments in the improv session where the dancers were really exploring how their bodies moved in the space, where they felt free in their movement, and where they used their movement to unravel and decipher how they fit into the space with each other.
form & flux
Choreographer: Olivia London
Dancers: Sujata Martin, Emily Goonan, Sami Mangione, Khasilan Riley, Youngfolks, Cassandra Cole, Olivia London
Music: Music Medley
This is a collaboratively developed improvisation, using everyday gestures combined with big emotions as entryways for exploring movement and pushing ourselves to keep trying things, keep engaging, keep being curious, keep feeling, keep connecting. Throughout our rehearsal process, dancers played with expressing, experiencing, and evolving various emotions through movement. We considered the ways in which movement and feelings interact, and how connecting with each other and an audience can change us over the course of a dance.
It takes a great deal of trust and support within a group to create a composition together in the moment, especially when the goal is authentic expression and emotional spectacle. Thank you to the dancers whose enthusiasm and engagement with this process made the piece what it is. I hope we are modeling spaces where others can feel freer to be curious, use movement to connect with the world in novel ways, and explore what interests them without worrying too much about how they look. Whether people have danced their whole lives, have lost touch with dance, or never danced, I want them to see this piece and think, “I could do that too.”
Shore bet
Choreographer and Dancer: Sydney Lemlin
Music: Evan finds a third room by Khruanghin, 2. 20190205 2 by Mac demarco, 3. Gbe by Lionel Loueke
Shore bet is a narrative dance-comedy about moving across the country on a gut feeling. In this improvisational score we'll traverse invisible forests, caves of confusion, glimmers of hope and the aftermath of a leap of faith.
Ego
Choreographer: Autumn Christian
Dancers: Autumn Christian, Bec Fineberg, Kamryn Siksay, Nicole Espinel
Music: Sirens- Travis Scott, Alien Superstar- Beyonce, 4Am-Grimes
This piece explores the duality of identity, and finding attachment within eras of our lifetime. It is a more light hearted take on the journey of discovering true self. Being able to let yourself adapt and let go of your past selves to find who you truly are, at least for the moment.
2023 Momentum Artists
Delaney Rae
Delaney Hatfield is originally from Pasadena, Maryland, and moved to Tampa, Florida in 2019 for her studies. She has always had multiple creative interests, beginning with art at a young age and starting her dance training at the age of 10 at Dancers Dreams Dance Studio in Pasadena, MD. She is currently pursuing a B.F.A. in Studio Art with a minor in Psychology at The University of Tampa and is on track to graduate in May of 2023. She primarily works in the medium of paint but enjoys combining photography and dance into her work. Her current body of work explores the realm of kinesthetic identity through the consequences of fabric material and movement.
Delaney has exhibited work at the University of Tampa's Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition in both 2021 and 2022, receiving an honorable mention award in 2021. She has also exhibited in the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art's Undergraduate Juried Exhibition in St. Joseph, Missouri in 2022. Additionally, she received the 2023 Gasparilla Festival of the Arts Board of Directors Collegiate Scholarship. She has long-term goals of sharing her passion for communication between visual arts and dance with others, as well as continuing to create interdisciplinary work with dancers.
Olivia London
Olivia has danced since her childhood in Jacksonville, FL when her grandmother wisely remarked, “she’ll never be a prima ballerina, but she’d make a great showgirl.” Despite that early confidence booster and a memorable high school performance of “Hey Big Spender,” Olivia danced less frequently beyond her teens. Then, while in Boston pursuing a graduate degree in public health, she fortuitously tried an improvisational dance class. From the first wiggly roll across the floor, she knew she was in love. Rather than focusing on the pursuit of technical mastery, she could explore movement for the sake of curiosity and authenticity, collaborating with other people eager to create unpredictable things together. Her devotion to improvisational movement and composition grew, along with her belief in the insight of a favorite instructor, that you should approach movement to be interested, not to be interesting. Olivia’s deepest interest is in how people move and express themselves physically, especially when they don't think they can “dance.” With that foundation, she went on to teach workshops with the Movement Arts Collaborative in South Carolina and has been an avid learner of many dance styles. Now, living, working, and dancing in St. Petersburg, she’s convinced she wasn’t put on earth to be exceptionally good at things, just to love doing them. Hopefully, she can model and expand opportunities where others will feel that way too.
Sydney Lemelin
Sydney Lemelin was born in California under a libra moon. She holds a BA in Dance and BS in Information Science from the University of Maryland, College Park (Go terps). She has enjoyed dancing with Moving Ethos, BANDportier, Heart Stück Bernie, PEARSONWIDRIG DANCETHEATER, Britta J. Peterson, Jo Lloyd (Melbourne, AUS) and Orange Grove Dance. She has presented work at Sarasota Contemporary Dance’s Rising Choreographers Showcase, Dance Place, Baltimore Theater Project, The Clarice Center for Performing Arts, and more. She spent a post-bacc year in rural Vermont helping open The Field Center, an interdisciplinary performing arts center. A fan of finding the edges, Sydney relocated from Vermont to Southern Florida In 2022, and now works as The Ringling’s Performance Producer at The Historic Asolo Theater.
Autumn Christian
Autumn Christian is an 19 year old dancer based in Central Florida, spending a majority of her years training in Orlando with choreographers such as Dawn Branch, Aretuza Garner, and studio In Motion Dance Project. She found her love for choreography early on and had several opportunities to work with other dancer’s during her time as a Maintenance Choreographer at In Motion Dance Project as well as an apprentice for Dawn Branch Works. Autumn Is currently studying at the University of South Florida as a dance major with a Modern Dance concentration. Recently, she was selected as a choreographer for the USF Student Dance Concert being one of the only three freshman chosen. She hopes to continue her journey as a choreographer, working with and learning from as many people as she can.
Support Local Dance Artists
projectALCHEMY's Momentum Choreographic Mentorship is all about propelling dance artists forward. Since 2019, we have had 17 dance artists pass through our five-month mentorship program with Executive Artistic Director Alexander Jones, where they have presented work shown first at The Studio@620 and then beyond. Artists participating in this mentorship receive sponsored studio time to create their work, professional headshots to jumpstart their future endeavors, and one-on-one time with our Artistic Director to bounce off creative ideas and receive choreographic coaching. Additionally, they receive a $200 stipend to use towards their artistic endeavors--all of this at no cost to the dance artists. Please make a generous donation today and help propel future dance artists forward on their artist journey.
MIXed
Featuring works by Talia Demps, Sarah Hamilton, Jonah Perez, and guest choreographer Paula Kramer
November 10th and 11th at 7:30p
At TheStudio@620
projectALCHEMY presents MIXed, an evening of dance with an emphasis on process. Under the curation of executive artistic director Alexander Jones, this dance experience makes more space for dialogue around the labor and ideation behind the dance “products” that are displayed on the stage.
Special Thanks to
The Studio@620, Alexander Jones, the dancers/artists who volunteered their time and passion for this journey, the universe for bringing our paths together, the loved ones who gave us space to talk through ideas with them, and all other family, friends and future friends that attended the showcase.