Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2011 - 26

What is your first step with a choreographer when you get the gig as sound
designer for their piece?
SC It really varies depending on the choreographer and the piece. Sometimes they've created
movement already by the time they contact me, in which case I'll usually go to a rehearsal and
take some video of their process and what they're reacting to. Other times, choreographers are
looking for music and sounds to inspire their process, so I'll be the one who takes the first step
forward. For some projects I've worked on with Jenn Nugent and Paul Matteson, we'll have long
conversations about overarching concepts we're interested in exploring together, then go off
and work independently until we rejoin to see how things are lining up. You have to be open to
finding what the piece is about.
DW Usually there is already some movement structures and sections the company is working on,
so the first thing always for me is to get on the same page with the company, watching the work
they've already put together sans music and then a discussion about the large ideas of the piece
and what the choreographer is interested in. There may be days before I start playing music but,
there is a lot of being in the room watching the company work. Getting a sense of tempo and
arc's in the sections they've made. I'm mainly working on modern dance and it's rare that in the
early stages they're using any music in the rehearsals at all so I'm concentrating on looking at
the movement structures. But, many, many conversations are had with the choreographer and
dancers, concerning everything from what inspired the dance, to literature the choreographer is
reading, to what the costumes might look like.

What is your process after that first step? Research, creation, etc.?
SC Generally, I like to take some time to really think about the material and what the piece needs.
For example, I just finished the first draft of a piece with David Dorfman that's structured around
the music of Sly & the Family Stone. When I entered into the process, David had a rough idea of
the songs he wanted to use and the elements of the story of that time and music that he wanted
to explore. From that jumpingoff point, I found ways to expand upon those songs and bridge
the gaps musically and sonically between songs of fairly disparate eras. David had an idea about
abstracting and deconstructing these early elements as the piece went on, so a lot of my later work
in the piece was develop collages of interviews and historical sources over expanded motifs of Sly's
songs. So my first step in all of this was to really listen, to research, and to understand the subject
matter; with that understanding, the palette of the piece became much clearer.
DW I'll start the research process based on the discussions we're having basically to catch
up to where the company and choreographer are. Filling up with as much information as
possible. I'm a big researcher and in the early stage of a process with regards to the sound
palette I try to think as laterally as possible and nothing is eliminated. For me it's about
filling up with information and putting together a palette of sounds that will then be pulled
from when I'm actually working in the room with the dancers.
The best designs come from an intuitive place so you have to do the research and the
homework but, once you're in the room and creating, you have to trust all that research
is there under your belt and with the knowledge that you have then you work intuitively in
the room with presence and react.... The creative act for me is a really tricky thing, and
can't really be explained fully and for me I find I have to get out of the way of my own self
censoring when I work and let something other than logic take over.

Does your process differ at all from doing traditional theatre work?
What is different if anything?
SC I don't think of my process as being that different from my work on a theatrical piece. I guess
the main difference for me comes down to the work being a little more dispersed in a dance
piece than most theater pieces I've worked on. I keep the same kind of work lists from day to
day, keeping notes of what I need to get done each night, and noting my reactions as I see things
in and out of context; but in theater, I feel as if I know pretty clearly what I need to build early
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theatre design

& technology

w i n t e r 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2011