CREATING SOMETHING PERSONAL

We began the project by simply talking with the dancer about the things she cares about. It was neat to see how the process unfolded. We learned together about the things that matter most. It was intensely powerful to see life through the eyes of a teenage girl living in these times where there are so many expectations and not enough love and understanding.

She wrote the words with our input and encouragement. I then improvised a piano part to her reading it out loud. We continued to refine this until we had a good skeleton, at which point, I got a polished recording from her and then orchestrated the rest of the music to match her reading and the improvised piano accompaniment.