In December, Richmond debuted a self-produced dance, catapulting him to prominence as one of the year’s most celebrated artists at Bowdoin. It was just part of the beginning of his creative journey.

The dance was the first installment of a larger honors project that he’s continued to develop this semester. The final installment is an April 13 performance at Bowdoin—which Richmond said will be a “more fully imagined and fleshed-out performance of my research.”

i know i am light

His December performance, titled our sun is a star/and those stars way out there may or may not be suns/but i know i am light, embraced originality with set design and lighting, and incorporated unexpected elements like flowing textiles, poetry, other dancers, and video projections—including recordings of himself dancing. At times, he engaged with his own moving image on stage. “I am interested in how dance can be more than dance,” he said in a recent interview. “It can communicate things that nothing else can communicate. When you combine that with lighting and sound, it is a different way to embody information for someone watching and experiencing it.”

“So I wanted to try my hand at making an experience, not just a dance.”

“Dance can communicate things in ways others things cannot. And when combined with lighting and sound, you can make a transcendent experience.”

—Dylan Richmond ’24

Dylan dances in front of Earth
Dylan dances in front of star projection
Dancing in front of video projection of universe
Dancing in front of a galaxy projection
Dancing with the stars
Dancing with the stars
Dancing with the stars
Dancing with the stars

A Transcendent Experience

When asked to define his dance, Richmond said that can be tricky because of the art form’s inherent inability to be captured in words. But, he added, “that is the whole point,” as its essence lies in its embodiment rather than verbal expression.

Richmond sees the body as a means to transcend the English language and Eurocentric conventions, allowing for a more authentic and visceral mode of communication. He suggested that verbalization diminishes the depth conveyed through bodily expression. “By putting it into language, you are reducing some of what you’re trying to say with your body,” he said. “I don’t want people to leave thinking, I want them to leave feeling,” he said. 

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