CMU School of Drama


Sunday, September 27, 2009

Kidd Pivot takes dance beyond the present

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "The source of creativity is usually something of a mystery and seems to differ from artist to artist.
For Crystal Pite, the founder of Kidd Pivot dance company, creation is 'always a sort of play between instinct and intellect. I generally start from instinct and then wrangle the material into something that can be understood.'"

3 comments:

Liz Willett said...

Pite and I share a belief in that dance for the sake of dance can be enough. Dance is one of the rawest forms of expression, and it does not need to be over-analyzed or intellectualized to be legitimate. Although I do have this belief, I also think that what Pite has done with her art form is remarkable. To be able to take a challenge on, such to represent the struggles and strengths of our veterans through dance, is a feat in and of itself. Pite does not just want to take this challenge face first, but wants to do it well, and give it justice. She sounds like an incredibly devoted and passionate woman, and I would have loved to see her performance this past Saturday. She is a choreographer who loves dancing for the simplicity of it, as well as the balance between raw creativity and profound intelligence and developed concepts.

Unknown said...

I agree with Pite's idea about the creation of art. IT starts with a feeling or instinct in the artist and grows from there. Often times though the best presentation of art may not have meaning. It just is what it is for each person to pull what they like from it. An example of this would be "Fuerza Bruta". Described by the director as something that just is. Try not to grasp meaning in it.

For dance I beleive it is important to find a root of meaning but because dance can mean so many different things to so many different people as long as that root is set, there doesnt need to be a clear message, just that running root theme.

Megan Spatz said...

Pivot speaks in this article about feeling at times too small for her art. As if what she was creating was too much for her too handle. I can identify with this emotion. There are times when I feel that what I am creating or exploring is way over my head and that I don't understand it well enough to truly make art using it. However, I feel that I've come to a conclusion about this frightening feeling. Although it is extremely important to research and understand as well as possible what you are exploring, there are some things that can never be fully understood and you have to accept the mystery around them and that what you are exploring might not be able to be verbally defined.