"As a dancer, I'm notes on the page"
Shannon Odell
Issue date: 3/4/10 Section: Arts
Freshman Marianna Ernst says dancing is almost like a puzzle; a puzzle not only to be solved, but ultimately to be expressed. Maybe a puzzle to be solved and, ultimately, expressed.
"You have to constantly be thinking and working through exercises and using your mind, but then you get to take [the dance] and express it. You get to make it your own," she said.
Dancing is not just a hobby for Ernst, but a passion that she loves to share with others. She says it is an art to take the choreographer's music and become the music.
"As a dancer, I'm the notes on the page, I am trying to embody their vision for the piece," she said.
From Minneapolis, Minn., Ernst has been dancing since age 8. She said her sister inspired her to dance, dancing and donning fancy costumes for her parts on the stage.
As she got older she had the opportunity to work with different choreographers in mostly ballet but also modern styles. Dancing became her greatest pursuit. She learned how to make a dance her own, and it soon became an expression of herself.
Ernst's mother, Kathy Ernst, said her daughter would come home from classes and practice her different routines for hours in her room or basement. She said she figured her daughter would take a real interest in dancing and would continue to do it.
"She has an older sister who also dances, and I think that gave Marianna a chance to see where she could go with her dancing," Kathy said. "It gave her a better idea of what she was aspiring to."
Ernst explains dancing as "a huge release."
"You're letting your body go to its fullest extent," she said. "It's exhilarating, especially when you're performing."
Her favorite part of dancing? Performing. She said she wants her friends and others watching to realize how wonderful dance is.
"I want them to realize how hard it is to make the body move and to appreciate how artistic it is," she said.
Ernst was a part of many performances while growing up, and even had the opportunity to perform a dancing lead in an opera with her high school at the Edinborough Fringe Festival in Scotland.
"You have to constantly be thinking and working through exercises and using your mind, but then you get to take [the dance] and express it. You get to make it your own," she said.
Dancing is not just a hobby for Ernst, but a passion that she loves to share with others. She says it is an art to take the choreographer's music and become the music.
"As a dancer, I'm the notes on the page, I am trying to embody their vision for the piece," she said.
From Minneapolis, Minn., Ernst has been dancing since age 8. She said her sister inspired her to dance, dancing and donning fancy costumes for her parts on the stage.
As she got older she had the opportunity to work with different choreographers in mostly ballet but also modern styles. Dancing became her greatest pursuit. She learned how to make a dance her own, and it soon became an expression of herself.
Ernst's mother, Kathy Ernst, said her daughter would come home from classes and practice her different routines for hours in her room or basement. She said she figured her daughter would take a real interest in dancing and would continue to do it.
"She has an older sister who also dances, and I think that gave Marianna a chance to see where she could go with her dancing," Kathy said. "It gave her a better idea of what she was aspiring to."
Ernst explains dancing as "a huge release."
"You're letting your body go to its fullest extent," she said. "It's exhilarating, especially when you're performing."
Her favorite part of dancing? Performing. She said she wants her friends and others watching to realize how wonderful dance is.
"I want them to realize how hard it is to make the body move and to appreciate how artistic it is," she said.
Ernst was a part of many performances while growing up, and even had the opportunity to perform a dancing lead in an opera with her high school at the Edinborough Fringe Festival in Scotland.
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