Drawing on the artistry of dancers

Dance is the art of the body and soul that needs no words.

Drawing is an art that also needs no words but it does need things to, uh, draw.

SWC’s life drawing class at has partnered with the dance department to allow students to draw rehearsing dance students. It is a collaboration that allows art students to practice techniques learned throughout the semester and apply them in real life.

Professor of Art Nikko Muller said he decided that using dancers for practice on live drawing would be beneficial.

“Right around this time in the semester we go into motion drawing,” he said. “It is one thing to draw a still object, but another to draw a moving person. So I thought it would be a great experience if students got the opportunity to draw dancers and observe the live motion in person.”

Muller said he wants to challenge artists by applying movement in a static form and translate it into a two-dimensional drawing. Students also involved sequence drawing and abstract gesture lines to capture the moment. Artists had to quickly sketch out the image captured the moving dancers in their mind.

Helda Gomez, a dance major, said that she was originally uncomfortable with the idea, but felt joy once there was a connection with the artist.

“I felt jittery, but once they smiled at me, I felt happy and ecstatic,” she said.

Professor of Dance Dana Maue agreed.

“It is a great opportunity for the dancers to practice in front of a live audience as a pre-show for the ‘So You Think You Can Choreograph’ dance concert,” she said. “This will help them come out of their shell and show their stage presence in rehearsal,” Maue said.

Muller said it is important to bring the gap between the creative minds on campus.

“I think it is really important that these different areas of our creative campus have some opportunity to connect with each other and are not just siloed into individual spots,” he said.