Bibliography

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

http://www.ballet.co.uk/magazines/yr_03/nov03/aw_rev_anne_teresa_de_keersmaeker_1003.htm

http://www.rosas.be/en/anne-teresa-de-keersmaeker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Teresa_De_Keersmaeker

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/sep/08/dance-anne-teresa-de-keersmaeker-rosas



Wayne McGregor

http://www.randomdance.org/wayne_mcgregor/biography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_McGregor

http://www.theartsdesk.com/dance/theartsdesk-qa-choreographer-wayne-mcgregor


Other

http://savannahindigo.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/general-information-about-the-eight-basic-efforts-laban/

www4.smsd.org/janicebaker/docs/Doc-99059.doc

http://www.laban-analyses.org/laban_analysis_reviews/laban_analysis_notation/effort_dynamics_eukinetics/element_factor_state_drive.htm

http://www.dance.net/topic/4326723/1/Modern-Dance-General/Simple-Guide-To-Choreography.html?page=4

Final Thoughts

Coming to the end of this investigation I feel that I have learned huge amounts, I feel that I am now much more knowledgeable within choreography and its principles, and my confidence within creating work has boosted. I can now feel ready for a larger challenge, which will be my group choreography which starts soon. The whole creative process through completion of workshops gave me the ability to realise my potential as a choreographer, and helped allow me to see the tools that I can use to my advantage, and what could disadvantage me that I should avoid.

I would also like to take a moment to thank my tutor Mandy Rogerson and Leigh Durrant, my research intern who helped me a lot throughout this process.

Laban and Dynamics

Through this process I have been looking mainly at dynamics and how I can use them to create an interesting dance piece, with depth, clarity and detail. When looking at dynamics there are a lot of things to think about; time, weight, qualities etc. and so this is why I thought I could benefit from using dynamics as a main focus.

The Dynamospher

The Dynamospher is Rudolph Laban's mapping structure for the eight basic effort actions, it is used as a choreographic tool to help utilise the body in different ways; accentuating movement with different dynamic qualities or efforts. 

I chose to look at the Dynamospher when thinking of dynamics, as a way to fully understand the main effort actions the body has so that I can use them within my work. A starting point for me was looking at the words 'direct' and 'sudden', these two words sparked the most interest in me, and allowed me to begin thinking theoretically when creating material. (see workshop 5 - Layered Dynamics: 'What Happened')

The Laban Movement Analysis Framework 
"Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) and Labanotation stem from the same historical root and are based on the same theoretical framework. Labanotation, is a comprehensive notation system for recording the structural features of human movement, attending to spatial direction, pathway, floor pattern and degrees of flexion, extension and rotation of individual joints. This system is exemplified by the Dance Notation Bureau in New York whose work is primarily oriented to the documentation of dance choreography. LMA includes the quantitative analysis but additionally addresses qualitative changes of movement in space and time as well as qualitative analysis of dynamic elements of movement expression."
(http://movement.nyu.edu/projects/lma/intro.html , 2014, NYU Movement)

Wayne McGregor

 Wayne McGregor                 Photo: Nick Mead                RandomDance.org 

Wayne McGregor is a British choreographer, born in 1970. He is well known for his collaborations with visual art, technology and sciences. He is the artistic director of Wayne McGregor Random Dance and created works for many companies. He is currently one of the most well known British choreographers of this era and he has over 20 professional works under his belt.

I chose to look at Wayne McGregor for inspiration because his movements are very unique to what you usually see in the dance industry, his dancers move in a sharp and controlled way, but at the same time detailing and utilising their whole bodies. As you can see in FAR, the movement style and dynamic is very quick and fluid, but with a sense of urgency and attack. Researching into McGregor though had me find that he works differently each time he choreographs, he always holds his own unique style but none of his pieces look the same. Something I like about his choreographic style is how interesting his choreography is, the material has so much depth that it draws you in and makes you want to keep watching.

See below some links to McGregor's works.

Wayne McGregor - FAR

Wayne McGregor - Atomos

Wayne McGregor - Genus

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker - ballet.co.uk, 2003, Gerard Uferas, 

Keersmaeker is one of the most well known choreographers in contemporary dance, beginning her career in 1982 with the piece Fase, she soon after founded her own dance company Rosas in 1983 whilst at the same time premièring her work Rosas Danst Rosas. These two works escalated her to fame quickly within the dance world, and have been re-staged many times. Currently, Keersmaeker has been re-analysing her work, looking back to the basics such as time and space, how the body moves, its voice and its relation to the world.

