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Music, poetry and dance of Calyx explores facets of being a woman By
Jennifer Pinnock
In honor of National Women's History Month, a group of women came together to celebrate the strength, emotion and beauty of being a woman Friday at the Bullen Center. The event, titled Calyx, featured an all-woman cast of musicians and dancers and was a combination of creative expression through music, poetry and dance. Alycia Scott, Calyx director and performer, said she had an idea to combine many art forms to create an awareness of the beauty of being a woman. She wrote a proposal in November to the Utah State University Women's Center to support talented women and fund the event. "There are phenomenal women in Cache Valley," said Scott. After her proposal was approved, Scott posted fliers to hire musicians for the Calyx and contacted Suzann Kienast and Melissa McMaster, two women whom she had danced with before to see if they were interested in performing for the event. "I decided to participate because I am a dancer and a woman who feels strongly about bringing culture into the community," said McMaster. According to Scott, the Calyx performance explored three aspects. The first was emotion and strength. This facet examined a woman's emotion and strength when she is alone or with others. The second was women inside and outside of social constructs. This segment explored a woman inside social constructs which was represented by the dancers performing short, robotic movements. Scott said this represents how society views women. "We then broke out of the social constructs by drawing an outline of ourselves with our fingers and stepping outside of it," said Scott. The third aspect was women united and the dancers turned together in the center of the floor and came together in unity, according to Scott. The dance moves were performed to a combination of live music and poetry. Scott said the choreography was "experimental dance." Janet Osborne, director of the Women's Center, said after the proposal was funded she let Scott organize the event and was not involved in planning it but thought it was very successful. "The project created an awareness of being a woman and showed appreciation to women in the arts and dance," said Osborne. In conjunction with the Calyx event an art exhibit was held that featured the work of 24 women in Cache Valley. Many different types of art were shown including water color paintings, ceramic sculptures and photographs. Jennifer Hill, a local artist, said she thought the exhibition was a good way for the community to come and see the work of talented artists in the area. "I am so pleased with how the event turned out," said Scott. "It is great that so many people took the time to come."
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