Standing before the gates of Duke Garden, East sophomore Kevin Higgins’s one minute long dance on the Nasher Museum’s YouTube channel posted March 24 was a bold new step for the local performer.
Higgins was among several dancers to perform at the Nasher Museum in conjunction with the exhibit “RESIST COVID/TAKE 6!,” which displays COVID-19’s effects on marginalized communities and frontline workers as depicted by renowned photographer Carrie Mae Weems.
“[The performance] was my first time doing a big modern dance project, so I was really looking forward to it,” Higgins said. “I was a little nervous because I had to dance on concrete, which I had never danced on before, but I had practiced my choreography a lot beforehand.”
Coming after months of preparation and choreographing, Higgins became connected with the event through the Durham based organization American Dance Festival, to whom he submitted his choreography and audition.
Out of 12 dancers selected to dance at the museum, Higgins was the only student chosen for the event. The dancers encompassed a wide range of backgrounds and styles, each rooted in the exhibition’s themes of optimism and solidarity. Higgins’s performance came with commentary describing his dance and its relation to the exhibit.
His statement reads, “The message of this piece is that although we are physically separated, we will always be together in spirit. My works are inspired by many things. I particularly enjoy finding ways to show emotion through my dance.”
Prior to this experience, Higgins had danced in a variety of styles and environments. However, the performance at the Nasher, which he choreographed himself, presented a unique challenge.
“They actually wanted us to choreograph with no music at all. For me, I normally improvise, find things that fit [the choreography] or that I like to do,” he said. “They told us they wanted people to incorporate the messages of the artwork into our pieces as well, so I tried to put some of those emotions like loneliness into the choreography as well.”
The performance itself came after a shift in Higgins’ dance career caused by the pandemic.
“I think it’s somewhere from 10 to 15 hours a week that I dance over Zoom. I have a pretty big, open space in my living room, so I’ve been able to adapt pretty well,” Higgins said. “For my tap dance company, we’ve started to meet outdoors and distance out all of our boards. It’s been a pretty big change, but it’s not too hard and I’ve still been able to learn a lot.”
Besides lessons, Higgins’s dancing career has grown in other ways during the pandemic. His instagram account @kevinhigginsdance has grown to 910 followers and has expanded its range of content since last May.
“Before COVID happened, I never actually posted much,” Higgins said. “I usually just posted pictures occasionally. And then I started posting more dense videos, and it’s been really fun to actually choreograph things and put more of my work out there.”
As the pandemic nears a probable end in the United States with the distribution of vaccines running steadily, Higgins is optimistic for the future and the opportunities it presents.
“I’m really excited to actually be in a studio again,” he said. “While dancing in the living room I have is nice, it’s very different compared to an actual studio. It will also be nice to actually dance with people and to see all of my dance friends in person again.”
Photo courtesy of the Nasher Museum
