True vulnerability takes the stage as dancers grace the audience with their jetês and pirouettes. Their graceful feet and intentional movement tell a story of heaviness, the unexpected adversities of life and finding inner strength.
“Monomyth” is The University of Texas at El Paso’s Theatre Dance program’s first production of the spring semester. The production follows the development of Jospeh Campbell’s hero’s journey: the departure, the initiation and the return, in everyday scenarios and in societal issues.
The vision comes together with a team of choreographers, dancers and directors. Ashley Kroft is the artistic director and one of the choreographers for “Monomyth”. Kroft works closely with her group of dancers, allowing more vulnerable sides to come out to allow deeper story telling.
“[Monomyth] is about the [hero’s journey] and how everyone is a hero in their own story. So, it’s not just the superheroes that we see in the movies. We’re human beings and we can also be heroes ourselves,” Kroft said.
The dancers of “Monomyth” have opened up their hearts during the development of the production and allowed themselves to be vulnerable as “Monomyth” takes a step back from the dramatic superhero tropes to tell stories of common adversities.
“They can use their lived experiences for something as emotional as this can be. In this process they kind of discover a little bit about themselves too. I’ve seen the growth in their mental state—that transformation from the beginning stages of rehearsal to opening the show,” Kroft said.
Dance performance major and “Monomyth” dancer, Dominic Fragoso pours his emotions into his dance and into this production to create something that’s ready to share with the audience. Their lived experiences turn into performance art for others to digest and reflect on.
“It was very emotional and personal. It really felt like this whole choreography and this whole performance is each and every one of our dancer’s struggles,” Fragoso said. “We breathe life into that, in a way our feelings are a message. Hopefully the audience takes that home with them.”
Digging into one’s own adversities and values to create “Monomyth” also benefits the dancers as they face their own internal struggles. They use this form of performance art to create pieces not only impactful to the audience, but also to overcome personal obstacles.
Dance major and “Monomyth” dancer, Evelyn Amaya used this production’s opportunities of vulnerability to challenge herself as a dancer and as a human being.
“This production definitely helped me [process] past life experiences, both negative and positive, and using those feelings in our choreography,” Amaya said. “We have a lot of sections of our own personal discovery and accomplishing things we thought we could never overcome. This process has been immensely helpful in my journey of self-awareness and understanding.”
Kroft said her time spent working with the dancers and the production has been powerful, meaningful and hopes that their message is translated to the audience.
“The impact I want to leave on the audience is self-reflection of one’s own life. Reflecting on themselves and kind of thinking about their journal and if they’ve been the hero. Are they the hero at this moment? Are they going through one of the stages of the experience? And if not, we’ll inspire them to take action in their lives,” Kroft said.
Dancers like Fragoso and Amaya hope to leave a lasting impact and sweep the audience with raw emotion that leads to deeper reflection.
Jesie Garcia is a staff reporter and may be reached at [email protected] or on Instagram @empanaditawrites.
