Choreography

Hannah creates original choreographic works in close collaboration with other artists which investigate the intricacies of emotions and unravel the layers of her subconscious mind

Scroll to learn about Hannah's most recent works and processes

2025

might as well

I choreographed 'might as well' in a week with help from the other performing cast members in May 2025 for the Mount Holyoke College Commencement Dance Concert. The work served me as an outlet to share my progress in Tap dance technique as well as demonstrate my understanding of its intricacies including musicality, performance quality, culture, and history. Within the work, I quote phrases choreographed by Tap dance legends like Leon Collins, and pay homage to other dancers who have inspired me along my journey, such as my first Tap teacher, Amy Boscho. I view 'might as well' as an expression of my gratitude for dance, Mount Holyoke, and the communities I have bonded with through the pursuit of a rigorous education rooted in movement and music.

Collaborators

  • Aria Frehner - Performer
  • Annalise Kuhlmann - Performer
  • Meghan MacBeath - Performer

Musical Composer

Tyler Donkoh-Halm's headshot. He stands close to the camera, smiling gently and looking out and up to the side.

Tyler Donkoh-Halm, photo by Stephan Papandrea (2024)

2025

Bittersweet

I created 'Bittersweet' as my senior capstone project for the dance major at Mount Holyoke. Feeling intuitively drawn to the theme of nostalgia, I researched the phenomenon extensively throughout the year as I was creating the work. This process included textual research in psychological and anthropological journals, as well as interviews and conversations with my loved ones, and experiential research with the cast members. We shared stories, drew pictures, meditated, and deeply explored what it is to reminisce together throughout the year. The culmination of this project was an embodiment of our findings in the form of the dance choreography, which was set onstage at Mount Holyoke in March of 2025. Like my previous work, 'Inevitable,' 'Bittersweet' drew aesthetic inspiration and movement vocabulary from the jazz dance discipline, with additional influences from postmodernism and ballet techniques. The majority of the piece was structured improvisation, which was a choice made intentionally in an effort to reflect the culture of Jazz and the other African Diasporic artforms from which I was so deeply inspired to make this work. 'Bittersweet' was a close collaboration with the musical composer Tyler Donkoh-Halm, who was in conversation with me and the cast throughout the year-long process of creating the work. Tyler's music drew from the Jazz lineage as well, utilizing free jazz, swing, and folk music strategically throughout the twelve minute composition to convey the narrative of my work and research surrounding nostalgia and its comforting effect.

Collaborators

  • Tyler Donkoh-Halm - Musical Composer
  • EJ Byer-Tuohey - Performer
  • Paloma De La Caridad Ortega - Performer
  • Anjali Hith - Performer
  • Lucia Jacques - Performer
  • Brigitte Potter - Performer
  • Hannah Rosenman - Performer
  • Journey Freedman - Non-performing Cast

Musical Composer

Alex Merkel's headshot. Black and white. He stands balancing on a fencepost looking down with one arm crossed over his chest holding the other. In the other hand, he holds a small "Hello Kitty" tin lunchbox. A black guitar case is strapped across his chest, with the guitar resting on Alex's back. His facial expression is peaceful.

Alex Merkel, photo by Brandon Oleksy (2025)

2024

Inevitable

I choreographed 'Inevitable' over the course of three months with a small group of peers during my junior year at Mount Holyoke. It drew aesthetic and movement inspiration from the Jazz dance medium, and explored the concepts of recurring dreams and nightmares. Through interview-style interpersonal interactions and textual sources, I researched the phenomena of nightmares, and worked with the cast to embody that knowledge in the form of dance choreography. The piece was about five minutes long, and was set to a sound score which was created expressly for this piece by Alex Merkel, using the same data I gathered from my research and conversations with me and the cast members as inspiration for its structure and feel.

Collaborators

  • Alex Merkel - Musical Composer
  • Molly Brown - Performer
  • Frankie Crosby - Performer
  • Maya Levy - Performer
  • Cherace Lin - Performer
  • Maria Pless - Performer

My Choreographic Process

Every piece is kindled with inspiration from an initial emotion, idea, or question which urges me to investigate it through movement and art.

1

Discovery

I begin my choreographic process by immersing myself in the world of the dance through embodied, textual, and artistic research. I aim to explore the topic(s) of my piece from several possible angles, discovering the interesting and unexpected connections between them that inspire me to create.

2

Collaboration

When I know what it is that I wish to convey through the piece, I deepen my relationship with the topic through collaboration with other artists and individuals. Often, these collaborators are the performers in the piece, musical composers, as well as friends and family members who are connected to the research. The array of different perspectives I pull into each piece broadens the emotional landscape and unique voice of the work.

3

Refinement

Through endless rehearsal, the performers, composers and I refine the musical and choreographic language of a piece, strengthening its technical and artistic elements until it is ready to be presented to an audience and its message is conveyed with clarity and power.

Interested in Commissioning Work?

I'm always excited to create new pieces and collaborate with other artists, organizations, and communities.