My beginning hypothesis

My initial hypothesis before the process begun was that images would be more influential when devising movement however through participation I have challenged my hypothesis and come to a different conclusion. I was able to experience the huge amount of choreographic ideas you can gain from just one word.

In conclusion

In conclusion:

This research has developed my tacit and explicit knowledge. The Qualitative data from the final project refection questionnaires show that the participants disagreed with which medium was most influential when helping them to generate movement. I would like to point out that all of the participants chose either images or words to be most influential and no one selected both equally. This enquiry has challenged the participants and myself to analyse how we have created movement in the past. By critically reflecting upon this process we have all decided that in the future we will explore with different mediums choreographically before we begin setting the material. This process has taught me that images and words can create a visual representation for audience members. During my focus group some said…‘I was able to make connections between the dialogue and the dance I was seeing but I was also able to relate the movement to the image that I was seeing’. This proves that there is a sensory connection to be considered between the eyes and ears. If I was to develop this research I would want to explore this further.

Laura Stanyer, Talks about Visualisation in dance performance and rehearsals

FRIDAY, 22 JULY 2011

Visualisation for Dancers

Your imagination is a powerful inner resource that you can tap into to achieve your best with greater consistency.  It can enhance the manifestation of your dreams and goals in dance and in life as it allows you to put yourself into the appropriate state of mind, be in the flow state where everything is effortless and flows beautifully.

The aims of visualisation techniques are to focus the dancer so that they are positive and confident in their ability and enjoy the experience of learning and performing and achieve their true potential.

Scientists have discovered there is an area of the brain called the pre motor cortex that is activated when you imagine your body moving, the area that plans movement so when you rehearse a dance skill or sequence in your mind you create neural pathways in your brain as if you were actually moving and performing the sequence. All without moving a muscle this means when you do perform the skill or sequence you should find it easier as the pathways in your brain are already in place.

Generally dancers spend most of their time physically training and rehearing for performance but they don’t spend enough time preparing themselves psychologically for the pressures of dance training, rehearsal and performance. Visualisation enhances your dance performance, this is especially important for the skills or strategies where there is little opportunity in daily training or rehearsal, the situations that only happen in performance.

Repeatedly rehearsing in your mind allows you to strengthen the neural pathways that will produce the step or sequence and help to refine your skills without putting the body through excessive stress. It enables you to rehearse anywhere.

Visualisation involves the dancer imagining themselves in a class, rehearsal or performance. The visualisations have the dancer performing the skill or sequence at their very best, enjoying the experience. Enter completely into the visualisation with all your senses: visual, sound, touch, smell and felt sense. Being in a totally relaxed state allows you to be receptive to visualisation.

BENEFITS OF VISUALISATION:

• Enhances learning and motivation
• Enhances self-confidence, helps to visualise success
• Create coping strategies in stressful situations
• Enhance focus, concentration and self-discipline

Just as you practice dance skills, visualisation needs to be practised on a regular basis for you to become highly skilled and can be incorporated into your training or daily routine.

VISUALISATION FOR REHEARSAL OF SPECIFIC MOVEMENTS

Visualisation used to learn and rehearse specific movements or dance skills enhances learning and performance. Visualisation can explore the mechanics of how to execute the movement and can allow a dancer to explore symbolic sense the quality or energy related to improve a particular dance skill. For example, whilst executing a pirouette a dancer may visualise spinning like a top.

VISUALISATION FOR REHEARSAL

Visualisation can enhance you learning ability when learning new movement sequences or choreography for performance. It can enhance the dramatic aspects of a dancer character within a piece of choreography by imaging the emotions or motives felt by the character they are performing. Rehearsing in your mind allows the body to rest while strengthening the neural pathways in your brain.

VISUALISATION FOR PERFORMANCE

To reach your true potential in dance it is important you have a high level of confidence in your ability to perform at your best consistently.  It is important to visualise yourself performing in a confident manner in full control of yourself excelling in you execution and feeling confident within the performance environment.

POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE

Breaking negative behavioural patterns by the use of a trigger - a word, phrase or action can help to prevent negative attitudes when learning.

A trigger can be:

• A word or phrase spoken inside your head
• A physical action, for example squeezing first finger and thumb together
• A physical reminder, for example a wristband

When hearing, seeing or feeling the trigger you can shift your focus gaining a positive uplifting thought for a boost of motivation.

