We started this week by getting into our house groups and making a single file line with the first person in the line facing the front and the other members of the group facing the back. The first person in the line would receive a word given by our teacher and these words varied from 'alone', 'falling', 'heavy' and 'loud.' Once the first person had got their word, they had to create one count of eight associating their gestures and movement to their specific word. After the first person had consolidated their count of eight, the second person had to turn around and learn the choreographic movements the first person made. They had two chances to try and grasp the short phrase. The second person would then have to repeat the phase and demonstrate it to the third person, but they would only be given one chance. We iterated this process until everyone in the line knew the short phrase. Once the final person had been shown the phrase, the first and final person would dance the phase next to each other. The other members of the group had to watch and observe if anything had been reconstructed and transformed as the phase was passed along each individual. When everyone had a go at being at the front of the line, we had four phrases the 'original' and 'adapted' version that connected with our designated word.
Once we had finalized the 'original' and 'adapted' movements, we began to structure them together, thinking about captivating transitional pathways and choreographic devices such as cannon, embellishment, fragmentation and retrograde to enhance our group's dynamics and performance. The choreographic device that stood out in my group among the others was cannon, as we wanted to intrigue the audience into not knowing what will come next. I believed it to be exceptionally effective as when we rehearsed it facing the mirror, it was entrancing as it built intensity.
As a whole, I found this task inspiring as some of the movements got altered within the choreographic process which I found very intriguing. Furthermore, it was fascinating to see how one movement could turn into something so dissimilar and contrast with what the first person did. Looking at it in more depth, you could see how peoples personal dance styles influenced the altered phrases.
Youtube video of our choreography
You have gone into great detail about lesson 3 in this blog. I love the fact you have explored the task by using both your adapted and original motifs to create set movement. After watching the video linked I was able to get a clear connection between your blog and the movement your group created. Are you going to incorporate the motif created into your final choreography? or use this method?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments Abigail. I'm not going to use this choreography in my final piece because its very soft and flowing, whereas my final choreography stimulus is sinister, strong and airy, therefore, these movements don't match well. However, we have been using this method in our final piece as my group believes that we can effortlessly make up movements with the word in mind. We have found this method beneficial as many people who have watched a small portion of our choreography have clearly stated that they can see our stimulus behind the movements.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is such a detailed and well descriptive piece of work. I really like how you have included images and your own opinion on the task. Did seeing any of the other group's phrase inspire you? If so, how? Do you think you would use this task in your creation of choreography?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments Sadie. When watching other groups perform their phrase made from the translation task, I found them all very inspiring as it was captivating to see how different people interpreted the words into movement. Everyone had their own opinion on how the word should feel and they then encapsulated that in their movement which showed a lot of artistry in each group. I would definitely use this task again as some of the movements got altered within the choreographic process, which I found very intriguing. Furthermore, it was fascinating to see how one movement could turn into something so dissimilar and contrast with what the first person did. Looking at it in more depth, you could see how peoples personal dance styles influenced the altered phrases.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog Lucy. As you watched the other groups perform their phrases, did it inspire you in the aspect of movement ideas for when you choreograph in later sessions?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Hannah. Yes I believe that all the groups had sections that I was inspired by and I thought they merged all of the movements together seamlessly. Within every group, you could see different dynamics and intentions behind the piece due to the myriad of words we got given. Even though each groups small phrase did inspire me, many of these movements were spontaneous due to the small amount of time we had. When I am creating chorography, I like to spend more time on the movement, so I can make my narrative evident and contact the audience through emotion as well as movement, therefore, I wouldn't use any of the groups movement style again as it was an expeditious task.
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