Listen...
“Listen…” is an exploration of physical fracturing caused by a slipping sense of place and changing identity. Draves will spend her HCL Sponsorship researching her own story and the stories of her collaborators, weaving the narratives into an empathic work. As a part of its process, she will explore Rasa theory and its application to performances outside of bharatanatyam. The process requires deep investigations to weave narratives of unique movement material. “My own explorations are carried out through the frame of femininity and parenthood but artistic collaborators will shift the work with narrative contributions. At the heart of this work is stability in risk, aggressive viscerality, rowdy corporeality, and rituals of comfort.”
Emma Draves is a dance artist and educator examining identity, narrative, and emotional landscape. Draves’ work draws from her multi-disciplinary training in modern, ballet, bharatanatyam, and Laban Movement Analysis. She was a Sponsored Artist at High Concept Labs in the Spring of 2017.
Draves has mostly recently presented work on Danceworks Performance Company (Milwaukee) and the Full Circle Festival. She has participated in residencies and U of I Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Eau Clair, and Hope College. Her work has been funded by Chicago Dancemakers Forum Greenhouse Grant, Chicago Cultural Center, and Links Hall. Holding a MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and GLCMA from Columbia College Chicago, Draves is currently on faculty at Columbia College Chicago and Wright College.