VISUAL PRACTICE: ROLE MODEL

Observing a professional dancer who has practised the skills countless times can give you an excellent role model to develop the same skill you are hoping to learn. You can visualise being them or performing the skills as they do.

VISUALISATION AND GOAL SETTING

Setting goals within training and performance is a useful tool to measure your progress. It provides an opportunity to improve your skills or learn new skills, technique or choreography. It allows you to review your training methods if you do not meet your original goals.

• Specific - Goals are focused on precisely what you want to achieve. For example: goal to improve jumps and landings
• Measurable - Assess your level of success so you can review your own progress. For example: a goal to improve the number of successful double pirouettes once you have achieved a successful single pirouette
• Accepted - You and your teacher or choreographer agree on what your goals are
• Realistic - You are able to achieve the goals you have set yourself
• Time limit - You should set target dates to achieve your goals. For example: goal in 2 months to be able to handstand unsupported
• Enthusiasm - You should be challenged and stimulated by your goal
• Record - Keep a written record of how and when you achieve your goal to assess your progress

VISUALISATION EXERCISES

 

How to use these audio guided visualisations

NEVER listen to this audio recording when driving or when you need to concentrate on a particular task.  Only listen when you can relax and not be disturbed from any distractions.

This audio recording will guide you into a state of relaxation, it is best to be comfortable and either sit or lay down in a comfortable place free from distractions.

We advise you listen to this audio recording through headphones for best results. To begin with, it is best to listen on a daily basis to develop your visualisation skills.

Audio running time: approx 20 minutes, as this audio recording is specially designed to become a part of your dance practice. 

Peak Performance Visualisation

Visualise actually attaining your best performance, such as receiving major recognition or a standing ovation and what it would be like.  Most success stories are first preceded by envisioning the success accomplished, visualisation is like role playing success.

Peak Performance Visualisation helps nurture strong belief in your self which provides the motivational fuel to put in the daily effort and discipline required to arrive at best achievements.

Peak Performance Visualization by lstanyer


Peak Performance Recall Visualisation 

Recall is a technique that allows you to recall a positive perfromance experience. By remembering and feeling the positive sensations your body will go into the experience of flow which enables you to be relaxed and focused and in control.

Recall an experience where you were at your peak in performance, feeling wonderful. Recapture the feelings, sounds etc. and enhance them make them more vivid in light, colour, positive feelings and sounds. Watch your own feature film of your best performances when you need a boost of confidence.

Peak Performance Recall Visualization by lstanyer

 

Visualisation practice empowers and centres you for performance, allowing you to enter deeply into the present moment and harness your true potential. Along with diaphragmatic breathing it calms and unclutters your mind leading you to a place of freedom and unselfconsciousness. Visualisation is a very personal experience and skill that takes practice to discover its depth and power.

Visualization Skills in Dance Practice by Laura Stanyer

 

Disclaimer: The information contained on this web page is intended as general guidance and information only. Laura Stanyer and its authors accept no liability for any loss, injury or damage however incurred as a consequence, whether directly or indirectly, of the use this information. All advice on this web page should only be used under the supervision of a qualified dance / fitness / healthcare professional.

My New Practice as Research Question:

There has been a shift in the direction that I have taken my research in. My initial area of study was into the collaboration between art forms and dance, during performance. I proposed to explore, ‘When creating dance choreography, is collaborating with art forms a good development within contemporary dance performance today?’ This area of research was too broad and it would have been near impossible to come to any result within the short time-scale. Therefore my area of enquiry has transformed into the following research question.

 

To what extent can visual representation and verbal communication enhance internal rhythm during the creative process?

Possible opening to the five minute work.

This beginning gives context to who Banksy is, after receiving my general public questionnaire it was evident that not many people knew who Banksy was so I felt that this was important to include. The dancers will be carrying red helium balloons on stage and then tying them to bricks on the floor around the stage.

Walking section created from a structure of a wall and the bricks

The middle of this clip shows a walking phrase. This was created from looking at a brick wall during the session and studying the angles and way a wall is put together. We all looked at a wall and that chosen traced a pathway by walking. We then put all of the phrases together and saw whether they would cross or interweave one another.

