Countdown
In this lesson we were given the whole time to carry on with our choreography. We decided to keep going in order through the sections. Last lesson we almost completed the coming together section. We finished this off today and then choreographed the entire countdown section into the beginning of the war and chaos section.
As a group, we decided we wanted to use sticks as props in our piece. The inspiration to use sticks came from 'Sutra' by Sidilarbi and this piece of work gave us a starting point to how we wanted to incorporate the sticks. We looked in detail at the Shaolin Monks doing their combat training and how they perform their combat drills. The sticks could be used to represent many objects in our choreography. For example, in the coming together section, they are representing guns. Later on, the sticks could be used to show a fence, barbed wire and possibly a stretcher. The sticks can also be used for sound effects to add extra dynamics and impact. Towards the end of the coming together section is a perfect chance to grab the sticks in preparation for the countdown section. Three dancers are going to run off stage whilst the others carry on moving in the centre. They will then come back on and throw a stick to their partner. We will then do one of our gestures, using the sticks as guns to imitate that we are aiming at something. We are enjoying ourselves in this section and being playful with each other but as soon as the countdown starts, the whole mood changes.
Our group will form a cluster ready for the countdown section and we all bop up and down, trying to resemble being in army truck on the way to war. The music has a plane sound effect in the background so we look up to the sky, watching the plane. We then lean away from Louisa who is heavy breathing and then we all quickly return to the centre. We repeat this two more times, leaning away from different people doing their own gesture. This is really effective as the individual is showing their personality and it highlights their emotions before heading into war whilst the others are staying emotionless.
We then go into a chaotic section with the sticks as the music becomes more intense. We thought of words to inspire our movements: adrenaline, power and panic. People will interpret these feelings in different ways and we tried to show this in our choreography by having some people doing sharper movements whereas others were softer. After the countdown section, we started the entering into war section. We incorporated a Mexican wave with the sticks to represent a barrier that we cross together almost as if we are climbing over the trenches onto the frontline. Then in slow motion, we move forwards, heading into battle. The slow motion creates contrast with the previous fast, intense movements and the chaos that will happen after. Louisa will then begin a sharp, fast phrase. This again creates contrast against the other dancers moving in slow motion. After she’s completed it once, Erin will join in. On the third time, the whole group joins in. Using accumulation here emphasises the soldiers coming together. We go from heading into battle to joining together in unison as a team.
We then performed our new choreography to the class and they gave us feedback. Our classmates said that when we all lean away from somebody/ branch out of the line, it looks really effective and you can tell that it’s an intentional movement. However, we need to clarify the timing and make sure we all move out at the same time. Next lesson we will focus on clarity in our piece and make sure everyone is in time.
Very good blog post Caitlin! I really enjoyed reading it. What do you want the audience to feel through these sections? Do you think the sections you choreographed are powerful and impactful enough to portray your theme?
ReplyDeleteThank you Erin! In the coming together section, we are very playful characters to show the audience that we are actually people not just soldiers. We want the audience to form an emotional connection to these characters so when we go into the countdown and war sections, the audience will feel scared for us.
DeleteIt is clear that you have thought about your choreographic choices in much depth to create fragments of your piece that are very strong. What have been the challenges of these props?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! With the props being so big and quite dangerous, we have to make sure everyone knows exactly what they are doing so that nobody gets hit with the sticks. Also the choreography needs to be precise with everyone in exact unison, otherwise it can look very messy.
DeleteThis is an excellent blog Caitlin, clearly describing your progress over this week and the links you are creating throughout your choreography to your beginning stimulus. Reading your blog, I was instantly draw to the imagery you mentioned you were using as the plane noises are heard during the piece. How do you think this moment of stillness and vulnerability shown will impact the audiences emotional connection to the dance?
ReplyDeleteThank you Storm! We really wanted to portray the characters fear whilst watching the plane. We are about to head into war and we wanted to show everyone’s feelings and emotions. We hope that the audience can feel this too and become involved with the characters storyline.
Delete