This module has been completely different to what i expected however I feel that I have learnt so much stuff which has inspired me and i have actually enjoted choreography for once as i feel i have a love hate relationship with it. I have thouroughly enjoyed everything about this module and the people i have worked with. :)
Thankyou Simon for all the opportunities and inspiration and i will miss saying 'Wheres Simon' :(
I really enjoyed working with Laura and Rigmor for the final assessment i feel as a group we worked well and really listened to each other.
The Rehearsal Process.
Our idea started off from how the previous assessment was talked about, by using idiosyncratic movement from different body parts. We decided to have the idea of being 'restricted' to start off with however when the piece got going we were not focusing on the idea of restriction.
We played with movement using isolated body parts and did movement for movement sake, however i feel character was built through the way our movement progressed. Through an injury Laura was unable to dance so she took the 'directing' role for the choreography. She was able to look at the piece from an audience view and this was an advantage to our group as the audience is part of the criteria, We decided to keep our movement clean and felt the idea of less is more for our work.
We recorded a rehearsal of our piece using a microphone and edited it by mixing it up, stretching it out and speeding it up but we were not able to try it with the music until the Wednesdayw hich was the day before the performance this was due to illness and assessments. So when we tried it as dancers it did not work and Laura felt the audience would feel uncomfortable and be distracted by the noise.
We kept the lights simple aswell by just having two side lights on at the very front of the stage. We kept our movement in the pathway of the light this was difficult in rehearsals as we were not able to practice with the lights which i felt was a diisadvantage to working with the light however as it was kept simple the light worked with the piece.
The Performance.
I felt the performance went well as I am not a natural 'performer' as i feel self conscious when people are watching me. i felt that both Rigmor and I were relaxed before it. I had to put my feet on a radiator before though to warm them up so they would make some noise as we had no music just our natural body sounds. I felt there was lack of noise though as my feet were so cold.
The lecture on sound was interesting as it showed many options of sound with a piece of choreography.
The sound used can completely change the atmosphere of the piece and the audience.
Assessment 2 involved idiosyncratic movement and one light source which could be turned on and off three times.
The Rehearsal Process.
Coral and I in rehearsals decided that I would dance and she would direct, we played with movement that we were not used to and as we are a pair who have completely different dance styles I found the task quite difficult when I was the dancer. I also decided the affect we were going with would have made me selfconscious so we decided to change roles.
We both created movement and watched each other 'improvise' then worked with each other to create the movement however i had the 'directing' role. In the rehearsals we were unable to try with the light so we were hoping our idea would work on the performance. Originally we had the idea of having the light behind the sych and Coral would be behind the sych dancing however without practicing this would have been quite a big chance to take so we decided to stick to the safer option of dancing infront of the sych with the single light.
The Performance.
We decided the audience should look at our piece from a distance as we felt it created an atmosphere. So we placed our audience at the back of the auditorium. Coral wore a light top which made the light reflect and the brightness stood out more as she was far away. The idiosyncratic movement was noticed as the audience were aware of Coral's 'style'.
A shadow is formed when a light infront of an object is blocked.
The resourceful module has brought an interest to me which I have never really thought about before. The use of light and the shadows that are created on the sych by the dancer in a performance makes me curious and makes me want to keep watching. I feel my eyes are fixated on the shadow rather than the dancer as i am curios to how and why the shadow is created in different ways.
Using specific body parts to create movement was the task given, i found this was a hard task thinking of movement thrrough body parts that i would not normally use. Intersting and unpredictable movement was created through the task.
The simple flash light on the back of the mobile phone made such a great impact on the blacked out staircase.
Shining the light close to the human skin allows you to see every intricate detail. Playing with the shadows on the wall
made the process lighthearted and enjoyable and was visually pleasing.
Working in a group with Bick and Lorna we worked with the light from the flash of a mobile phone. The space we used was the stairway in the theatre which leads up to the lighting box. As performers in the space there was complete darkness however we found with an audience there was a distraction from the fire exit door which let a small amount of light in. Through the feedback from the audience we were able to work with what they had said and we covered the light with a scarf making the second performance more efffective.
Passing the light source between the three of us was challenging to keep the phone in complete darkeness but with more rehearsal the transition of passing the light would have been easier.
I found playing with the shadows on the walls was interesting and one of my main focuses that i am looking at through the resoureful choreographer module. There are so many options and possibilities with the shadows from the bodies in space with the light against the wall.
:)
This blog will investigate and reflect about the process of the work I am doing in the Resourceful Choreographer Module.