The second section of this clip shows two duets where one person is representing the balloon, trying to escape and lift into the air and then the other person is representing trying to stop that balloon from escaping and becoming free. I also shows the girl with the balloon trying to chase after her balloon.

improvisation around Banksy's history

Today we looked at the history of Banksy and the work that he has done. We noticed that some of his artworks have been taken down or covered up.

I asked the group to improvise with around this idea of work being taken off you or torn down.
Words such as Anger, frustration, force, fists and strength came to mind whilst devising this small section of movement.

Questionnaire on Dance, Art and Poetry for the general public

Questionnaire on Dance, Art and Poetry for the general public

What is your name? ………………………………………………………………..

What is your age? …………………….

What is your occupation? ……………………………………………………………………………..

Have you ever heard of Banksy before? Yes/No

Do you know who Banksy is? Yes/No

Do you know what art form Banksy creates work for? Yes/No

If yes what is it? ……………………………………………………………………………………………….

Looking at this picture below, what do you think it represents? What does it make you feel?

 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Do you regularly go to the theatre or to watch dance performances? Yes/No

Have you ever watched a dance performance that involves art before? Yes/No

Have you ever watched a dance performance that involves poetry before Yes/No

If yes what was it, when did you see it and what art forms were used?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Do you read poetry? Yes/No

Do you like Art? Yes/No

If you don’t involve yourself within art or poetry why do you think this is?

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

If you do involve yourself within art and poetry can you tell me why?

 …………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Do you think that you would like to watch a dance work that combines elements like art and poetry? Yes/No

If yes why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

If no why?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I am using poetry and art as a stimulus to generate movement material. For the performance I will be projecting the art work at the back of the stage on a wall so that it is in the background whilst the dancers perform.

Do you think that by having the art work present that it will make it easier for an audience member to see relationships between the art work and the movement? Yes/No

Why do you think this?

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

To what extent can William Worthless’s poetry influence the dance choreography we have made?

Aim of the session:
To what extent can William Worthless’s poetry influence the dance choreography we have made?

William Worthless quote,

 ‘I like writing poems for everyone and try to bring enjoyment and make people feel happy after reading’

 

Banksy by William Worthless (2014)

There is a man called banksy he paints upon a wall

Sprays on any building either big or small

A painter of renown a famous man is he

Painting pictures everywhere for all the world to see

A superstar of art an icon we all know

Everyone knows banksy no matter where you go
 

Cited at URL: http://hellopoetry.com/words/181479/banksy/poems/ (Accessed on 29/04/15)

This worked well however further exploration needs to be done into making a visual representation between words and movement.
Next session I will look into how they can change the dynamics of the way they are saying the poem or even project smaller sentences or words whilst moving to see what effect happens.  

 

Session on wind, and how to find the quality of wind.

It was a windy day last week so I asked the group to improvise outdoors in the wind, so that they could get the feeling of how a balloon would float, be blown and dragged by nature.

Task: improvisation in the wind

Objectives:

• to understand the dynamic quality of a balloon in the wind.
• to improvise around the stimulus of wind
• to make connections to the choreography that they have already made.

Artist Peter Lanyon

Task 1: To pick a painting from the resources I have provided and use it as a stimulus to the create two counts of eight of dance choreography. Afterwards you will chose a poem, it can relate or not that is your choice. we will be reading the poem out while you dance, this will explore the relationships between dance, and art poetry and whether they can create connections and layer meaning.

The poem that was used was: I caught a train that passed the town where you lived, from the book:

Patten, B, Collected love poems,(2007), London p.119

'I caught a train that passed the town where you lived.

on the journey I thought of you

One evening when the park was soaking

you hid beneath trees, and all around you dimmed itself

as if the earth were lit by gaslights

we had faith that love would last forever

 

I caught a train that passed the town where you lived.'



The paintings that were used as a stimulus to choreograph from can be found at this reference.
Lanyon, p. (1992) Air land a sea; exhibition: Camden Art centre, London, South bank centre.
pp.. 33,19,29

The three paintings that were chosen are as follows:

• Gunwalloe (1959)
• Colour Construction (1960)
• Porthleven (1951)

Here is one of the paintings as an example:




This image is part only a section of the painting, Porthleven (1951)
Available at URL: http://www.culturecritic.co.uk/_furniture/exhibitions/peterlanyonporthleven176x176.jpg (Accessed on 28/04/15)

What did you use from the paintings initially to create movement?

