Drama, mystery, and adventure are common threads that appear in Mike Cornely’s artistic creations. A man with many talents, he is an artist who enjoys working with acrylic paint. He is also a unique storyteller through the written word and choreographs engaging dance pieces. Mike’s first completed dance, titled Arrow, will be presented in this year’s Full Circle: 2017 – Art of Possibility production. Held at Matheny Medical & Education Center’s Robert Schonhorn Arts Center, the event is an annual production presented by the Arts Access Program. Full Circle will take place on Saturday, November 4, 2017 between 3:00pm-6:00pm.
Mike had this to say about his dance: “My inspiration for Arrow is based on my favorite TV show titled, which is also titled Arrow. The show is from the comic The Green Arrow. The unmasking in the dance represents my personality and my intellect.”
Mike shares that there are four dancers in Arrow – himself, two able-bodied dancers, and a ghost dancer. Appropriately, the dance is set to the show’s theme song. In the past, Mike has choreographed portions of dances and participated in creative movement sessions. He is excited that an audience will view his piece as well as what it means for him personally. “Before I started choreographing,” he explains, “I basically kept everything bottled up inside. This is one of my very first choreographed pieces and it’s also my first completed piece. So that’s a big thing.”
On other artistic fronts, Mike’s paintings have been included in several group exhibitions throughout the metropolitan area. Featured exhibits include Full Circle, the Paper Mill Playhouse, NESC, Johnson & Johnson IT Building, Atrium Gallery in Morristown, IFEL, Summit Medical Group, and the Bernardsville Library. His work also hangs in several private collections. In addition, Mike has had an excerpt of a short story (“The Assassin”) published in the Arts Access book Writes of Passage: A Collection of Prose by Arts Access Writers and his written work (“LN Man”) performed in a previous Full Circle production.
“I am always creating,” says Mike. “I hope everyone who sees my work at this year’s Full Circle will enjoy it.”
