Anna Vomacka’s senior project began with a curiosity about the preservation and organic change of existing choreographed works. After participating in post-modern dance pioneer Trisha Brown’s Summer Intensive in 2015 and becoming familiar with excerpts of Brown’s work and choreographic processes, Vomacka saw an opportunity to propose a thesis project whereby she would explore her interest in choreographic preservation by recreating and performing an excerpt from Brown’s famous work Glacial Decoy (1979). Vomacka made arrangements to learn the piece from former Trisha Brown Company dancer Vicky Shick, who performed Glacial Decoy during her tenure there.
“Through working with Vicky Shick, an accomplished student of Brown’s, I was able to tangibly identify the elements of Brown’s work and identify how effectively her movement lexicon, as it pertains to Glacial Decoy, has been preserved as well as how effectively it can be transferred,” said Vomacka. “My familiarity with the emulation of the movement knowledge of others prepared me for the presentation of Trisha Brown’s piece. Executing this project further advanced my pursuit of both developing myself as a dancer and my passion for evolving the field of contemporary dance.”
Vomacka performed the work for the Senior Concert March 2 – 4, 2017 in the Barnett Theatre. She also had the opportunity to teach an excerpt of the dance to several visiting high school students during a masterclass that she led for the department’s College Day on April 7, 2017.