Response: Circles, shapes, colour, contrast, how bold the lines were, shading, mood, how it made me feel, emotions. Everyone's different so its good to see different interpretations.

 

 

 

 

Todays sessions feedback - art, poetry and dance

Today aim and objective: to explore creating choreography by collaborating with art and poetry.


Task 1: To use the material from Cunningham chance workshop that was created last session to develop the choreography by using ideas from the Banksy painting.

Task 2: To look at the 'Girl with balloon' painting and create movement from it.


Girl with balloon:

Available at URL: https://morequestionslessanswers.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/img_1931.jpg (Accessed on 29/04/15)

 

The main choreographic ideas that came from this Graffiti Art:

1. Reaching for something like the balloon.
2. Meeting and parting
3. Light and shade, tonal effects, to create dynamics
4. Balloon characteristics such as floating, swaying, weightlessness.

Light and shade task:

After analysing the art we discussed the balloons colour but we also talked about the tonal effect. The black and white and how it ranges from light to dark. Using this light and dark tonal scale we used it to influence dynamics.

Do you think that this task of using the tonal effect in the image to create a change in dynamic was easy ?

Response: It worked nicely you could see the contrast in movement between the three of us. There could have been a moment of stillness in the movement though I feel because then there would be moments where the audience could stop and relate the movement to the image.

Chelsea and Sam created a duet. Chelsea represented the little girl in the image and Sam represented the balloon.

Chelsea's instructions were that she wasn't allowed o take her eyes off Sam, and that she wanted to get close to the balloon to catch it.

Sam instructions were to take on the dynamics of the balloon, the weightlessness, floating and air feeling.

End session discussion,


Did you think using the image as a stimulus to create choreography reinforced the performance?

Response: I had no idea who Banksy was until today and it was good to have the chance method to help stimulate choreography and to expand my ideas.

What did you learn from exploring art as stimulus for choreography?

Response: That the picture had a connection to the dance choreography made. Whatever art form it is they all have a connection to one another on the progress of how they are made.

Did this experiment with art make you re assess the way in which you  usually choreograph?  

 

Response: yes cause I don't normally use paintings or poetry to create movement. I might use a word, a sentence or a theme. I found that the picture helped me to create more interesting un predictable movement that I wouldn't have thought to do before.

What did you find challenging about today?

Response: Reading out the poem, I lack confidence when reading out loud so I found it challenging to begin with. However after some practice and once I have learnt the words I will know what I'm doing and feel more comfortable.


Do you think performing a poem and performing a dance are the same?

Response: No because I don't have to speak. I don't like drama so to shout a sentence or call someone's name is easy but to read a full sentence I get muddled. in dance you can improvise and the audience wont notice however in English language there is a pressure to use the correct grammar.

Do you think that the poetry added anything to the choreography?

Response: Yes, it created a storyline. The movement had no connection to the poem but when you heard the poem spoken out whilst you watched the movement I was able to make connections to he words and what I was seeing.
 

Combining Poetry and Art

Kenneth Goldsmith performs a guerilla reading in the MoMA galleries.



Photo: Jackie Armstrong (2013)



Available at URL:
https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/blog/combining-poetry-with-visual-art-to-see-and-feel-in-a-new-way (Accessed on 28/04/15)

This Idea came from researching the experience an audience gets when walking around an Art gallery. A typical experience of an art gallery viewing is often taken over by large crowds. This business creates tension and often you can just find yourself walking round without pausing or stopping to look at the material. My experience of going to Art gallery's such as the Tate Modern is that I find it a very vast and a large building to contend with therefore I already feel daunted before I even start. Also I find it hard to connect to the art straight away because all it says is the name of the artist and when it was created. In some ways this is an interesting way to develop own opinions and creativity. However this research created an idea for a collaboration between art and poetry. This has enabled a meaning because I can imagine its like layers words over the painting. Whilst the audience is viewing the painting they are making connections between the words and the painting. they are being stimulated to be engaged with the performance.

This research has enabled me to see the importance of other art form collaborations and from this I plan to do a dance and poetry session with the dancers today.

