Work
finding the edge
Originally created for GibneyPro Student Showcase in Fall 2022 by Clay Houston. finding the edge has since been performed at Moving Forward Dance in September 2023 by Stella Jacobs and will be shown at Arts on Site, February 2024.
Choreographed by Kendra Borden in collaboration with Clay Houston
Music: “Ether Fields Forever” by CoH; “Måtinden” by Eric Holm; “Sweatbox” by FOR.; “Prelude Op 28 No 4, E minor”, by Chopin and played by Janusz Olejniczak.
Perception as projection: Does one love someone, something, or themselves because they idealize their own best (or desired) aspects onto them? What is the difference between that projection and the reality, and how does that evolve? Conversely, does this act of projection help one distance or personify personal aspects they don’t want? What happens when that sense of identity degrades? In this concept, these projections serve as indicators to reflect where one might be in their life, and might inform where they might go next.
Photo by Whitney Browne. Dancer: Clay Houston
Photo by Paolina Gómez-Gonzales
As the Thoughts Arise
Barnard Dance Senior Performance Thesis. Spring 2022
Choreographed by Tamisha A. Guy
Music: “Nocturne 16” by Craig Armstrong, “data.matrix” by Ryoji Ikeda
Choreographed by Tamisha A Guy, this work focused on the experience of making choices and finding oneself at a crossroads. Please contact me if you would like to access a recording of the performance.
Tapping In, Staying In: Understanding Vulnerability as a Tool to Facilitate Connection Through Dance
Fall 2021
This thesis project theorizes vulnerability an accessible mechanism of intimacy which taps into embodied empathy; in turn, this facilitates a realization of communal experience in dancers and audience members alike. This translates intimacy through vulnerability into a tool to be utilized, and creates a set of requirements and implications in order to do so successfully. For the project I analyzed Crystal Pite’s Betroffenheit, reviewed research, conducted interviews, and reflected on my own experience as a dancer.
Link to PDF
Atomic Flow
Columbia Music Masters Composition Program. Spring 2021
Movement by Kendra Borden, sound by John Levee
Made in collaboration with John Levee as part of the Columbia Music Masters Composition Program, this work is a site-specific improvisation through the soundscape of Prentis Hall. Having recorded various sounds across the hall, Levee matched each sound with a corresponding speaker based on relative location within the building, and placed each sound into a program such that the overall sound output was randomized. Borden created specific gestures for a set of eight sounds, which she returned to whenever the sound was played. Between gestures, she improvised based on location and soundscape.
Echoes of.
CoLab Dance Fall Show. Fall 2019
Choreographed by Kendra Borden
Created for CoLab Dance at Columbia University, this piece was choreographed on four dancers to examine one’s relationship to natural settings and each other. With the threat of the climate crisis looming, and multiple pressures influencing our relationships with one another, the work emaphasized the power of interpersonal connection and integrated solutions to confront the unique challenges climate change poses. Please contact me for video access.