What is up with men these days?

Hi everyone,

My name is Austin Duclos. I wanted to have one blog about myself! As you may already know, I am a dance major at Mercyhurst University. This is a clip of my Modern III midterm evaluation. I've decided to share this video with you because I felt a very deep connection to the combination, the music, and the emotional meaning that we were told to find behind the movement.

For this midterm, we were working on the different directional pulls in our personal kinosphere. This combination combined many of the things that we have worked on in the class thus far. I feel very good about this midterm, but I am not sharing it because I am proud of the work I put into it.  And there was a lot. And I also am very proud of the way it came out!

I am sharing this to talk about my personal connection to the piece. For this we were told to find our story in the movement. For me, this piece was about reaching. Reaching for goals or success or desires that were just out of reach. Things that were just an arms length away but were pulled further from me just as I could feel it on my finger tips. I also related this piece back to my own personal struggles in life with loss, grief, failed relationships, family and depression.

Wow, that got deep...

But seriously, this work meant a great deal to me and there were many hours spent outside of class that I just worked on small sections and figured out a way to express my connection to my internal expression and translate it to my external expressiveness. It was very difficult to dance at some points because I had so much going on in my head and heart, but I believe that the piece really came together for me in the moment I started to dance.

For myself, dance is my passion. It is my escape from everyday life. It is a release, even though sometimes it is so hard to get through it. There are many difficulties in the field of dance as there are in all types of arts. There is so much physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. But when it comes to the moments that I can't bare to feel or think about anymore, I turn to dance and just release those things into the air. I allow my energy and my space to be a soundboard and I receive many answers to questions I haven't asked. It is like a religion. I am a religious person, but dancing for me is just another way of prayer. It has always been there for me and always will be.

This post is very much connected to my personal dance career but it is something that I tend to find when reading and listening to music. Usually when I read or listen to music I find deep connections to my personal experiences or just dig a little too deep into things, but I think it all relates to each other, so I wanted to share my dance side!

So I share this video in hopes that you can see what I do on a daily basis, but also to hear about some of your interpretations of this piece, whether it be connected to the movement, the music, or just something you feel while watching it. I hope you all enjoy!!