Choreography and Staging
About My Work
Since taking her first choreography class in 2023, Siobhan has developed a strong ability to create dynamic movement pieces and stage pictures
Relationship to Dance
Siobhan did not expect to pick up skills in Choreography, as memorizing choreography has always been her greatest challenge in performing musicals. Siobhan’s body dysmorphia prevented her from dancing for years before she realized she needed the right teacher. That teacher was Cindy Hartigan, who taught Siobhan Musical Theatre, Tap and Jazz Dance at North Central College. After taking these classes, Siobhan decided to take the plunge and join Hartigan’s Choreography class, in which she collaborated with the other students to create choreography in a variety of styles. One of her favorite collaborative pieces being “Holding Out for a Hero” which she worked on with Natalie Barnes and Ayako Miyauchi.
Movement Aesthetic
Once Siobhan started choreographing on her own, she started to really specialize in gestural choreography, Bill T. Jones’ work on Spring Awakening being one of her biggest inspirations. She also found a passion for performing this style while working on North Central’s production of Next to Normal, in which she performed some gestural choreography by Bailee Fyock. Siobhan eventually choreographed a few segments of the song “Burn the Old Thing Up” from Lizzie the Musical, which several fellow dancers/choreographers helped bring to life. She would absolutely love to stage a full production of Lizzie using this symbolic style of choreography.
Other Styles
Siobhan’s experience performing Musical Comedy has also led to her choreographing more over-the-top dance pieces. Currently she is trying to finish full concepts for “We’re Not Sorry” from Urinetown and “Hold Me, Bat Boy” from Bat Boy. Siobhan has made an effort to keep her skills sharp and continue developing her choreography skills.