The Theater and Dance Department’s spring dance show over under on in between opened last night with great success! This production could not have been possible without all of our wonderful dancers, faculty, and guest artists. As a part of our continuing guest artist interview series, we asked over under on in between’s guest lighting designer LD DeArmon some questions about their work.
LD DeArmon is a lighting designer and former dancer that is currently based in Richmond, VA. LD was led into lighting design from their interest in technical theater, and having danced for a good portion of their life, LD has found that their experience being in the spotlight has made it easier for them to work on projects such as over under on in between. “Having an ingrained muscle memory and physicality really drives my timing and my instincts – I do work a lot on instinct. I didn’t study lighting design in a professional setting. It’s all self taught from just being in the world of dance for many, many years. And working with other designers and all of that before I started doing my own work.”
LD describes their process as a practice of absorbing whatever they can from the artists, whether it be a visual piece of material or part of the sound design. For over under on in between, working with each of the choreographers required a different process, since LD was able to see parts of Peter and Renée’s dances via video as the choreography was built over time, but the group led by LROD didn’t begin rehearsals until much later. While LD says this shorter process was a little bit more difficult, they describe it as “organically collaborative,” and appreciate the variety.
As far as their favorite part of what they’ve created, LD was careful to not reveal any spoilers, but described a bounce light in LROD’s piece that they felt fits with the world building that the dancers are hoping to achieve. LD says that the work that these dancers and choreographers have created “is in line with what I’m interested in and what I’m comfortable doing. Which is working in experimental new works that are kind of in the postmodern lineage, but draw from many, many dance histories … I love the experimental nature that anything can happen on stage. And it just keeps it interesting every time.”
To see how LD’s lights help bring the dancers to life on stage, over under on in between runs May 4-7, 2023 in the Freimann Black Box Theatre. Tickets are completely sold out, but you can get on the waitlist by contacting the HJT box office. Typically the first 10 waitlisters get to experience the show.