Intro task:
In response to this video.Things I learnt:
After watching this insanely creative TED Talk video, I've learnt that originality is crucial when creating dance sequences. Through out the video, the choreographer and dancers are continuously exposing the audience to new and original movements and phrases.
I have learnt that having a stimulus for the movements/phrases also can aid in an original product. For example, having a visual image of an object in front of you and working in the space around it, or even the act of performing actions towards in can prompt these unique movements.
Things I found interesting:
I found the diversity in movements prompted by the same base thought/task to be very interesting. When tasked with creating a phrase stimulated by the letters in the word TED each dancer produced and original and vastly different sequence. This shows to me that working with people is hugely beneficial as you each have individual and diverse thoughts. From that I have learnt that collaborating with others to produce a sequence can lead to an improved and unique product
.
Things I would be interested in exploring myself:
I would be interested in exploring the idea of using stimuli such as an imaginary object and working with the space around it. I feel like this could create lots of original pathways and provide ideas for unique movement.
How I would describe the choreographer's process:
I would describe the process used by the choreographer, Wayne McGregor, to be extremely original and innovative. The concept of exploring and expanding on the first thoughts of movements that come to mind when given inspiration has proven to produce an original sequence and I feel it would be a useful skill to practice for the year of dance ahead!
Task 1
• What is the starting point, stimulus, or inspiration for their choreography?
Stimulus Patterson uses for his dance 'Kura' are Maori Kowhaiwahi patterns which are a representation of our past, present and future and our heritage and how it carries us on through our lives. Other inspiration which particularly impacted the music choice is blood and heart beats. Blood is used to represent our selves and our bloodline and the history that comes from it.
• How does the choreographer develop movement?
For the first few days of choreography, Patterson and the dancers were just creating segments of the dance. Come day 4/5 they started to piece together segments and fit together the pieces of work they had created. The sequences he develops are inspired by the patterns, pathways and fluidity of kowhaiwahi patterns and blood.
• How do they communicate ideas through movement?
The idea of blood and it's fluidity, along with the fluidity of the kowhaiwahi patterns, is communicated through the constant connections of the dancers. They are often connected in some way or another and there is particular touches of the neck as he feels it portrays trust. Both big and small movements are used to exercise the diversity within the kowhaiwahi patters.
.• What design decisions do they make? (For example, the choice of music accompaniment.)
.• What design decisions do they make? (For example, the choice of music accompaniment.)
Coming into the choreographic process, Patterson already had an idea of how he wanted the costumes to look. He wanted them to be red and to express the fluidity and colour of blood.
Stephen Bradshaw
• What is the starting point, stimulus, or inspiration for their choreography?
The dance Bradshaw has created has been stimulated by Maori heritage. The name of the dance piece is "Mauri" which translates to "life force". This relates the energy that flows through aspects of life and the natural world. Bradshaw gained stimulus off the translation of Mauri as he developed movements off the idea of the creation of earth and out coming to it.
• How does the choreographer develop movement?
The choreographer developed the movement of the Haka, which is a traditional Maori ceremonial war dance. He takes the tempo of the usually fast and heavy movements and slows it down to create a more raw and emotional dance sequence. Doing this is emphasising the story behind Maori Haka. As this piece progresses the movements become more rapid to symbolise transitioning into a more modern world.
• How do they communicate ideas through movement?
Bradshaw communicated his ideas of "Life forms" through movements in which the dancers embody different elemental forces and animals. Bradshaw choreographs bird like movements to represent spirituality and the connection with the sky. He communicated the story behind the Haka being a war dance by using actual movements from the Haka its self.
• What design decisions do they make? (For example, the choice of music accompaniment.) The costumes warn are Maori war like, which contribute to communication the story behind the Haka.
• Explain why you think one of the recognised choreographers works in the way you have described.
Your explanation can be oral or written. A lot of time was spent with the producer, where together they were able to establish a whole range of the ideas and produce a suitable sound track for the dance. The sound track consisted heavily of drum beats which were representative of heart beats.