Arts Council England, Combined Arts

This 'Combined Arts' Web page from the Arts Council England is an example of a platform that combines Art forms, artists, companies, and producers to work towards a performance outcome for example festivals. The Liberty Festival (2009) is an example of a way to bring society into dance and get them involved within the arts. Combined Arts writes about their aims and goals, one being that they wanted to 'bringing the creation, commissioning and programming of art into new contexts, offering audiences new experiences'. This aim suggests the importance of collaborating with the arts to create new work for audiences to get involved in.
During my PaR process I will be paying attention to the audience participation, involvement and engagement towards my process but also my final performance. When I hear the word 'Arts' I think of fun and associate arts in a context of playing, creating and having that moment of exploring into the unknown. I also make connections between childhood memories of playing within the Arts, whether it be an Art class, or combining drama and music. This self expression and creativity is what I am proposing is so important to the development within the Contemporary dance choreography today. And this source has shown that they believe their is research to be done within this area.

Everything below has been directly copied from the website, Available at http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/what-we-do/supporting-artforms/combined-arts/ (Accessed on 28/04/15)

Combined arts

Liberty Festival 2009

Liberty Festival is an annual celebration of deaf and disabled arts.  

Previous thumbnailsNext thumbnail

• Liberty Festival 2009
• Wandsworth Arts Festival
• Crowd pleasing: why carnivals in the South West are the winning cultural ticket
• Live streaming captures new audiences for South East arts organisations
• Building fundraising capacity: Circus Space
• Exploring the legacy of summer seafront spectacular Blink Margate

 

National portfolio funding

Find out more about combined arts organisations and the National portfolio.

Combined arts encompasses a range of organisations that work across multiple artforms to achieve their aims, including festivals, carnival, arts centres and presenting venues, rural touring circuits and agencies. It also includes artists, producers and companies that create multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary work, carnival, celebratory and participatory arts.
Combined arts practice increasingly reflects the way many artists want to work and audiences want to engage. Our aim is to support high-quality work and organisations that truly connect with people. 
Combined arts will contribute to our Great art and culture for everyone goals and priorities by:

• pushing artistic and cultural boundaries across all artforms, for example Manchester International Festival, the Royal Opera House, the Lowry, Artsadmin

• bringing the creation, commissioning and programming of art into new contexts, offering audiences new experiences, for example Artichoke, Fierce Festival, the November Club

• building on the artistic and infrastructural legacy of London 2012, which has provided a springboard for some exceptional combined arts activity, such as Imagineer's Godiva Awakes and Kinetika's Imagination our Nation and other projects supported through Artists taking the lead and Unlimited

• developing high quality, ambitious art in a variety of outdoor spaces, carnivals and festivals, such as Stockton International Riverside Festival, Thames Festival and St Paul's Carnival, ensuring that a wide range of artists are given opportunities to create work for these environments

• playing a stronger, more influential role within touring in England through organisations such as the National Rural Touring Forum, Farnham Maltings and Crying out Loud, supporting, developing and co-commissioning a wider range of work to tour, reaching more and different places and people

• developing a flexible and creative approach to working with people in places that have low arts provision, finding new places and ways to programme art, for example Corby Cube, Hall for Cornwall, the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield

• working in depth with communities that are less engaged in the arts. We want to see organisations such as TiPP (working within the community justice system), Heart n' Soul, Artlink and People United given a higher profile both within and beyond the arts sector

• making a strong contribution to the creative economy, for example the Southbank Centre, the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal, the Inside Out Festival in Dorset. We want to see organisations develop stronger, deeper collaborations with partners both within and outside the arts so that their work is supported and valued by a much wider range of stakeholders

• offering more entry points into the arts for people from a wide range of backgrounds, with a route through to wider education and work opportunities, for example the UK Centre for Carnival Arts, Gem Arts, Milap Festival Trust

• giving more young people platforms to create and show their own work and developing the artists and arts participants of the future, for example Norfolk & Norwich Festival, the Roundhouse, Brouhaha, SPARK Children's Arts Festival in Leicester

Mondays session feedback, Cunningham chance methods to create movement.

Today's session I was researching the following areas.

- Explore Cunningham's chance method of creating choreography.
- How music can influence the dancer to create choreography.
- How chance can expand the creativity of the choreographer.
- Analyse and highlight the benefits and reasons for why choreographers should collaborate with a range of art forms and create new ways of creating movement.

Task: use chance as a method to attach music accordingly to the movement. The dancers have to create 4 counts of 8 of movement on their own.
Use music on shuffle to create unpredictability.

