Amanda Martinson is a Project: Motion member and Emerge choreographer. Here are some of her thoughts about the process of creating dance: A few things that have inspired my Emerge piece: art, music, philosophy, and some recent life experiences.It’s been interesting trying to find my way through the process; this has been my first time choreographing anything like this. It’s definitely been a challenge, but I’ve been able to go back throughout the process to my inspiration to help me stay on track.First of all, being that I work in an architecture firm everyday, it’s probably not surprising that I find most of my inspiration from the world of visual art. There’s a specific painting that’s inspired this dance piece. It’s an abstract work by artist Jacqueline Humphries titled Sunset Rose. I’m drawn to the warmth and energy of it. There’s just something raw yet soothing about it all at the same time. You can find it here under “Work”, “Paintings”, “Recent”:The music I’m using is Four Forks Ache by Jose Gonzalez. It’s an intricate acoustic guitar piece. It blows my mind to think of a single musician creating such a complex composition playing just one instrument! This Youtube video is of a performance of another one of his songs, heartbeats:Mostly, though, I’m inspired by my everyday life. I’ve been thinking a lot about how the little changes in life shape us and affect who we are without us even realizing it. I’m interested in my dancers lives and specifically the way they cope with the changes that happen day-to-day. I’ve been trying my hardest to give them room to be creative and find there own inspiration, which is hard because I tend to be a bit of a control freak. But, I think my dancers personalities and individual experiences are way more valuable to the final piece than any character i could ask them to play.I’ll leave you with a quote that sums up what I’ve been thinking about as the piece has progressed:“A change in the weather is sufficient to recreat