In this weeks session, we focused on polishing and refining our entrance as we decided to develop and intertwine all of our motifs using the chance method. We were inspired by the music; The Chase, from the film Stonehearst Asylum as we found that the monotonous high pitch beat in the background would be effective for our short movements created by the chance method. I referred back to Kate Flatt's book that encouraged us to consider the importance of the atmosphere we immediately create in the opening and the last thing that the audience will see or question in the ending (Flatt,2019).
Myself and Storm continued working on our duet that we have been creating throughout the week. We decided to get some inspiration for Jasmin Vardamon from her piece called Medusa. We were inspired by the use of breath in the piece and found that even though it's a simple gesture, it adds meaning and depth into the piece. Vardimon mentioned that they use breath ' to acknowledge each other' (How does the use of breath influence and initiate movement in Medusa, 2019) and because myself and Storm have some contact work in this section, the use of breath is important to make sure we are both prepared. The idea behind our duet is to show the audience that we are desperately trying to find prosperity in the environment we are in, which is portrayed in the contact work at 00:47, but there is always a dominant force holding us back which is illustrated by the repetition of the 'claw' gesture, pushing my head down, https://youtu.be/7bfW568JEBU.
References:
Flatt, K, 2019. Choreography: Creating And Developing Dance For Performance. Ramsbury: The Crowood Press Ltd, p.158.
How does the use of breath influence and initiate movement in Medusa. 2019. [DVD] Directed by J. Vardimon.
Roberts, S., 2017. Heartbreaking Snaps Show The Struggle Of Life For Patients Of A Mental Hospital In The 1930S. [online] The Sun. Available at: <https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/3051543/pilgrim-state-hospital-1930s-alfred-eisenstaedt/> [Accessed 27 November 2020].
Well done Lucy. This blog is very detailed. I like how you have referenced to Flatt's book. I am very interested in how you are going to show the idea of the straight jacket. What movements will you do to show the fight from physical restraint?
ReplyDeleteThis blog is really clear and very detailed. You mentioned the fact you used the chance method for your entrance, how did you find this?
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you used research to create motifs, was this something as a group you found beneficial as a method of creating choreography?
Thank you for your comments Sadie. To show our idea of a straitjacket, we are going to wrap our arms behind our back and only use our upper body and legs to show the intention of us being restrained. To show the fight from this restraint, we accumulated a multitudinous amount of movements such as: contracting our body and spreading out our fingers to illustrate suffering. The floor work we do towards the end of piece with our hands behind our back demonstrates the constant fight we go through and how it can get monotonous.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments Abigail. I found using the Chance method efficient because it was a more systematic way of working and therefore we accomplished more in that lesson.
ReplyDeleteWe all researched a vast amount of information for our stimulus and because it was a topic we were all interested in, we found it inspiring and therefore carried on developing ideas. As a result, we found it beneficial as we could easily come up with movement ideas that linked with our research e.g. the rocking, swaying and mouthing words. I feel like we encapsulated much of the information we researched and we also included dynamics and choreography devices to add depth to our piece.
I like how you've included another choreographer and work and mention how they've inspired you in your movement in your duet. Continuing on with the duet, do you find it easier to choreograph with 2 dancers instead of a bigger group?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments Hannah. I partially found it easier to work in a duet as the process of accumulating movements was quicker, as we both agreed on what we want the audience to feel. Because myself and Storm live together, it was easier to add choreographic processes such as: The chance method and translation task. Furthermore, because we could use contact work, there was more ideas to add into our choreography to make it more captivating and idiosyncratic to watch. On the contrary, I do like to work in bigger groups due to the formations that we created. Furthermore, we could positively critique anything we didn't like and come up with new ideas, whilst maintaining a balance between the task and the process.
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