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1 CHOREOGRAPHY VERSES DANCE AS PERFORMANCE Technical proficiency is the main concern of a dancer who has chosen to be a performer in a company. Can I...
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CHOREOGRAPHY VERSES DANCE AS PERFORMANCE Technical proficiency is the main concern of a dancer who has chosen to be a performer in a company. Can I get it right? Will my teacher/director be pleased? Will I remember every move? That challenge is personal; issues of content or composition are dealt with by another critique. A choreographer must understand how the dance looks to the audience, on both physical and emotional levels. The view from the audience is very different from on stage! Elements of Dance: SHAPE symmetry asymmetry organic angular

SPACE level direction floor pattern stage space

THEME & VARIATION phrase cycles sequencing overall form transitions

TIME beat/tempo momentum accent/meter

CONTENT intent

ENERGY force dynamics

MUSIC

Composition: How choreographers put the elements together. The goal of dance (or art or music) is to convey Emotion & Variety Within Unity. This means that a dance piece should be interesting, yet not so that it is confusing. Any dance should have unity with a theme that repeats, reappears in another form, and grows to a climax. A dance can have so much unity that it is boring; finding a balance between both is the challenge. "Monotony is fatal; look for contrast." Doris Humphrey SHAPE Dance shapes are created by the human body. Your body is your instrument, your tool, your paint brush. Dancers have advantage over visual artists in that body kinesthetic shapes are constantly changing. Besides movement noticed by the viewer, the dance is a series of hopefully beautiful and interesting shapes; that is why dancers often stop or pause for a split second of emphasis. Those shapes convey various emotional impact: Organic & curving vs. angular/straight: Organic- curving shapes are natural and organic, human, soft, relaxing, soothing; Angular –straight shapes are machine like, unyielding, inflexible; Symmetrical vs. asymmetrical: Symmetry - The design is exactly the same on both sides: stable, strength, authority, control, balanced, safe; Asymmetry - The design or shape differs, is not the same, for variety, contrast, complexity, excitement, creative risk taking.

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Classical ballet tends to be more formal and symmetrical while modern and jazz dance styles are asymmetrical- informally balanced. However, even classical ballet needs some asymmetry for variety. The point is that a dance piece that shows only symmetry can be boring; a little organic design adds interest, and also makes for emotionally charged scenes. Solo performance may be more asymmetrical. Too much asymmetry can be unsettling; a little of the opposite makes for variety to engage audience. "Symmetry is lifeless." Doris Humphrey SPACE Level: low, earthiness; lying, crawling, crouching, sitting, kneeling; middle, moving, going, demi plie, relave, traveling, standing off point; high, on pointe arms up, jumps, leaps, partnering-lifts, group-lifts; (You may chart your use of levels to see if you have sufficient variety- see example). Direction: personal- in front of, behind, sides; group- away, toward, around, under, together; Floor pattern: Direction as applied to the use of a stage in a performance; Imagine you have chalk on your feet and you are leaving a record of your dance; Use the whole stage well! (Chart your dance to be sure). "Two-dimensional design is lifeless." Doris Humphrey Often used -and powerful -floor patterns circle: infinite, no beginning, no end, unity; spiral: hypnotic quality, change inward- toward an end; outward-escape, freedom; Stage space: Some parts of the stage are stronger and others are more intimate. "Movement looks slower and weaker on the stage." Doris Humphrey Front vs Back: Generally, action takes on greater significance (demands attention) as it moves downstage, getting closer to the audience space. There is a tradition that scenes of intimacy are staged down left (front of stage) and movements of less importance are up (back of stage left). This is similar to body language of humans. Although it is an optical illusion, dancers seem smaller upstage and appear to get larger as they come forward. Remember: movement and action downstage must be balanced with dance upstage. Left vs Right: Human visual scanning patterns work from left to right; we scan so quickly that we are aware of this only on a subconscious level. This is true in cultures that read from right to left or left to right. As seen from the audience, on a subliminal level, time passes from stage right to stage left (that is -left to right- for the audience) Stage left -from audience view- would represent the past, center- the present, and right- the future.

