Students explore the creative process with Lucky Plush dance company

[00:00:14] >> The Lucky Plush Productions creates work that is kind of an equal hybrid of dance and theater. One of the things that we do when we engage with communities is we bring our particular devising process to students because it's maybe something that's more unfamiliar and versus maybe a straight up technique class. [00:00:33] In this process Meghan who is the ensemble member that's going to lead the workshop will draw from "Super Strip" which is the show that we're doing here at Virginia Tech and she'll lead the participants through a writing process, they'll get on their feet, they'll sort of introduce themselves as a character, and then she'll just put them through a series of different kind of playful improvisational-based structures, where they can sort of explore with each other. [00:01:05] Even in the rehearsal process I try to disrupt their habits and get them to kind of be in a place where they're responding to each other because that's when you get comedy, and you get play, and you get fun- real learning happens when people make mistakes and laugh and are vulnerable so part of it will be both learning physical vocabulary and then how they kind of work together to create something from that vocabulary. [00:01:40] Audiences love it because they really sense when a performer is in an active place of listening and and feeling like they're authentically in the moment as opposed to just performing a prescribed score or choreography. That's usually the takeaway from t

academics 2:25 Students explore the creative process with Lucky Plush dance company

By:

Susan Bland

8 Feb 2019 166

A dancer from Lucky Plush Productions gives a group of Virginia Tech students a glimpse into the dance company’s creative process. Watch as Lucky Plush dancer Meghann Wilkinson teaches how she and her colleagues work together to create an authentic experience for audiences. Drawing on the company’s performance, “Trip the Light Fantastic: The Making of Superstrip,” Wilkinson leads participants through a series of improvisational exercises that encourages them to be more creative, live in the moment, be vulnerable, and create relationships with each other in new ways. This approach helps Lucky Plush dancers deliver an authentic performance for their audiences. The Moss Arts Center helps students discover new ways to incorporate creativity into their lives—both inside and outside the classroom.