Meet the Cast: Ardent Winant

Ardent Winant 

                                                                        (photo credit: Hashim Wright & Jane DiBartolo)

1.Who did you play/What did you do in the SUNY Purchase production of AliceUnraveled?


I was the choreographer, and I also was featured as a Shadow Dancer.

                                                                                Arden choreographing away with lead, Danielle Izzo. 


2. What other productions have you been involved in at Purchase? out of Purchase? (credits) 


SUNY Purchase: Vendetta Chrome, bobrauschenbergamerica, No Exit, Hair, The Tempest, The Freeborn
NYC/Reigonal: Hedda Gabler, The House of Bernarda Alba, Coming to America, The Drowsy Chaperone, Winnie the Pooh: The Musical
Film/TV: "NYC 2-2", "Blue Bloods", Twelve, Adventureland, Bee Season, A View From the Top, Interview With the Assasin, Catching the Stars

                                                                               With a snap, the choreographer has her way. 
                                                                          

3. Did you find it challenging to develop an original character? What were some obstacles you faced a long the way? 

For me, when I was choreographing the piece, I saw the dancers as an extension of Alice's mind and, more specifically, a physical representation of the rape. I really got inspired by Sigmund Frued and his book "Beyond the Pleasure Principle", where he lays out the guidelines of the Id, Ego and Superego. When I first met with my dancers, I told them that I imagined them as not being human, but being a moving representation of the Id in Alice's memory - we're pure emotion, and whatever everyone around us is feeling, we feel it 100% more than they do. If they're happy, we're elated; if we're sad, we're devestated. There's no in between for us, and that allowed for us to really play, not only with our range of motion as dancers, but our range of emotion as actors. I think that the dancers, apart from Alice, are the hardest roles in the entire show. We're onstage 95% of the time, and we go through the biggest emotional changes, sometimes over the course of the song.

Arden walks the Shadow Dancers through the choreography at a Dance Rehearsal in the Dance Conservatory at SUNY Purchase. 

4. What was the moment through out the process where it hit you that, "we had a show!" 

I don't think that it hit me till the night before we opened. As the choreographer, I was very critical of all the movement, and I felt like it didn't really click till then. I didn't feel like I was ready to present my work until the night before, but the cast, as always, impressed me.

         

     Everyone loves Tech Week! 

5. Favorite rehearsal moment? 

Oh, I always loved putting the cast through the really intense and long Sunday morning warm-ups. They hated me during it, but as the show went on, everyone kept coming up to me saying how much stronger and flexible they were, and how much weight they've lost because of it, and that always makes me feel kind of good.

Why no one questions the choreographer. 

6. Is there anyone you would like to send a shout out to? 

Colline, you're my woman. Frank and Mark, so much love for putting up with my frantic phone calls whenever I was having dancer-block over winter break when I was actually choreographing this thing. And to the cast - y'all exceeded my expectations, and I couldn't have asked for a better group of artists to experiment with.

No one can question the bonds built between a cast during a production. 

I would personally like to thank Arden for being an absolute pleasure to work with on this project. Not only is Arden a great choreographer, but a dependable friend who is an essential person to have part of any cast and creative team. Thank you Arden for contributing to the blog and best of luck to you with your future endeavors!

-Frank