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Progress with independent study

Irina Koleva
Feb 26, 2017
3 min read

Just a quick reality check for myself!

What I have accomplished in the past two weeks:

I made a separate page in the "Projects" tab on the wixsite for the Winter Showcase (this took me four or five tries because I kept forgetting to save the changes that I made!)

Web design continues to be one of the aspects of this project that I struggle with a lot. I have a lot of ideas for what I want the design to look like, but it's very difficult for me to put them all together. I'm such a perfectionist that I'm scared of making something that isn't the best it could be - so I'm scared to design in the wrong way. But I've gotten better at starting with one component of the page (usually the title) and building onto it. I'm slowly figuring out which styles and structures of a page I like, and I've started to incorporate those into my designs.
I have read and annotated several articles about cognitive science, embodied cognition, and the influence of the environment on the mind. I'd like to meet with Mr. Heidt to discuss a little more and solidify some key ideas before posting reviews/analyses.
I drew up a storyboard for filming Medicine. This was relatively easy for me to do, since I've known for a while exactly what I want the video to look like. I ended up scrapping the entire thing because it's easier to direct RJ (our cameraman/lighting person) on spot, and let him build off of my ideas..... and he ended up not using it so there was no point in forcing him.
WE ACTUALLY FILMED MEDICINE!! Editing is happening this week, video to come out by Wednesday.
Rehearsaling for two upcoming videos:
"Candyman" by Zedd and Aloe Blacc: hip hop choreography with Sophia Moffa. It's not a dance film with a completely thought out concept and story, it's just going to be quick and fun!
"Soon We'll Be Found" by Sia: contemporary dance film with Maggie Roop, Kate Weston, and Stephanie Land. This story focuses on bullying, letting me dip back into the heavier issues.
Looking for potential mentors:
George Lakoff
Michele Merritt
Ani Nenkova
Writer of the journal "Body, Movement, and Dance in Psychotherapy" -http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tbmd20/current)
There are several other people that I'm meeting and talking with, for empathy (ish) interviews. Post coming up with a list of questions for the interviews!
About 3 weeks ago, I decided to start a little side project - learning/teaching myself a new dance style: tutting. Tutting is a kind of popping street dance, focusing on isolated movements and 90 degree angles. Buzzfeed did a video about it - check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbBqtuYvags! It's all about making shapes (which is one of the main things a choreographer has to think about), and it is so much harder than it seems!

I started by watching a bunch of YouTube videos, combos and tutorials, and then trying to learn as I watched. One of my favorite videos is made by Phillip Chbeeb (known as pacman on YouTube) and Matt Steffanina. I could fangirl for hours over these guys, they're just awesome choreographers and performers! Anyway, check out their tutting choreography to Closer by the Chainsmokers!