STATEMENT ON MY PERFORMANCE ART DANCING/CONTEMPORARY DANCING
My performance art dancing has been inspired first by watching dancers on TV, then by taking a lot of ballroom dance classes with the Dancing Illini ballroom dance club at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and with the Ballroom Dance Club at the University of Illinois YMCA, and finally, seeing performance art shows by Lisa Fay, Jeff Glassman, Phoebe Legere and Sandra Bernhard.
Usually, the performance art dance style I have is not totally performance art--most of these performance art dances combine with a little bit of other dance elements from other dance styles--particularly ballet, jazz, tap, modern, capoeira, hip hop, Latin, swing, ballroom, and freestyle.
I usually don't include costumes or props in my performance art pieces unless absolutely necessary. Usually, I would like to wear wigs or scarves on myself, as well as caps, and in some cases, use these items also as props. Other props I would use in these dances include a clipboard, coats, paper, pencil, and drumsticks.
In other cases, my performance art dance style was also inspired by site-specific performance art dance, since I often do this dance in cramped spaces like the Zorba's Restaurant in Champaign, IL.
I often love to create dance performances to my original music, but I also like to usemusic from other composers---particularly jazz, rhythm and blues, jamrock, funk, Afrobeat, and classic rock.
Occasionally, I add spoken word to my performance art dance pieces for a more dramatic effect. I usually add original spoken word only in my dances and not someone else's unless absolutely necessary unless for reasons for dramatic expression (for instance, the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll, a poem with a high amount of neologisms), would be to my liking for a specific performance art dance because usually performance art dance focuses on improvisation and spontaneity.
Charles Joseph Smith