Milling About with Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater

Milling About visits with Amanda Selwyn of Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater for rehearsals of 'It's A Game,' celebrating their 13 season at New York Live Arts. Amanda tells host Robin Milling she was initially inspired by Alexander McQueen's exhibit at the Met featuring models dressed as chess pieces. She later learned he was inspired by Harry Potter which spoke to the Potter fan in her, expanding the dance to games asking, 'what it means to roll the dice and have uncertain outcomes.'

'It's A Game' features dancers abstractly moving amongst life-size props of chess pieces and fuzzy dice, becoming  inspiration for creative movement.  At times the dancers become the chess pieces, bringing them to life. Having very tall male dancers in the duet 'Check Mate' was a plus for the breath-holding lift where the female dancer does a big flip into a swan dive backbend, swirls between his legs and unravels back to the ground! Amanda jokes, 'it gets close to a crotch grab but it has a grandiose look in a big theater!'

In Amanda's choreography which is born from her background in theater and dance, there are emotional movements as well mixed with the athleticism. She encourages her dancers to express themselves through partnering or gesturing; each bringing their humanity into the work.