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Diagonals are powerful! The most powerful modern dance moves are upstage right to downstage left. Contrastly, ballet dancers move in an up left to down right diagonal, since that allows the movement to be performed to the dancer’s right, that is usually the strongest side. Turning on an axis (Laban) horizontal - spins, turns, (ballet uses this axis); vertical - cartwheel (sagittal axis), somersaults (sigittal plane)- jazz, modern, gymnastics; Turns are given variety with changes in body design and shape, speed, size, and direction. Turns also provide variety when contrasted with straight movement.

TIME Changing rhythmns of beat and tempo gives a dance work variety and/or creates – communicates- specific emotional reactions for the viewer. beat- regular vs. irregular Regular supportive comforting pleasant monotonous/ deadening tempo- the speed of the beat Fast frenzy quick dazzle spinning

Irregular unpredictable jarring/ disjointed sometimes unsettling, hard to watch exciting, challenging

Slow sensuous gentle fatigue pain sorrow

momentum- changes in tempo, getting faster or slower Faster Slower chase prelude to high points flashy ending a more contemplative time change in the story action

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ENERGY : Force dynamics Energy is potential power or force; in a sense it is capacity to overcome resistance or to defy gravity. Another way to explain that force is, “ the strength of energy exerted.” Thus energy may be strong or gentle. Energy has powerful dramatic consequences. When you begin to choreograph, to consider the energy level of a dance work you need to consider your expressive goals for the dance. What kind of a mood do you want to create? If your work is telling a story, then where do you need to locate each of these qualities? Strong

Gentle

Expression: Positive Goals

bold, authoritative soft, adaptable dominant, controlling pliable, subtle powerful, aggressive caring ______________________________________________________ Expression: Negative inflexible submissive Goals hard, tough weak, wishy-washy stubborn malleable _______________________________________________________________ Movement qualities or forces Movement can be sustained or percussive. Sustained movements are smooth, continuous; they flow and are controlled; they lack accents. Percussive movements are sharp, explosive, outward; they are high energy and jab; like symmetry and asymmetry they are opposites. Classical ballet is more sustained. Jazz more percussive. Often the choice of music dictates dance approach. A quiet piece of classical music like Pachelbel's Canon almost demands sustained movement, while irregular and fast hard rock music would invite percussive movements. Force and movement qualities in dance can be combined in many ways. A forceful dance can be sustained and full of graceful curving arcs, yet danced in a way that is quick and powerful. A percussive dance can be staged full of asymmetrical body shapes and a strong level of energy. It can also be danced slowly, full of agony. Examples of combinations are seen below.

Sustained movement

Percussive movement

Strong Force emotional forceful, continues to build up never lets up (Ravel's Bolero)

Gentle Force graceful, quiet lyrical, symmetrical pretty, delicate

very modern fast, moving outward explosive and jarring could be asymmetrical

changing, emotional emotional, agonising agonising, painful could be asymmetrical

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THEME AND VARIATION This is both a musical form and a dance technique. Classical symphony music composers may begin with a simple recognisable theme; at the symphony, that theme comes back intact and in ways slightly changed. The same can be done in dance; this allows a choreographer to create variety and unity at once. Take a phrase, then change it: upside down, backwards, slower, more elaborate, simpler, faster, repeat in a different order. In dance, the phrase is the basic element in composition and choreography. (From The Intimate Act of Choreography by Lynne Anne Blom & L. Tarin Chaplin) A phrase is the smallest and simplest unit of form. It is a short but complete unit in that it has a beginning, middle, and end. Every phrase, even the shortest, contains this basic structure; it starts, goes somewhere or does something, and comes to resolution. A phrase is to dance as a sentence is to poetry. A sentence is comprised of separate words that fit together. A phrase is not just accumulation of movements strung together; just as a sentence is more than a mere list of words. Phrases of both written language and dance must make sense. Movements share some common element of intent; so a phrase has both form and content (Blom & Chapman; page 23). Choreographic phrase is often confused with movement combination, such can be merely movements strung together like beads, without notice of individual shape, color, texture, or relationship to one another. The purpose of a movement combination is to provide technical challenge such as coordination skills, strength development, endurance, or spatial discrimination. A choreographic phrase, however, has a different intention- to convey feelings, images, ideas, to present visual impressions, a story, symbol, or design element (Blom & Chapman; pages 29-30). Movements and phrases must be combined as larger units. This involves sequencing of the parts of the work. Transitions are how you put sections of a dance together and need to be of a quality matching the rest of the work. There are some traditional forms of dance choreography combinations AB form: a theme and a contrasting form; opposites; ABA form: a theme, contrasting form; then repeat theme again with transitions between; Rhondo form ABABAB: a theme that keeps returning in a pure or modified form; Narrative: the form is driven by a story. *A rule of thumb is to only repeat things for as many times as you have dancers. A solo would not require repetition, a duet only twice, but a group of twelve dancers (corps de ballet) could repeat a phrase twelve times. OVERALL FORM: No matter how complex the dance work is, the piece must work as a unit. A completed dance should be reviewed (possibly on video) with an eye to the whole. The ending is should be a critical part of the whole. Most dances are too long! "A good ending is forty percent of the dance." Humphrey, The Art of Making Dances