First I got the group to decide the track they wanted to dance to. Sia big girl cry. This is a new song out that is well known. I found that when I left them to talk about it that they were discussing what track they could choose so that it would fit with the movement that they felt comfortable with, they were pre planning their choreography without even realising. The movement that they used became predictable.
Whilst watching I saw.. That the music and movement directly went, the music is very repetitive in rhythm and the dance movement that was created , became similar. Because of this there wasn't any moments of light and shade and dynamic climax.

I also wondered if they choose this song and movement style because of their knowledge of previous dance history.
All three dancers began to create movement directly to the songs rhythms, when the song finished i waited to see if they would put the music back on and they did, this shows that they were creating movements directly to the music and they were relying upon it.

Now I gave them the task of creating movement with Merce Cunningham's chance method. I can see that the chance method began to layer and develop the movement to become more interesting to watch.
We rolled the dice to see what constructions would be used to develop the movement.

Here are the choreographic devices for the numbers on the dice.
1- use a different body part
2- add a movement
3- create a moment of contact with another dancer
4- hold a position in stillness throughout the piece
5- speed up or slow down the phrase
6- travel your movement to enter or exit the stage space.

The first time round was, fast and slow, fast and slow, and hold stillness
The second time it was, use another body part, moment of contact, travel your piece.
The third time it was, add a movement in, speed up or slow down, contact.

Afterwards I asked them to roll the dice to determine which dance phase would be used then I shuffled my music playlist to see which song they would perform it to. Which created the element of unpredictability.

Discussion on today's exercise.

Which dance choreography and random music from shuffle worked the best?

Feedback,
3rd, halo music shuffle worked well as a group the ending and the start.
2nd one, meditation music felt awkward when I had movement that was fast

Do you think that if you were to improvise with music that you would get a different out come?

Feedback, Your more likely to dance to the style and genre of music because you haven't got any choreography before hand. There's no one telling you what to do, it's just you. If you have created the piece before you already have a style so you tend to stay to that style, whether you are used to it or not.You can also begin to rely on what the autopilot is telling you what to do.

This shows that creating movement prior to adding music will create a more interesting outcome. You have a clear head and haven't got any influences to begin with. I think that it is still important to have a theme for a starting point in some cases.

Do you think it's important that there are benefits for choreographers?

Feedback,
You get more out of your creativity, you crate to the music.
It adds more dept to the dance

I feel that this workshop expressed the importance of combining art forms, and using music to enhance movement and not to just add onto it. This experiment showed how choreographers can become more creative and unique.

Merce Cunningham's approach to adding music to dance after the choreography has been made.
The question arises Do you think this is a good way to choreograph?

How do you choreograph a dance? Would you choose music first when having to choreograph?

Feedback,
Tessa would start creating movement with different music and try out different types of movement because she finds and adapts different movement once found a track?

Sam- pick a song , mess around and see what's best.

Chelsea- picks a song, the song is a starting stimulus and then the movement creates from there.

Depends on the situation
If there are accents in the music you will have to adapt it to the music if you haven't already rehearsed with the music.
Music comes then you can create the choreography
Whereas musical theatre you will have to listen to the music before hand, and there is always a storyline in musical theatre to represent.

How did you feel whilst doing the task today?

Feedback,
Some areas were difficult when someone had to make contact with another dancer.
Whereas as a group we thought it was an easy enough challenge to rearrange our choreography

Internet Research, Contemporary Dance History

The website Contemporary dance history, available at URL: http://www.contemporary-dance.org/contemporary-dance-history.html (Accessed on 26/04/15) pin points influential moments within dance history and shows the importance of the practitioners ideas, style and choreographic works on our society.

'We could say that both ballet and modern dance are ancestors of contemporary dance. Ballet creates the general concert dance frame work and technical knowledge used or refused by contemporary dance. Modern dance is at the same time its ‘anti-reference’ and kind of ‘mother in law’.

So, there’s a contemporary dance history before the 1950s: that one of ballet and modern dance, which somehow serves society to make emerge contemporary dance.' 

                                                                                    Directly quoted from the website. 

This website talked about Merce Cunningham. Cunningham used chance as a method of creating choreography and he always uses music that has no direct relationship to the movement. Therefore I am interested in creating a session around Cunningham's ideas of creating movement separate to the music. Afterwards I will analyse it and compare it to structure ballet choreography and repertoire.  

