Alum Alyssa Martin discusses DinoLand, and her passion for choreography
School of Performance Dance alumni Alyssa Martin returns to campus, with her company Rock Bottom Movement (RBM) (external link) , to choreograph a mega-dance project with over 50 students.
Alyssa founded RBM while she was a student in her third year of the Dance program. Initially, the company was “supposed to be a little thing on the side, to work on some choreography.” But after an injury in fourth year which stopped her from performing, her creative work became her sole focus.
I found my passion for choreographing that way. It was the most fulfilling thing for me to be doing, and I said I’d continue pressing on as long as it felt good - and it just kept going.
There were mentors throughout her time at the School of Performance which recognized Alyssa’s creative potential. Former professor Sheldon Rosen “was super informative in helping me find my voice. He was always really good about asking questions, and sparking my curiosity.”
Director of Performance Dance Vicki St. Denys also played a role in this transition from performer to creator. “I remember sitting in one of my final interviews, and Vicki articulated that I was one version of a dancer when doing other people's work.” Then Vicki said, “when you are dancing in your own work, you become exciting.” Alyssa has held onto this. “It was so helpful to know that from the outside, [she could] recognize that something changes in me when I’m engaging in my own curiosity. So I tried to follow that.”
Alyssa stopped performing shortly after graduating, to focus on choreography and creation. “I feel the most myself when I’m making work… having that articulated to me [by Vicki] at such a young age was so helpful.”
"It just takes one person to say ‘that's a good idea’. I think the validation is more helpful than some people realize."
“Rock Bottom has been the centre passion point of everything I’ve worked on since graduating,” Alyssa reflects. It has also led to many opportunities, from working with musical theatre pieces, to plays, to educational institutions. “It all stems from committing to Rock Bottom and sticking with it since graduating.”
Photo by Drew Barry
Photo by Drew Barry
Alyssa’s work in the School of Performance began the same year she graduated, when she was invited to choreograph the Cinderella pantomime in 2013. This led Alyssa to teach two courses at the university: Dance for Actors, and Musical Theatre for Acting/Dance Minors.
Alyssa continued teaching these two classes, and in 2021, Vicki St. Denys asked her to choreograph a mega-dance piece for the end of the fall term. This piece would involve all third and fourth year dancers, a total of 53 students. These dancers were divided into four cohorts, so they could rehearse while maintaining distance.
“As we began planning for the Fall performance opportunities, there were so many unknown factors,” Vicki shares. “The one thing that I did know, is that the guest artists we invited to work with the dancers would need to be up for a challenge, creative, flexible, adaptive and innovative - Alyssa Martin was the first person that came to mind!"
There was no doubt that Alyssa, along with the artists of Rock Bottom were a perfect fit for us. They have been an absolute dream to work with and the fact that Alyssa and most of the other members of the company are alumni, is all the more beautiful. DinoLand is very special and Drew Berry's camera work is exceptional - we can't wait to share it with audiences!
Alyssa’s concept for this mega-project “all started from looking at this fern plant,” she remembers. She was out in nature, reflecting on this particular set of students, who have experienced the pandemic “at such a key moment of their development as humans. So I saw this fern plant, and got thinking about the resilience of ferns. Apparently, they were around back then. When the dinosaurs were here, ferns were here, and they prevailed.”
The fern plant felt like “a gentle metaphor for everything we had gone through, particularly the students.” Alyssa was struck by their resilience. “I can’t imagine how many times I’m sure many of them have contemplated quitting. To have this many people still studying and pursuing this career is so inspiring. I really admire that resilience in them.”
Photo by Drew Berry
In DinoLand, each student is loosely based on a different kind of dinosaur. This was a great way to let these dancers' individual personalities shine through, “because the dinosaur they decide to be is just going to be an extension of who they are as people, without forcing them to depict themselves.” Alyssa thus created a container for students to explore themselves and all that they had been through, in a safe and imaginary world.
"We use the timeline of the dinosaurs at the end of the mesozoic era, and then the asteroid, then the winter, and then new growth - the first cell. We end with the fern."
Organizing four groups of 53 students was no small feat. Each day, there were four rehearsals running, one per cohort. Alyssa would be in one of those studios, with her collaborators at RBM spread out in the other rooms. Alyssa choreographed and devised the piece with RBM, and the team would divide up and teach the students their assigned section. “The beautiful thing about the process was, it got abstracted and changed by the Rock Bottom Rehearsal Director in the best way possible. We've all been working together for years, so we sort of are on the same wavelength creatively.”
In addition to the RBM team working together, there was a lot of student collaboration. “Students were doing imaginative scores, writing, and building material.”
“Each day for the past three month has brought so much joy to myself and all my other classmates,” fourth year Dance student Annika McCabe shares. “It was uplifting to know that we were going to get to indulge ourselves in this bright world every evening, especially after well…you know.”
Rehearsal directors would take videos every rehearsal. Then, at the end of the week, Alyssa would watch all the videos and put them in the correct order to see if things were working. “That was the process. It started from a seed I would give Rock Bottom, they would take it to rehearsals, work with the students - the collaboration would trickle down, and then all the way back up.”
Since the students never got the opportunity to see the piece in full before it was filmed, they had a massive Zoom call where they ran the show in real time to give students a sense of the overall story. “That was a magical moment,” Annika reflects. “It made me feel even more excited for when we will get to view the final product!”
One of the main lessons Alyssa and RBM left with their students was the importance of authenticity. “Being in a room with Alyssa has demonstrated that to be yourself is the best thing you can do.” While it can be easy to lose your sense of self when working on other people’s work, “not once did I feel that way when working with Alyssa and Rock Bottom. We were always able to move how we felt most comfortable and express how we felt.”
Being yourself can feel so simple. I feel like I have heard that expression my whole life, but my time spent with Alyssa has allowed me to understand what it truly means to be comfortable with who I am. It is a life lesson I will carry close to my heart and artistic practice for the rest of my life.
If Alyssa can offer any advice to current students, it is to “find their people… it’s not about the contract or the job, but entirely about figuring out what kinds of rooms you’re happy and feel the most yourself in.”
Overall, Alyssa is leaving this project deeply inspired by the dance students she worked with. “They worked so hard, every night. They showed up, they were so invested from day one. It really felt like our little collective company expanded to include these students in the most beautiful way.”
