Rosebud students to perform original movement show

By Laureen F. Guenther Times Contributor

Rosebud School of the Arts first-year students will perform Catching Foxes, a movement show they have created, starting May 2, on Rosebud’s BMO Studio Stage. The show is the culmination of their year-long Movement Foundations class.
Catching Foxes tells the story of dealing with the “foxes” in our lives, said instructor and director Julie Funk. Like the foxes in the biblical book of the Song of Songs, she said, the foxes in our lives are anything that stops us from experiencing the sunlight of the spirit in our hearts.
“A personal challenge is that which we allow… to block the presence of grace,” she said. “We have to locate these foxes, chase the foxes, catch the foxes, redeem the foxes. Having the courage to face these things in you that block you.
“God is even in charge of the foxes, so they’re actually helpful,” Funk added. “Those challenges that we have to face and overcome to deepen our connection with God are precious.”
Redeeming those foxes is especially necessary for Rosebud School of the Arts students, she said, most of whom plan to be theatre performers.
“You have to go deep in character analysis and scene study, so yeah, (it’s essential), knowing what your personal foxes are.”
The show includes movement pieces created by individual students. Those short pieces were added to, and became part of, a larger piece.
Funk calls her approach movement-as-research, in which the students created their initial movements to silence, rather than to music.
“We create without music so we’re not being dictated by the emotional drive in a song,” she said. “When we process it that way, so many layers come alive.”
After a movement was created in silence, it was performed to different types of music, which would inevitably change it. In this class, Funk introduced dissonant music first, before bringing in music that’s more sentimentally-driven. That way, even if the final movement is performed to music that’s sentimentally-driven, she said, it will still reveal layers of influence from the initial silence, and the first, more dissonant, music style.
The story of the foxes is “very heartfelt and personal,” Funk said. “What I hope it means for the audience is they see the depth behind the simplicity. Every part of it will reflect to the other part. And it might not make literal sense, but somehow there’s this sense of knowing.”
All the performers have a similar task in the show, she said. “They have to redeem the fox. They have to redeem that space in the theatre. They have to do it for the theatre, they have to do it for their community, their group, and then for themselves individually.”
They convey that by drawing images from the Song of Songs, like fragrance, anointed oils and passionate kisses. They’ve also added dialogue to help the audience bridge the gap with the abstract storytelling.
Catching Foxes will be performed in Rosebud’s BMO Studio Stage May 2, 3 and 4 at 5 p.m., running approximately 45 minutes. Get tickets and more information at rosebudschoolofthearts.com or 1-800-267-7553.