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.

Workshop 8 - Vibration

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


[ THE PLAN ]
Within this workshop I wanted to focus on vibration, and how the body can use this in different ways. I planned to use both the lower and upper body to create a short phrase, consisting of just utilising one body part at a time, such as torso, shoulders, back, legs etc. From this I then wanted to look at the footage and take note of some of the interesting movements that came from this, then add them into my performance work.

[ WHAT HAPPENED ]
I started by using the whole upper body, vibrating as much as possible. I then moved through the back to the shoulders, pitching them forwards and from there moving into the arms and hands. From there I moved into the back, arching back and curving forwards, taking the movement into my head. From there I moved onto the lower body and experimented with the legs, lifting and vibrating them as much as possible without losing balance. After exploring these body parts I took note of which movements I liked the best, which was the leg and arm movement.

[ FINDINGS ]
Through this workshop I was able to find a new way of moving and teach my body how to vibrate through my muscles and joints. Finding interesting movement and a way for my body to articulate a new dynamic I have not explored previously. Through working in this way I now feel that I have found some confidence in executing types of movement that I have not tried before, and I think this will help me in the future as well as with this investigation.

[ EVIDENCE ]
See below; images, and a link to a video of this workshop.
Workshop 8 - Vibration

[ EVALUATION ]
Within this workshop I feel that I was able to complete my aims, finding a new way of moving when creating or performing. Using vibration as a dynamic was very interesting to me, and I really enjoyed exploring and creating material from it. This is definitely something that I will look at again in the future, possibly for my group choreography piece which will start soon. Something that I would have liked to change is that I would like to try exploring this in the studio, as I didn't realise that doing so in my apartment would limit me as much as it did space-wise.

Workshop 7 - Phrase Revisitation

Sub-Question 1: How does the body respond when contrasting a dynamic?

[ THE PLAN ]
Within this workshop I wanted to go back, looking at my base phrase and thinking about some new ways of moving within it. I wanted to try using different tools to re-develop my material such as, reversing the dynamic quality of everything (What ever I was doing fast do slow etc), reversing the whole material or using the space to pull it out further. From this I wanted to evaluate and comment upon the process.

[ WHAT HAPPENED ]
I chose to complete this workshop at home, as I have the space and I wanted to try creating within a new atmosphere. Which felt a little strange at first, but I soon got used to it and started recording. I began by going over the material and trying to figure out which parts are currently highlighted as the sharp/fast parts, and how could I work against that and develop the material into the opposite. Taking what once was one dynamic, and changing each movement to it's opposite dynamic. After video recording the workshop I watched it back to see what kind of effect it had, then made some notes on the process.

[ FINDINGS ]
From completing this workshop I have found that I can work independently outside of the studio and still achieve results, I can explore dynamics in more complex ways and take note of my own progress by looking at video footage, and still observe and critique myself even if there is nobody else there.

[ EVIDENCE ]
See below some images and a video footage link of me performing the phrase.
Workshop 7 - Phrase Revisitation

[ EVALUATION ]
I found that this workshop was successful and I was able to do what I had aimed for. My movement material was explored deeper and further than it had been, and this allowed me to broaden my vocabulary. I do feel though that if I had someone to critique me I would notice more, I would be able to put work into the things that I can't necessarily see wrong with the movement phrases and I would be able to gain a stronger connection to my movement.

Workshop 6 - Layered Dynamics 2

Sub-Question 3: How can I articulate the body fully in detail through the use of layered dynamics?

[ THE PLAN ]
For this session I wanted to revisit dynamic layering and look more to how it could be utilised as part of a travelling phrase. I wanted to create a phrase from either the corner or the side, which would travel whilst layering dynamic qualities to create a more interesting piece of movement. After this I wanted to feedback with my intern and discuss options for the final performance.

[ WHAT HAPPENED ]
After entering the studio we talked about what we did in the previous workshop, and how we wanted to continue on with that theme this time, and so we decided to do so. We both looked at the footage of what we had done previously and after this began creating new material. From this, I decided we'd share with each other and then give feedback following videoing the material.

[ FINDINGS ]
I found with this workshop that I was able to revisit material and planning from the previous workshop, I discovered something new in the material from the previous session and created more movement to add to the bank of material that I have been gaining throughout these sessions. As well as this I feel that I am now more knowledgeable in how to use layered dynamics, and so when I use them again I will feel more confident.

[ EVIDENCE ]
See below links to some video footage of this workshop.
Workshop 6 - Layered Dynamics 2 (Intern)
Workshop 6 - Layered Dynamics 2 (Me)

[ EVALUATION ]
Within this workshop I feel that I was able to complete my aims to a certain degree, I do not feel that enough effort was made to create longer material and, so in my next workshop I will try to make sure to give more effort and attention. Other than this it was successful, I believe that we explored to a sound degree and were able to find some new movement that could be used at a later date.

Workshop 5 - Layered Dynamics

Sub-Question 3: How can I articulate the body fully in detail through the use of layered dynamics?

