It's a Girl!
Choreography and dance: It's a Girl!, live performance, 9:30 minutes. Photo courtesy of Hillary Goidell.
A Girl! came from a place of self-doubt and internal exploration. It was also the byproduct of a society bathed in injustice, and conformity, and stereotyping, all of which I find myself simultaneously intrigued and repulsed by. This piece was divided into various personalities seeming to create this struggle to find unity within oneself with all the varying characteristics and feelings that I as a woman deal with every day trying to battle gender roles, sexuality, appearance, and also being a woman of color. However, my hopes are that any woman viewing this movement will be able to relate and see her own story within it as every interpretation is different for every person. This piece really explores the idea of being a woman, since it is just that, an idea. It is a concept formed by other people about what a woman “should” be, how a woman “should” act, and look, and behave. This dance speaks of the accompanying assumptions and pressures that affect women, and it examines the different, and complex, parts of being a female. It aims to portray the overall idea that there is no one way to be a woman because there is no one way to define a woman.