“My concern in theater, in processes, in telling stories, is the pursuit of truth. With that sincerity, what is the story I actually have within me to tell?”
If I could introduce Sophia Pereda-Echeverry ’25, they’re an Honors special major in dance theater, a physics minor, and a lovely person. Since they were four years old, Sophia has embraced the world of theater. Starting by acting as a plate in a kindergarten production of “Beauty and the Beast,” their desire to create grew steadily – and humbly.
It wasn’t until high school that they really got their footing and began to explore the physical and improvisational aspects of theater. “I had a teacher and director who put on one-act plays that went to the North Carolina Theater Conference, and straight plays or musicals depending on the year,” Sophia said. Doing two productions a year allowed them to strengthen their understanding of theater.
Sophia’s director introduced them to “devised work,” a collaborative process of creating a theatrical performance without a pre-existing script. The work involves all members of the ensemble working under the guidance of a director. They added that the director’s role is to help all cast members work together to “finagle” a question.
At Swarthmore, devised work became an integral part of Sophia’s theater experience, and was a goal coming into the college. Many of the productions Sophia acted in and directed were devised pieces, and faculties in the Swarthmore Theater Department encouraged them to pursue this interest.
While Sophia was taking the course Directing II, Elizabeth Stevens, the chair of the theater department, inspired them to make “a devised play called ‘Brand New Ball Game.’” “Brand New Ball Game” was a 30-minute dance theater piece exploring themes of boyhood and the distance that comes over time. According to Sophia, “It was sort of about childhood friends growing up and finding themselves apart from each other.”
After creating “Brand New Ball Game,” they continued creating devised pieces throughout their time at Swarthmore. This included an independent work during their junior year, and a current devised piece for their honors thesis. The junior year piece was an independent work made with alums Kyra Roeke and Rose Palmieri called “Zumba.” Sophia said, “It was about jazzercise and Zumba, and also kind of about girlhood and not being enough of a girl.”
When Sophia told me they were majoring in dance theater, and kept on mentioning “dance theater” pieces, I was confused. What does “dance theater” mean, as opposed to just dance or theater? They said, “For me, dance theater is physical theater that incorporates, highlights, and makes important the movements of every day, of bodies, and space, and their relationships to one another.”
It became clear that the physical aspects of theater make the art form interesting and bring story-telling into a different world. “Two people standing at opposite corners of a room for an entire scene tells a wildly different story than two people sitting right next to each other,” Sophia said.
According to Sophia, they approach much of their work like dance theater pieces. “No one exists in this world without a body. If you have a voice, you have a body, and if you have a body, you have a voice.”
Sophia continued that, in their desire to be truthful about life, people, and connection throughout their work, looking at how people physically move through space is extremely pivotal. “More than any specific interest in movement, I have a desire to precisely and accurately represent life.”
The importance of physical relationships and small movements has fascinated Sophia throughout their academic study. They said, “I took the entire physics minor. I took a lot of physics and I hated it, but I actually really love the concepts of it.” Sophia discussed their curiosity on “the rules of engagement of modules in space, objects, and people.” They said they were interested in the question of “What are all the different ways that people, bodies, and objects can engage in space?”
Like many Swarthmore students, Sophia started their freshman year with an entirely different career projection. They initially wanted to be a double physics and theater major. They spoke about how studying physics in high school gave them a connection to the spaces and relationships of the natural world.
“Physics made me feel like I’m not actually alone in the world, because we all live under these universal principles. There are rules to the way the world works, and they apply to everything the same way. You and I are both experiencing gravity. We’re different bodies, but it’s the same gravity. And light is hitting our eyes at the same velocity. The speed of light is constant.” Sophia found these universal laws deeply comforting.
But, it is clear that theater is their passion. “People would say, ‘Oh, great, physics is the thing you love.’ And I would go, ‘No, theater is the thing I love.’ And they would say, ‘Okay, so you’re gonna try theater, and physics will be your backup plan.’ And I would say, ‘No, it’s theater or bust.’” Sophia described a moment last semester when they finally realized that they wanted to minor in dance. After a long day of strenuous dance courses, “I ended the day and thought, ‘That was the hardest day of art I have ever had.’ And I thought, ‘That was more enjoyable than my most fun, easiest day of physics.’”
What’s clear in physics, dance, and theater is that there’s a hidden language in how people move in the space surrounding them. Throughout their time at Swarthmore, Sophia Pereda-Echeverry ’25 has artfully explored the patterns of people and objects all around us. So, taking from the lessons of Sophia, on your next journey into the world, pay attention to the dances of ordinary things. You might learn something brand new.
