Memories of Movement: Caitlin Canty Reflects on Her Dance Career

Written by Sabre Morris

This spring, many senior dancers performed one last time in front of a Colorado College audience.

“We all dance. It’s a thing that people do. It’s so fun that Dance Workshop is on people’s bucket list [at Colorado College],” said Caitlin Canty. Canty’s mother signed her up for ballet when she was three, and she hasn’t stopped dancing since. Every performance has been ideal for the passionate dancer. The Biology major’s work at CC has been inspired by her joy of dance.

Canty feels that it’s not so much about giving to CC as it is about CC or this community giving to her.

“Dance Workshop is the best thing because I have all these people that want to dance all the time and who just want to work with each other with space that’s available,” said Canty. “All of these resources that are so hard to find in the real world are readily available here.”

It was the community of dancers that encouraged Canty to keep pursuing her passion. “I was a little disillusioned with dance after high school. And then getting back into it here after high school was so eye opening, there was just so much more than I ever knew in this world.”

For Canty, dance has a range of meanings. Sometimes it is a way to work out and blow off steam, other times it is a way to deal with emotions. “For some reason, moving my body in different ways helps me think in different ways,” said Canty. In some respects, it is a place to make friends and be inspired by other people. Dance is a visual art form that Canty values, but it is also how she has come to know herself.

Music and sound are Canty’s main inspiration for choreographing dance pieces. “Often I’ll try to circumvent choreographing into music by changing the music last minute so it’s not like so I choreographed to this song.” Canty considers song choice a challenge. “I think sound is really important for me to create a world and atmosphere. Sometimes I will listen to something and kind of see the dance that would go along to it.”

Canty was moved to make a dance outside of the typical Dance Workshop frame that catered to an audience different from the ones who watch her Dance Workshop performances. She had the opportunity to do so with her dance minor project. ”I wanted to make something that was a little more serious.” She had a pianist, nine people, and the basis of the dance came from improvisation and relationship themes. The entire piece was around 12 minutes. “It was really cool to make something longer and more real to me than the other stuff I’ve made,” said Canty reflecting on the project.

When asked about the greatest obstacle as a dancer, Canty said, “I think finding a kind of movement with which my body feels comfortable is an obstacle. Growing up, you’re always told how to move and then all of a sudden, as you get older its like okay, how do you move?” Canty has been inspired to challenge conventional movement and create her own choreography. She took improvisation classes and began choreographing to find the way her body actually moves. She feels she learned a lot about herself.

After graduation, Canty is hopeful that she will continue to dance, but her main focus has been to live in the moment. It hasn’t hit Canty that her dancing career at CC has come to an end. “At the end of the night, all the people I’ve become really close with through dancing, we said this won’t be the last time, we will share more stages in the future,” said Canty. She hopes that this is true. “I don’t know, it felt like bittersweet but like very sweet. I haven’t really tasted the bitter part yet. But I am sure its coming.”

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