Through observation of Keersmaeker's works I have found that she uses a similar dynamic style to what I am mainly using in my creative process. As you can see from Rosas Danst Rosas; there is a lot of slow sustained or still movement which suddenly becomes heavy or sharp. Like in my investigation there are a lot of components of her work to do with speed dynamics, and this is why I have chosen to look to her for inspiration and research.

There are some primitive links between Keersmaekers use of dynamics and my own within this project, the way I have chosen to explore and move seems to have a clear connection with the way she tends to move. As seen in her works you can see how their bodies move in a soft to hard dynamic quality, which relates to what my research intern and I were exploring in workshop 1 (See Workshop 1).

Rosas Danst Rosas 1
Rosas Danst Rosas 2
Rosas Danst Rosas 3

Workshop 10 - Final Performance

Principal: Movement of the Body

Question: How does the body explore and contrast between dynamic extremities?

[ THE PLAN ]
By this point I wanted to have a named, fully developed, explored, detailed and interesting solo piece that I could showcase for the camera and perform live. I wanted a clear idea for my lighting, music and costume and as well as this I envisioned performing the material to the best of my technical dance ability. I aimed to give ideas clearly and professionally in terms of lighting the piece and explain my principal/investigation well before performing to the audience.

[ WHAT HAPPENED ]
Entering the studio theatre I was nervous about lighting the piece as it's something I've never had to do on my own before, although once I got into it I felt a lot more comfortable and the lighting technicians themselves were kind and helpful. After lighting the solo I then prepared myself for the performance, I chose to wear all blacks with a splash of dull colour on top as my vest top. I then waited for my turn to perform, I was last in the running order so I had time to ready myself to speak about my work and then perform it, after the performance we received compliments and then gave each other a round of applause.

[ FINDINGS ]
Through completing these last few parts of my investigation I found that I am now able to share ideas with technicians and stage managers to complete a fully realised piece. Working alone gave me the artistic freedom to create however I wanted, working for something that is truly mine. I've been able to work in a new way, a way that I haven't had the chance to work before. I have found that I have more confidence in speaking and performing to a camera, and I am capable of creating in a short time scale.

[ EVIDENCE ]
See below a video of me introducing my work, and a video of me performing my work.
Music by Ben Frost
Song: Sinew/Bone
Album: F a R (2012)

Here is a short introduction on the solo piece.

Here is the finished product of my work, entitled: ANIMATE

[ EVALUATION ]
I feel that my performance as an individual dance artist has proceeded my expectations, not in all ways, but mostly. My confidence has grown and I feel more established in my ideas and creativity than I did before the project. However I do feel that when it came to introducing my work to the camera I mumbled a little, saying the name of my main question incorrectly. I feel that I committed to my work and it shows in my performance, and I am very pleased with the outcome.

I feel that my solo work itself shows a clear exploration of my investigation, and answers the questions I have asked as a choreographer. I believe my music suits the movement material and I see a good variety of movements utilised within the work.

My feedback to myself would be to explore a further range of dynamics, and find even more ways of conveying them through movement. Look into more unusual movement and do some additional research to see what else is out there. Overall I am happy with how my work has progressed to this point and I am excited for the next project.

Workshop 9 - Choreographic Gaps

Sub-Question 2: How can I explore extremities in a dynamic through creative tasks?

[ THE PLAN ]
Within this workshop my plan was to work to the best of my ability to finalise and refine my solo, as this was my last preparatory workshop. I wanted to fill in any blanks that were missing, refine the material I already had and make amendments to any transitions that hadn't been set yet. I also wanted to do one last improvisation task to help me find interesting material in which I could use for transitions. After this I wanted to show my work to my tutor and receive some key feedback.

Here is some critical feedback I received from
my tutor Mandy Rogerson.

[ WHAT HAPPENED ]
I started by going over all the material I already had, marking at first, and then going over it properly. Trying to find more interesting ways to convey my movement to the audience, I used some more of the vibrating movement, hoping that this would add in interest within the piece. After this I went home and began improvising, I wanted to make sure I had a some material I could work from the next morning when sorting out transitioning.

[ FINDINGS ]
Through completing this workshop I have found that the recording of improvisation can really help to create a chunk of material, and find movement which wouldn't usually be explored. I have a much greater sense of what I can do with my body when improvising and I know how to carefully select and pinpoint key movements of interest to use.

[ EVIDENCE ]
See below some images and a link to a video clip from this workshop.
Workshop 9 - Choreographic Gaps

[ EVALUATION ]
Within this workshop I feel that I have completed my aims to a good standard, I have a good chunk of material and I am pleased with where I am at this point. Improvisation really seems to help me get where I need to be, and finds the more interesting of movements. However, I do feel that I should have recorded myself in the studio when rehearsing the material I already had, instead of just recording the new movement I have done.