Lesson seven : choreographing section two
In lesson seven we continued to work on our 10 minuet choreography group pieces.My group decided it would be easier to keep track of choreography if we structured our piece into sections. This means that we could pick a section each lesson to work on instead of random phrases of movement. By structuring our piece we can clearly see the storyline and how the piece will develop throughout the 10 minuets. It also made it easier to pick music as we could have a different phrase of music for each section. We structured our piece into six sections and talked about how we wanted the audience to feel when watching each of the sections. We wanted the piece to show the impact war has on a person and how it effects everyone in a different way. We want to show individuality and the pain and suffering caused by war.
After deciding the storyline of our piece we decided to pick music for each section.
There are seven sections and here is the music we picked for our piece: (The music we chose is in brackets)
- Marching (metronome 120bpm) We decided to go with a metronome at that speed as we did some research and found that most marching is done at 120bpm.
- Coming together (Vivaldi, the four seasons) This piece of music is very upbeat and dynamic and we thought it suited the energetic choreography of this section.
- Countdown (1976, Hans zimmer) We wanted the countdown section to represent panic and thought that the accents in the music could help represent the uncertainty of the emotion, feeling panicked.
- Caos (Halo theme) The cayotic energy of this music matched how crazy and uncontrolled we wanted this section to be.
- PTSD (moonlight sonata) This music creates a somber atmosphere. The slow pulse of the music made it easy to create movement too.
- Minuet silence (Trumpet) we wanted to finish our piece with a minuet silence, with the trumpet that plays in the background as this is an obvious motif and is very symbolic of our stimulus. It’s gives the audience a sense of reflection and solidarity.
After choosing the music we decided to work on section two. This was the coming together section and we wanted the choreography to show unity, strength and soldiers having fun and enjoying their training before heading to war. We all talked about how before the First World War the soldiers had no idea what was coming. They felt pride in representing there country and we wanted that to come across in our choreography. We used lots of acting in this section to help portray a sense of enjoyment and playfulness.
At the end of the lesson we performed our section to the rest of the class. Some of the feedback we received was that the choreography was clean and precise and it connected clearly to the stimulus. We could have enhanced the choreography by putting in more acting throughout and engaging with the audience more. To do this in our next rehearsal I will try and find ways to incorporate different emotions into my dancing and go over where my head is in each movement to make them clearer.
See link for evidence of section 2 choreography ( https://youtu.be/69vvT5wQwFM )
I like how you have done your choreographic work in sections as you will able to fully focus on each section in full detail. Has this helped you so far in lesson and how are people in your group finding that method? I also went away and listened to some of your music which I found fitted perfectly with your stimulus. What do you want the audience to feel when you play these pieces of music?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment Lucy. Personally I have found that the section method has really helped as it made me able to keep track of choreography and where abouts in the storyline it will be, this has helped me when deciding on emotion and how I want to portray the choreography!
DeleteFor the music we want the audience to feel a range of emotions from sadness and fear to happiness. We want to take the audience on a journey.
The way that you expressed why you had chosen each section, and how the music correlated to these, initially drew me in when reading your blog post. From a readers perspective this made your dance structure incredibly clear and gave me excitement towards watching your final piece. I feel as though the passion and commitment towards your individual characters in section two was incredibly clear. This allowed the audience to connect on a very emotional level to your piece as we were able to understand your choreographic intension of that section. How do you think having the audience connect on such a deep level will help your piece expand into something even more spectacular? Do you believe that it effect your overall performance?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment storm! Drawing the audience in at such an early stage in our piece will help them connect with the characters all the way through as you will follow the narrative of the piece and experience the characters emotions with them. Therefore the audience can feel apart of the piece and feel a deeper connection with the characters.
ReplyDeleteI have very much enjoyed reading through your chosen music. It is clear that each piece makes an excellent contribution to your choreography! I love that you cover a range of emotions, but I am intrigued that you have incorporated Spring from The Four Seasons. Does the sense of optimism serve to demonstrate a scene beyond the darker ones that are so often associated with war or to provide a contrast that only strengthens the tragedy?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. The piece of music (spring from the four seasons) was included to help portray a sense of happiness. The upbeat and dynamic music helped to contrast the playful and energetic choreography. We also felt it would be a contrast to the later slower more painful sections.
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