An avid dancer and choreographer, senior Monica Hogan has choreographed numerous pieces for November Dances, ChoreoLab and Ark Dances, performed at the opening ceremonies in China for the World University Games and is a member of DefMo. A biology and dance major, Hogan will present her senior thesis, Heartwork, the final piece of a three-year project combining dance with different artistic mediums, at the Hull Avenue Dance Lab April 7. Hogan sat down with Recess’ Caitlin Moyles before a rehearsal for Ragtime (for which Hogan is assistant choreographer) to discuss how she incorporates technology in her dance pieces, finds inspiration in interactions with people and what she plans to do post-graduation.
Recess: How long have you been dancing, and what types of dance have you practiced?
Monica Hogan: Well, I’ve been dancing practically since I could walk. At Duke, I dance primarily ballet, modern [and] jazz, but in the past I have done some tap and hip-hop and other things like that. I dance with DefMo, so I get quite a mix of styles with that.
R: In your high school dance company, how did you emerge in the group as someone who could choreograph?
MH: I was always just interested in innovating movement. It was sort of a slow realization. I love dancing, but I think I like choreographing even more, taking an idea or vision and taking that all the way through to make it a reality—setting it on real people, and being able to step back and see that happen is a fun process for me.
R: What drew you to Duke?
MH: It actually was the fact that Duke has such a strong dance program and also lets you study in other disciplines, and you’re not penalized for that…I’m also a biology major, and at a lot of schools, it wouldn’t be feasible for me to do both of them…I’ve always been a techy, science person. That’s actually the focus of Heartwork: dance and technology.
R: Can you talk more about the concept behind Heartwork?
MH: Sure! It started my sophomore year…I had people from Sabro, DefMo, Dhamaka, the Dance Program. The whole concept of that show was integrating different mediums with dance choreography. We had a piece with spoken-word poetry, we had a piece where they danced on a canvas and painted as they danced. We had dance videography, sort of an experimental dance film through a collaboration with a film major at Elon [University]. I continued the show my junior year, and now I’m turning it into my thesis my senior year. This year has a focus on dance technology specifically.
R: Can you give some examples of how you integrate technology into your work?
MH: I’m doing a piece with camera-tracking and motion-tracking, and they control a light projection, where basically the dancer moves through the space and it creates this sort of light trail that follows the dancer. I also have a piece that’s using Twitter…It’s using an applet called We Feel Fine, which is live online. It pulls tweets that contain the words “I” and “feel.” It scans though these tweets and color codes them and turns them into circles or squares for men and women, and it creates this cloud of moving dots that you can click on and…pull up real people’s recent tweets. So the audience will be invited to tweet about how they feel. I’ll be dancing, and there will be a sensor bar that’ll control a Wii remote so that instead of using a mouse, [while] dancing in space I can click things and pull stuff up [projected on the screen behind me.]
R: What’s your inspiration for your choreography?
MH: Most of my pieces are inspired by things that have happened to me or people that I’ve met. There’s a piece that will be in Heartwork that premiered in November Dances last semester called Habit of Living. It was inspired by the month I spent in China with the Duke Dancers last summer. It was really interesting because where we were people didn’t really speak any English, and I didn’t know any Chinese…We were rehearsing for weeks with the same people, and it was interesting to me how you could still form friendships and work around the language barrier. So Habit of Living was inspired by navigating communication with people beyond language and beyond cultural barriers.
R: Do you have any techniques that you’ve found helpful when you’re working with a group of dancers to facilitate the creative process?
MH: I like to give dancers a little bit of freedom in the movement. I’m not the type who’s about everyone’s arm being at the exact same angle. There’s a time and place for that, but usually…I want people to bring in a little bit of their own personal…creativity as well. A lot of [the dancers] will say, “I’m not a choreographer.” And that’s true and it’s not true, because they all have a sense of movement, and they all have a better sense of movement and what feels right for their bodies than I do. Giving…them the ability to fit it to their physicality and make it feel right with their sense of music, sometimes they’ll come up with something I never would’ve come up with.
R: What are your post-graduation plans?
MH: I recently found out I got a Benenson Award in the Arts, so I’ll be in New York dancing for the summer. I’m hoping to stay in the New York area. Right now I’m interviewing for jobs in marketing, PR, that kind of thing…I know I will still be dancing in some capacity.
R: Do you think you’ll still get to choreograph?
MH: I’m sure I will. I’m trying to take it slow enough to get my feet on the ground. But ultimately…whether it’s teaching kids or adults or a company, I definitely will always be involved in dance choreography.
Heartwork will take place this Saturday at 6:30 and 8 p.m. at The Hull Avenue Dance Lab (1516 Hull Avenue, off Swift Ave). Admission is free. Email monica.hogan@duke.edu for ticket information.
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