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CONTENT: WHAT IS THE DANCE ABOUT? Before starting the phrases and movements a choreographer should consider the intent of the dance. Here are questions to ask yourself: What do you want to say; what is your message? How do you want the audience to react? "Know what your intention is - then say it with clarity and simplicity." Humphfrey The intent of the Broadway musical Bring on the Funk, Bring on the Noise was to portray black history through a dance style (tap) that originated by African Americans. That show could have been quite boring were it not for a second goal to create a high level of energy. At Funk, the audience was pulled in and energised by the dancing and percussion working together. Being there, I found myself far more alert and upright in my seat than I had the night before at another play- Chicago; where the audience was expected to laugh, enjoy the songs and dance and be as mellow - relaxed-as jazz music. So, as a choreographer, begin by examining your intent in terms of energy, audience reaction, and content! Many young dancers select a piece of music they like, and then choreograph movements they choose to fit the pace and feeling of the song. This way may not be the best approach, though certainly one of many valid ways to begin to dance. Dance may develop from any one of these seven (7) starting points: 1. Music: Try choosing a piece of music without words so that movement and character development is the core of the dance. Listen to the music intensely and see what dance images are conjured. Two good choices are music from the movie Edward Scizzorhand and the play by Edvard Grieg, Peer Gynt Suite. Find a video tape of the Joffery Ballet, Billboards; four choreographers each chose a song by the rock star Prince; each rehearsed the dancers separately. One dance was traditional, elegant, graceful, and did not involve storytelling. Three others used the words for inspiration, yet results involved a wide range of dance style. In none of these works was music a slave to dance. 2. Storytelling: Classical ballet is full of storytelling, from the Nutcracker to Swan Lake. Remember, a story can be told in many different ways; there are a variety of Nutcrackers (see The Hard Nut); and Swan Lake has been performed in unique ways. In storytelling, dance gestures become important because dance is silent. Modern dance often tells stories, yet they convey more personal and contemporary meanings than classical dance. 3. Art (sculptures, paintings) & poetry: Choose a work of art or a poem, then select music that fits; how could you respond as choreographer to this combination? How does the art/ poetry make you feel or think? Could you tell a story or create a mood by dance? 4. Feelings, Ideas: Dance is expression of a state of mind or feeling; this is very common in modern dance. Jazz often expresses a state of mind that involves a high energy level. How to express love, joy, awe, or anguish- painful depression, or triumph? 5. Kinesthetic: Movement itself can be inspiring. The joy of moving or a particular kind of movement can be the starting point for original creative movement. 6. Humor: Comedy- laughter- is the best medicine- and a legitimate focus for dance. 7. Character Motivation: Is the character (dancer) flirting, mischievious, etc?

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CHOOSING MUSIC for DANCE: "Don't be a slave to, or a mutilator of, the music." (Blom &Chaplin) Here are guidelines from teachers of choreography (Blom & Chaplin; Humpfrey): 1. "Retain balance between the number of dancers and number of instruments playing the musical score. A full symphony orchestra will usually dwarf a solo; likewise, a group of sixteen dancers will probably demand a fuller sound." 2. Old Favorites &Top Ten. Using well known pieces of music, whether classical, Broadway musical hits, or recent movie theme songs may be difficult just because they are so familiar. People may already have formed their own notions, images, and expectations of what the music is about and so cannot watch your dance composition with a fresh eye, ready to see what you want to communicate." And, (Sandra Cerny Milton; Choreography: A Basic approach Using Improvisation) 3.

