Heather will be a sophomore this fall at NYU planning a major in Political Science and Journalism. At NYU she studies dance and music at The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. She performed in a student choreographed piece in the Masters Dance Concert 2007 and sings with the NYU Womens Choir and Choral Arts Society. She also performed on Memorial Day 2008 in the Global Spirit: Music of Many Cultures Choral concert at Lincoln Center. She has studied ballet at NJ Ballet Company since sixth grade and was a member of NJB Junior Company. Heather also is a Staff Writer for NYU’s student paper, The Washington Square News. After the summer dance program at Skidmore, she is studying abroad in London for 6 weeks through NYU’s Journalism in London program. She is a member of SAG and AFTRA, having appeared in film and television roles, most recently on As the World Turns as a camp counselor airing 6/26/08. Heather graduated in the Top Ten of her high school class and was an active member of National Honor Society, Mock Trial Team, a Senator and Committee Chairperson in NJ’s Model Congress, Choral and Wind Ensembles, the Thespian, Art, Music and Social Studies Honor Societies and in the NJ Youth Symphony’s Flute Forum. Previous summers she attended French Woods Festival for the Performing Arts as a CIT and performed there in Musical Theater and dance productions.
One of the coolest things about this program was being able to sit in on rehearsals. To wittness the process of putting a show together, is an opportunity that doesn’t happen very often. To be able to see the Martha Graham Company’s Clytemnestra come together piece by piece has been really educational and inspiring. Especially since we learned pieces from the name-calling and watched the older version of the piece, we had a greater understanding and deeper connection to the work. Watching the open rehearsal for the prologue to Clytemnestra was amazing. At the end I wish I could have seen more!
From watching some of the rehearsals for Clytemnestra, I was able to see bits and pieces of the work in progress, and so it was really interesting to see all the pieces come together at the open rehearsal. I really hope I am able to see Clytemnestra when the company comes to NYC next year, I am really looking forward to seeing how the whole work comes together. To have the opportunity to see the inner workings of a company has been an amazing experience and really was one of the best parts of the program.
From watching the made -for -TV version of Clytemnestra, I was inundated with a new understanding of how watching a performance filmed rather than live is a very different experience. It was very interesting how the film used fade-in and jump cuts to transition from one scene to another, to emphasize on ideas and symbolism that cannot be as exaggerated during a staging. While a performance is sometimes more exciting live, I found that because the version was made with specific filming techniques, I found myself just as engaged in watching the film as I would have been during a live show. I love Greek mythology and perhaps that is why I especially liked Clytemnestra. Now that I have watched the whole work, I have a better understanding of the variation I am learning from the piece. It is so wonderful working so closely with the Company members and I am excited to watch the company rehearsals. Overall I have had a great experience this past week and I am overall astonished how much we can fit into a week as well as how fast time flies!
