Apotheosis

Length: 28 minutes; Number of Dancers: 7

Apotheosis, as a dance in four parts, is a personal exploration into how the practice of ancient Greek dance may be recast in works of contemporary choreography. This work does not seek to reconstruct ancient Greek dance, but rather attempts to add an individual artistic interpretation to the current dialogue of scholarly and performative work attempting to understand the role of ancient dance within the modern world. The piece, created through a process of embodiement and abstraction following a close examination of texts and images preserved from antiquity as well as present-day research materials, draws on dance imagery from Greek artifacts, examines the practice of choral performance, explores notions of “cosmic dance”, and emphasizes the dichotomy between Apollonian and Dionysian movement. Each movement of the piece is specifically dedicated to one of these four topics.

Awards

For her work on Apotheosis in conjunction with her written thesis "Ancient Dance through Modern Eyes: Four Studies Exploring the Intersections of Ancient and Modern Dance", Wilson was the 2016 recipient of the Ashish Patil '08 Memorial Prize for excellence in interdisciplinary studies from Vassar College.

Performance History

Vassar College | Poughkeepsie, NY | April & May 2016

Research Paper

Ancient Dance Through Modern Eyes: Four Studies Exploring the Intersections of Ancient and Modern Dance

https://digitalwindow.vassar.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1590&context=senior_capstone