Instrumental vs. Vocal Music "Instrumental music usually provides a better accompaniment than vocal music because it allows a greater freedom for choreographic interpretation. If you use vocal music try to avoid dance movements that literally pantomime the work. " 4.

Find music that has variety. Music with a variety of structure forms, rhythmic patterning, and emotive quality provides better accompaniment for dance. Dancers usually create repetitious movement when working with music that has little variety. Also, (Carol Smiarowski, Dance Director, Brenau University) 5.

Cutting and Rearranging Music "Be careful when cutting and rearranging music. Abrupt changes can be jarring for the audience and hinder continuity. Dance companies often have professionals do this." Note: Copyright Laws Music scores written after 1850, and any recorded music may be protected by copyright. Generally, 75 years is the limit of a copyright. Contact the music publisher to get permission before you start choreography. The use of copyrighted music in public performances is restricted.

Assessment: DANCE CRITIQUE: Apply the aesthetic criteria of UNITY, VARIETY, and EMOTIONAL IMPACT to evaluating dance performance design.

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Assessment: Charting Levels in a Dance (Use this chart to analyze how much variety in levels in a dance you have composed. Make a continuous line as on a heart monitor as you watch a live or video performance). Level: Low: earthiness; lying, crawling, crouching, sitting, kneeling; Middle: moving, going, demi plie, relave, traveling, standing off point; High: on pointe arms up, jumps, leaps, partnering-lifts, group-lifts;

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Assessment: Charting the floor pattern of a dance: After a dance is choreographed, have someone perform the dance, videotape the dance, or diagram the performance. Use a continuous line to indicate movement and direction. Begin by putting a number one inside a circle; as the dancer makes a change in direction or pauses, record the next number. Also analyze the use of diagonals. A Note to Teachers of Teens: How to utilize these dance exercises. These dance activities are appropriate for teens, ages 14-18. The elements of dance are best taught using an improvisation approach. Introduce the concept, and then let students truly understand by dancing solutions to suggested artistic problems. Make it a fun time for them, not dry theoretical assignment. Two books are suggested for anyone teaching teen choreography; both contain dozens of excellent improvisational exercises for dancers. Blom & Chaplin is a must read for teachers, while difficult for teens. A textbook for a teen choreography class is not necessary. The Sandra Minton book is appropriate for reading by an interested teen. Blom, Lynn Anne & Chaplin, T.Tarin;(1982); The Intimate Act of Choreography. University of Pittsburgh Press, ISBN 0-8229-5342-0 paperback; Minton, Sandra Cerny; (1986); Choreography: A Basic Approach Using Improvisation. Human Kinestics, ISBN 0-88011-529-7, $19.95 paperback. Two other books are worth reading for teachers. Hawkins utilizes recent research into creativity; she was founding chair of UCLA dance program; sand also has many helpful exercises and improvisations. Humphrey was a major figure in modern dance; her sections on group dynamics and the history and philosophy of dance, both classical and modern, are excellent. Almost all the dance directors I interviewed recommended this book, however, assignments are few and too complex for teens. Hawkins, Alma M; (1991); Moving From Within: A New Method of Dance Making. Chicago: a cappella Books; ISBN 1-55652-139-1, $12.95. Humphrey, Doris; (1987); The Art of Making Dance. Pennington, NJ: Princeton Books. Dance improvisation is the topic of a second book by Blom & Chaplin; it makes a very in-depth look at improv technique, full of specifics on how to teach. Blom, Lynn Anne & Chaplin, T.Tarin; (1988); The Moment of Movement. University of Pittsburgh Press, ISBN0-8229-5405-2 paperback. Authors note: These handouts may be reproduced for classroom use. They may not be sold. Nor may they appear in print unless properly acknowledged and referenced.

Dr. Kathleen Thompson Arts Education Consultant; Blue Ridge, GA E-mail: [email protected]