Available at URL: http://corp.lastlookapp.com/posts/legendary-collaboration-merce-cunningham-rei-kawakubo/ (Accessed on 26/04/15)

Merce Cunningham and John Cage talking about chance as a method of choreography, found on Youtube, 26/04/15

'Cunningham developed “choreography by chance,” a technique in which selected isolated movements are assigned sequence by such random methods as tossing a coin.' 

Available at URL: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/146610/Merce-Cunningham (Accessed on 26/0415) 

Similar research into Music and Dance

It is important to know what other research is being done into my area of Practice, so that I can specifically relate my research to the broader contemporary dance contexts.

For example:

London Studio Centre is holding a a practice as research open discussion round table event into music and dance tomorrow. The roundtable event has invited speakers Raymond Chai, Ashleigh Berry, Rhimes Lecointe. The all range from dancers, choreographers and performers from musical theatre television, ballet and dance company backgrounds. This round table event hopes to open up the conventions. Here are the questions that are proposed to begin the discussions/debates. You may see how they are similar to my research questions.

In which ways are choreographers inspired to work with music? What are the relationships between choreographic and musical structure in the 21st century? How do choreographers work with music to add complex layers of meaning to their work? How do music and dance highlight different and similar aspects of culture, and what does it mean for those to come together in a single performance work? What are the challenges and opportunities arising from mediatisation of both music and dance?

My Practice as research questions (These are just proposed questions they may change)

·    Has our society and culture influenced the way we use music within contemporary dance today?

    Does an audience engage more within a dance performance with music or without music?

·   What are the relationships between music and dance during performance?

·    Is a musical score like dance choreography?

·    Should practitioners combine different art forms to create performance?

·    How does music enhance and influence movement?

It is essential for my research process to know who is doing similar research because without knowing what has gone before or what is happening currently how can I propose what is the right idea for the future? 

Stomp, Clapping section

Naturally 7 Video

Reflection on Todays Session

My Reflection

After the Questionnaire today we discussed what direction we could take the choreographic Lab in. We discussed the question 'What's more important dance or music?', and as a result of this discussion we decided that Music and Dance have equal importance within dance performance.

During this discussion we also talked about society and culture and how we have been brought up to connect different sounds and genres of music with certain styles of dance. I plan to take this question further and develop this into my next session.

I feel that the Questionnaire was a good idea to gather initial thoughts from the group and it helped me to focus and plan the direction I will be taking my research next week.

After the discussion we looked at Table Music again to refresh ourselves with the idea of creating music through rhythms. We talked about the sound on the video and how they layered different rhythms on top of one another. We made connections to Tribal dance music, there was a feeling that the same rhythm could be played for a while and it wouldn't get boring. The music could just consist of three or four rhythms that are just repeated.

Following on from this video I showed the group some other dance choreographies and music groups that fused music and percussion in unusual ways. We look at the following:
- Stomp, where they use the body to create music and objects such as plastic, or brooms to create sound.
- Naturally 7, are a group that use the voice to create a band. They create the sounds of a drum, guitar and bass etc. just by the use of their voice.

After looking at these two videos we begun to talk about our ideas and thoughts. The group Stomp influenced us to think about creating a theme of recycling and using only recyclable materials to make sound. This could then create a society/ environmental theme of Global warming or the rubbish problem in landfill sites. Stomp also gave us the idea for a narrative, we discussed how the everyday objects used to create music could begin to represent rubbish and then the dancers could take on characterisations of the homeless.

The Cup Task

After this we began experimenting with some plastic cups, to see what soundscapes we could make. We each had two cups, we improvised creating a rhythmic score by tapping, banging, crushing, sweeping and flicking the cups on the floor.

We also thought about what styles of dance that we could incorporate within this research on Dance and Music. The dance style Tap was discussed as it uses the feet to create sound but also allows the rest of the body to move. We thought that the collaboration between music and dance should happen throughout so during this research I will conduct tasks were I divide the group up into people that create the music and then dancers that perform in relation to that music.
We also thought after we have worked on some rhythms that we could record them within the studio to allow us to have the performance semi live.
This would allow the dancers to leave the group one by one whilst their rhythm still plays on.

