Rediscovering Purpose Through Movement
This week, rather than making major revisions or additions to my artistic project, I took time to reflect more deeply on the process as a whole, particularly the emotional and philosophical underpinnings of what I’ve been creating. As I reviewed the video project and revisited my characters and choreography, I found myself thinking less about what I was doing and more about why. What is it that I truly want to offer through my art? What do I want to bring to the world through dance?
These may sound like lofty, abstract questions, but they’ve become increasingly relevant as I’ve progressed through this project. With the “Happy Virus” character and his contagious joy, I’ve realized that this experiment has the potential to expand beyond the screen. While it began as a digital dance interaction, I’ve started to see the ways this work could live in real spaces and real communities, beyond just social media or class assignments.
Reflections on Purpose & Possibility
One of the most exciting realizations I’ve had is that this project has reminded me of the deeper purpose I’ve always felt in my role as a teaching artist. Whether through my work with Memphis Belle or my college courses, my goal has always been to bring joy, energy, and empowerment through movement. This project has reaffirmed how much I value connection, especially joyful, spontaneous connection, and how I want to cultivate that more intentionally in the future.
Thinking about this brought me back to the work of Dr. Peter Lovatt, a dance psychologist whose book The Dance Cure and research on movement and mood have greatly inspired me. Dr. Lovatt’s Dance Psychology Lab and Movement in Practice Academy combine dance and science in a way that’s both innovative and impactful. He uses dance as a tool to improve mental health, increase confidence, and build community.
This kind of applied dance practice excites me, and I began to wonder: Could I develop something similar? Could I create a project, platform, or ongoing initiative that brings this “infectious joy” into spaces where people need it most? I don’t yet have the answers, but I feel like this project is opening a door to new ideas and possibilities I hadn’t considered before. It’s more than a video, it could be a movement.
The Idea of Expansion
As I sat with these thoughts, one idea came to mind: what if I added an end-credit scene to my video project? Something that pushes the boundaries of the piece and brings it into the real world?
Here’s the idea: the Happy Virus character walks out into a real street, somewhere local, somewhere familiar, and begins to dance. No grand performance, just simple, joyful movement in public. This could be Huntington Village, a place I spend a lot of time. Or maybe even Macy’s, ShopRite, or any place where music is playing and people are going about their day.
What if I just danced in these spaces as I naturally would, only this time with the camera rolling? Could I maintain the authenticity of those spontaneous moments, even while documenting them? That tension between real-life movement and performance intrigues me.
Part of me hesitates because I fear it might shift from something authentic to something performative the moment a camera enters the equation. But another part of me feels like there's something important in capturing that joy, and in seeing how people respond. Would they smile? Join in? Watch from afar? Walk away? There’s a kind of vulnerability in this idea, but also great potential.
Revisiting Joy
This week has taught me that art-making isn’t always about choreographing more or editing harder. Sometimes it’s about zooming out and asking yourself the bigger questions. What am I really trying to do here? And what is this project trying to teach me?
I’ve realized that I don’t want to just create content, I want to build connection. I want to inspire people to move, to laugh, to feel something they didn’t expect to feel today. Whether that’s through an online video or an impromptu street dance, I want to use my artistry to spark something in others.
So maybe I will film that scene. Maybe I’ll take the Happy Virus into the world and see what happens. Even if it’s a little scary, even if I get rejected, I’m curious about what could unfold. It might just be the next step in this artistic experiment, and possibly the beginning of a bigger journey.
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