Task 4
Original phrase:
Varied Phrase:
- Explain in detail what you have done to vary the phrase: To vary this phrase, we started by changing the roll in the beginning from a flat, full body roll, to knee rolls. The timing of this was also varied so that the back row came on first, slower and the front row came on last and exercised the rolls in a faster timing, but both rows would finish the rolls at the same time. Next we changed the direction of the back row's sequence between seconds 11 - 13 in the original phrase to a mirrored variation. We had to take out the arm swing done to the right before swinging them back to the left with a leg lift included in the original sequence. As the back row no longer had this movement, the leg swing and 2 rotations were slowed down so ensure both rows finished that sequence at the same time. After this the contemporary back flip done in the original sequence was removed, and replaced with a simpler version, which involved swinging your body around, and not over top. Following this, the spin, done originally as 1 on the spot, was changed to 4 spins, 2 fast and 2 slower, where we traveled through windows into a straight line. Proceeded by the last few seconds of the original phrase being performed in cannon, in a straight line.
- Explain in detail why you chose these variations: We chose the variants of: - Time - Direction - Unison and cannon - Formation and Movement. The variant of time was used to give immediate variation in the phrase, whilst still using the same movement. Direction enabled us to again vary a phrase while still using the same original movement. Altering unison moments to be in cannon allowed the viewers to specifically focus on each dancer and the way they executed movement different to others. Formation changes gave the dance change and interest as it involved utilizing the floor space. Certain movements were varied to ensure that all participants of the dance were able to exercise them. Others were changed to provide further variation from the original phrase.
- Discuss and record the effectiveness of each variation (e.g the effectiveness of performing the phrase in unison was....) The effectiveness of changing the speed of the movements was that it made the stage look busier and the movements look different from each other. The variant of direction provided further differences on stage and anesthetic contrast between dance moves. Changing unison moments to canon was effective as it meant each dancer had a moment of focus, and enabled the viewer to rest their concentration momentarily towards one aspect of the performance. Differentiating formation was effective as it meant we could further utilize the environment and our given space and provide transitions to movements. Variation in movement was effective as it as a whole made the sequenced look nicer as all aspects of movement were able to be performed accurately.
Task 6: Improvise movements for a Group
For this task, we have asked our 4 group dancers to give a impromptu sequence based off the stanza from the poem Phenomenal Women:
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash in my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
And the flash in my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
Our year 11 dancers were asked to produce a 32 count sequence that iterates female empowerment. They're giving inspiration was a stanza out of the Maya Angelou poem, Phenomenal woman. They were able to work in either pairs or singularly and were to share there 32 count sequence with us and the other girls. Once performed, Elise and I went through and selected 4 movements which we fell most accurately fit the brief and were also aesthetically pleasing. We challenged the girls to take these four movements and combine them into a sequence. They were all encouraged to apply choreographic devices to these movements in order to differentiate them from the original movement. Both of our two dancers worked together for this activity as the other two were absent.
Giving the dancers direction in the second part of their task seemed to be a lot easier. I suggest this was because they have less freedom to think and create as the movements were already given to them.
If I were to do this task again I would perhaps specify the first part of the task more si the dancers had more of a direction to choreograph in.
Only one improvisation was developed for us to incorporate into the dance as 2 of our dancers were absent that week. However, we were still able to expand on the sequence and incorporate it into our final dance piece.
Task 7 -
20 second sequence, based on the term: Travel in a small circle, do a leap of jump, travel in a larger circle, reach any arm out then pull it back in, and take 3 steps back. - Ft. Briar
Contrasting poses from the dance being performed in 2 separate moods. The one demonstrated by Briar being Shyness and by myself: confidence.
The way we chose to demonstrate the contrast through this pose is body language. Briar is exercising her pose in an exasperated manor. Her torso is hunched over, closer to the ground, and her face hidden away by her arm. This contrasts to my version of the same initial pose as my arm reaches high and my torso is lengthened and straight. My chest is slightly puffed out and nothing covers my face which shows the mood of confidence being possessed though the adjusted phrase.
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