First Session Questionnaire, group feedback

Practice as Research: First Session, Questionnaire and Discussion

Task 1,
As a group complete this questionnaire, you are allowed to discuss through your opinions and answers because this is an informal questionnaire. The aim is just to grasp an idea of what you think about Dance and Music within Performance. So therefore this is a semi structured feedback that will allow me to analyse your views and opinions on the relationships between Music and Dance within Performance.

Question 1, within performance which is more important to you, Your performance, Music or Dance?

If so Why?

Answer: We feel that without a strong performance from the dancer the music and choreography is irrelevant.

Question 2, Do you feel that combining art forms in choreography is a good development within contemporary dance today?

Answer: Yes, this is because the performance becomes more interesting to new audience members.

Question 3, Do you get that feeling to want to dance when you hear music, similar to hearing a song and then singing along?

If so Why?

Answer: Yes, Music influences how you feel.

Question 4, Do you think that different music genres can influence you to move in different ways?

If so Why?

Answer: This is because different styles of dance automatically have a style of music connected to it.

Question 5, Do you think that a musical score is like a dance choreography?

If so How?

Answer: They both complete a piece of work by following the instructions.

Question Six, Do you prefer Dances that are choreographed to music or not?

Answer: Yes

Question 7, Does and audience engage more within a Dance performance with or without music?

Answer: With music.

Forward Planning for my first session

Before today's session I am going to research how to formulate a Questionnaire, so I can prepare some questions for the group to answer together about their views and opinions on Music, Dance and Performance. To help me structure a successful Questionnaire I have looked at this Website Wikihow, Available at URL: http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-a-Questionnaire-for-Research (Accessed on 23/04/2015).

Figure out what information you are trying to gather from this survey

Write an introduction for your questionnaire.

Use closed questions for questionnaires.

Order your questions in a way that is meaningful and easy to follow.

Put the more important questions at the beginning of your questionnaire.

 

Add a little variety to your questions

 

Decide what methods you will use to reach your target audience.

 

 

All of the statements above are taken directly from the website.

 

 

Initial Choreographic Lab Proposal Pitch

Module Choreography 2
Module Leader, Kirsty Russell and Noyale Colin
Vanessa Sleightholme
(S161176)

Here is my initial Choreographic Lab proposal that I pitched to my dancers this week.

Choreographic Lab Proposal on Composer and Filmmaker Thierry De Mey and Choreographer Teresa de Keersmaeker

My practise as research will be a collaboration between composer Thierry De Mey and Choreographer Teresa de Keersmaeker. I want to research these two artists because they both have an interest in the relationships between music and dance as I do. I know we were supposed to choose one choreographer however, after researching and finding out that Thierry de Mey and Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker have collaborated before I thought it would be interesting to fuse both the choreographic themes and the compositional ideas together in order to influence my own work.

Influences from research

Table Music’ by Thierry de Mey consists of three performers creating sound on wood. This work really inspired me to want to create my own music from objects other than instruments instead of using a sound accompaniment backing track.

Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s work focuses on the importance of music and how it can influence the human body to move. During my research I watched a video of her work ‘Performance 13: On Line (2011)’ and the use of sand showed a sense of specific arrangement, planning and architecture. There was a very geometric, mathematical approach to this work however I liked the simplistic movement material and performance attitude. Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker work has inspired me to want to create a musical score to start off with, so that it will allow for my dancers to feel a connection between body and rhythm.

What I propose to do

I propose that I would use two of my dancers within an experimental workshop to create sound on objects such as metal, wood, plastic, paper and tins. With an idea of then beginning to create a musical score that would accompany my movement.

Keersmaeker’s works involve an element of performance Art, so I also would like to experiment with my dancers creating something visual. I would like the blank stage space to transform, so the audience can actually see their presence when they are not there anymore.

Theoretical Source

1 – Conversation between Massimiliano Schiavoni and Thierry de Mey. They discuss where and when his interest in dance begun, his first work and his company and his collaborations with choreographers.

Available at URL: http://www.digicult.it/digimag/issue-036/theirry-de-mey-music-movement/ (Accessed on 21/04/15)

Video Clips

1-         Table music by Thierry de Mey, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J91emaxq0iY

2-         Performance 13: On Line (2011) by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1OHl8_MPEg

3-         Live Drawing and Dance Response to visual art: Laura Kvelstein and Jaanika Peerna, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K4Tr70q5JI