Art has many differing forms, yet they often echo one another in unexpected ways. Dance and painting have entirely different mediums, yet they share a powerful ability to create visual stories, evoke emotions, and convey messages through shape, rhythm, and space. As a dancer who paints as a hobby, I’ve grown increasingly fascinated by how these disciplines intersect. Painting dancers is intriguing to me, stimulating my passion for both arts. I gain a deeper understanding of how different dance positions affect an observer, and the positions that I find the most aesthetically pleasing. Having to paint the intricate details of highlights and shadows emphasizes the relationship a dancer has with lighting. helps inform my choreography, providing ideas about postures, poses, and movement styles from what the painting looks like. Over time, I’ve shifted my focus from simply completing paintings to appreciating the act of painting itself. In recent projects, I have been recording timelapse videos of my painting process. Doing this has allowed me to see dance and painting as parallel acts of creation: both involve brushing and carving space, making shapes, and emphasizing intricate details. Mad Genius’ MASHUP theme gave me an opportunity to explore this connection further. Before, I was only painting pictures of myself and other dancers or only dancing with paintings inspiring my movements. In this project, I danced a solo imagining myself painting through space and making picturesque shapes with my body. Afterwards, I recorded a timelapse video, painting a still image of myself from the dance. I followed along with the dance video, letting my movements inspire where and how I would paint next. After both videos were recorded, I overlapped them to see these two artforms work harmoniously to create a mashed-up art piece. Continuing to work on combining my two art forms, I hope to carry out a choreographic idea I have. One source of inspiration is Memo Akten’s “Body Paint” at the Wonderspaces Art Show in Austin, TX—an interactive projection where participants create digital brushstrokes by moving in front of a motion-sensitive screen. This exhibit sparked new ideas for combining dance and painting in real time. I envision a performance where dancers are in front of a projection of a painting in progress—one that I create and record to align with their movements. As the dancers move across the stage, my brushstrokes would follow their paths, gradually forming an image. By the end of the piece, the painting would be complete: a visual echo of the dance itself. The performers, in essence, would have painted themselves through motion. In blending these disciplines, I aim not only to expand my own artistic expression but to encourage other artists to “mashup” through multimedia creative works.

When a group of students at my high school had started a campaign for transgender rights including name changes in the school system, gender neutral bathrooms, pronoun clarification in the classroom, and gender-neutral homecoming and prom court, I was ready to join in. The positive yet difficult conversation expanded the frame of reference where many points were considered and accounted for. As I used my natural leadership abilities to support my classmates' fight, I learned the value in standing up for and being aware of everyone’s rights. Soon after this, I felt empowered to stand up for queer dancers at my dance studio. When I realized some students were concerned about using a gendered dressing room, I advocated for a gender-neutral dressing room. The owner of my dance studio was hesitant and unfamiliar with how to respect transgender student's rights. While it took educating and convincing the studio director, I was determined to impact change. Being a strong natural leader and gaining additional leadership skills from participating in Student Government and Class Council, I was well equipped to carry out my goal. I professionally advocated for my peers, which ultimately resulted in an overall more inclusive environment at the dance studio. My passion for being an ally for the LGBTQ+ community is derived from having a non-binary step-sibling. When they came out, their mother was unaccepting and disrespectful, which prompted conversations within my family about how to best support and be aware of gay and transgender people’s rights. Being educated on these topics from a young age has allowed me to develop into a strong ally, often correcting my family to be respectful. Discussing transgender rights with the studio owner was a significant stepping stone in building my confidence to inform others about respecting pronouns and understanding name changes. When remarks are made based on gender in the classroom, I find power in being able to correct those so that slowly we can create an equitable world. The small, rural town I live in makes it difficult to find a sizable group of peers passionate about queer rights, which makes me even more enthusiastic about promoting civic engagement at the university I will attend. I look forward to sharing what I’ve learned about being an LBTGQ+ ally as well as building up others’ confidence in discussing similarly difficult topics. I am eager to collaborate with my peers on how we can be instrumental in building an equitable world for all marginalized citizens, including and beyond the LGBTQ+ community. I will thrive in an environment of individuals who bring their own unique perspective to the conversation. Even meeting those who may come from homophobic backgrounds makes me eager to participate in intellectually stimulating debates. All of these life experiences helped me overcome the fear of challenging existing policies and find my power in advocating for what I believe is right. I now feel comfortable to discuss difficult topics with others and to affect change to improve society.

I stood with my feet apart, hands overhead, and fingertips touching to form a triangle creating the letter A with my body. Dance choreography was familiar to me, but choreographing a musical was not. As ten other high schoolers stood behind me to learn choreography, I was pushed out of my comfort zone. All day I felt anxious about this moment, the beginning of teaching a new dance. Once it was there, my nerves were transformed into excitement. Staring at the brick wall of the school hallway, I heard feet shuffling as they imitated my movements. Although I was unsure if they were getting it correct or if they would like the dance, I did not turn around yet. I pushed myself to teach the next couple of steps despite the self-conscious feeling in my stomach. Until then, I had always stuck to what I knew, which was dance, and I was afraid something new would take away my focus and commitment to dance. However, I learned the value of stepping out of my comfort zone when I joined theater, which has driven me to want to pursue a career as a musical theater choreographer. Drawing on past success, I was eager to continue teaching the choreography for Matilda the Musical. Half an hour had passed. I felt more comfortable thanks to the theater kids’ welcoming spirits relieving some of my anxiety. We sat on the floor with our knees up and hands back to create an M. I laughed to myself as I demonstrated the next letter, where we were on our hands and knees, feet in the air, and a straight body making the diagonal of the letter N. Sitting criss-cross, I observe everyone giggling about high schoolers rolling around spelling out the alphabet with their body. Watching for a moment as they practiced and helped each other, I noticed the feeling in my stomach had changed to warmth. A year prior, I rarely considered singing, acting, or being a creative director. In this moment, I realized how much I had limited myself. Crossing our arms to create an X, the choreography was coming together successfully. I asked if anyone had questions before cleaning up the dance. Most of the actors had minimal dance experience, yet they were eager to learn. It filled me with joy getting to walk through steps until they felt confident. At the end of rehearsal, as I watched the final run through, I felt the corners of my mouth raise and my heart fill with pride. I saw smiles and confidence radiate from the students as they moved their hands over their heads to create an O. The growth in the students in such a short time made me realize the growth I too had experienced since opening the theater door - as a performer, leader, and human being. I found a new home in the school’s auditorium and a new comfort zone, where my passion for dance blossomed into the aspiration to choreograph musicals- hopefully one day on Broadway. When learning to write, you start with the 26 letters of the alphabet. Once you master those, you open the door to words, sentences, and eventually complex paragraphs. While I had always been driven, I confined myself to the 26 letters. By taking chances and stepping out of my comfort zone in theater, I began my journey to infinite words. Theater opened my eyes to a world of possibilities and gave me the confidence to pursue new opportunities in life.