[ THE PLAN ]
In this workshop I planned that we would look at how dynamics can be layered across different body parts, and how this effects movement and its qualities. I wanted to start by going through a list of body parts that could be articulated separately at different speeds, and see how that could bring ideas for movement material. After this I wanted myself and my intern to create a short phrase each, working with this idea of layered dynamics. Once finished I wanted us to share our material and teach it to one another, so that we could both gain an understanding of it, and how we could use it within the piece. Once completed I planned for us to discuss and take note of how the process went.

[ WHAT HAPPENED ]
Entering the studio I felt good about the workshop, as previously I had some critiques that helped lead me to undertake this workshop. Receiving feedback really helped me to realise what else I could do with my work, and how I could bring that into my workshops. I sat down with my intern and we discussed how we would approach the session, thinking about the dynamic layering etc, and then we made a start. We each played around with what body parts we could utilise individually at different paces to see what we could come up with, and eventually started setting material. Once we had begun setting material we looked at Laban's eight basic effort actions to explore the material in more depth, allowing us to have a greater understanding of the movement. After we had a small phrase we taught and were taught the phrases by one another. After this we had a discussion and wrapped up the workshop.

[ FINDINGS ]
Within this workshop I found that criticism can really go a long way, looking at what I could achieve from thinking more outside of the box amazed me. It was clear that through layering dynamics and looking at Laban's eight basic effort actions I was able to come up with more interesting movement which I wouldn't have thought of before, and this gave me a push to want to try more unique things.

[ EVIDENCE ]
See below some images and links to video footage of this workshop.
Workshop 5 - Layered Dynamics
Workshop 5 - Layered Dynamics 2

[ EVALUATION ]
I believe that this workshop has been one of my most successful so far, I feel as though I was able to explore movement at a deeper level than before, and the material I am finding is a lot more interesting too.
Coming out of the workshop the only thing I would have liked to have done is spend more time on it, as I feel there is even more I could do by working in this way. Aside from that I am very pleased with the outcome of this session, and I feel that in the future I will use some layering as part of every creative project/task I do.

Workshop 4 - Improvisation 2

Sub-Question 1: How does the body respond when contrasting a dynamic?

[ THE PLAN ]
For this workshop my aims were to improvise using dynamic qualities as a contrasting tool, as in earlier workshops, I wanted to expand upon my vocabulary and improvise in more depth to help create a larger bank of material. I wanted to have my intern give feedback after my improvisation and then share ideas together on which parts of the material we could pull out and use to add into a phrase. And as well as this, reflect on the process afterwards.

[ WHAT HAPPENED ]
When entering the studio I felt ready to get right to it, however, I didn't have much time with my intern so my workshop had to be shorter than I'd hoped. We sat down and discussed what we would be doing in the session, and then followed on to improvise on our own for ten minutes to get our bodies prepared and ready to go properly. After this we recorded some improvisation and gave constructive criticism back to one another.

[ FINDINGS ]
I found during this workshop that sometimes you have to be ready for anything, I wasn't prepared for my intern having to leave early and so this threw me off a little and I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. I also gained some physical body knowledge, how my body can move freely without thought and give out some interesting movements to consider later.

[ EVIDENCE ]
See Below some video footage from this workshop.

Video Evidence Improvisation

[ EVALUATION ]
I feel that this workshop didn't go as well as my others so far, I could have done more to compensate for my intern leaving early such as working alone or asking my peers for help to gain more depth in this session. However through improvisation I did pull out some interesting movement that I would like to revisit or develop, so that I can maybe use it within the finished product.

Workshop 3 - Phrase Development/Extension

Sub-Question 1: How does the body respond when contrasting a dynamic?

[ THE PLAN ]
Within this workshop I wanted to explore the base phrase created in workshop 2 the previous week, by looking at ways of extending and developing the material. I wanted to allow my intern to input creative ideas alongside mine, and together create at least 34 counts to add to the phrase. From this I then planned for the phrase to be recorded, and for me and my intern to sit down and take notes on our performance of it.

[ WHAT HAPPENED ]
When entering the studio we realised that yet again, there are quite a few others in the space, so we bared this in mind when thinking of video recording the phrase at the end of the session. We sat down and discussed the aims of the day and then got right to it. We both started thinking of different dynamics that we could look at when creating, and from this started creating movement. for example I chose rebounding to look at and my intern chose twisting. After coming to what seemed like the right place to stop, we both marked the material on our own and then asked someone in the studio to record the phrase. We then discussed and shared our thoughts with each other and a few of our peers to receive feedback.

[ FINDINGS ]
Within this workshop I have found that it is possible to stay focused whilst others are in the same space as you, I have enabled myself to be considerate towards the others in the space whilst still being able to use as much of the studio as possible and find the courage to ask for advice and criticism from peers. Finding new movement material to add to my vocabulary has helped me to realise what else I can utilise when it comes to my body and moving in a certain way. And finally how I can effectively teach a material to others whilst learning from them at the same time.

[ EVIDENCE ]
See below some images and a link to video footage of the phrase.
Workshop 3 - Phrase Development

[ EVALUATION ]
In this workshop I feel that I was able to work to a better standard than I expected of myself, pushing through and concentrating on what I wanted to get done and focusing on how I could do so. My intern was also in the right frame of mind and this helped for us to both effectively create material that would be a good starting point to develop onto the base phrase. I do feel though that we could have spent more time refining the material, I feel that we knew the phrase but not confidently enough to perform it any time soon.