motifs

Motifs! stofim! sfitom!

Motifs are a phrase of dance that is performed in a piece. Motif development is when the motif is changed in different ways and then repeated throughout the piece in this way.

This is the dance I and Summer created in our motif lesson... can you spot the motif?

The image below shows different ways that we can develop our motifs. We followed these in our lessons in pairs as we developed the motifs that we had learnt from Ghost Dance by Christopher Bruce.

Developing our motifs

I worked with Dionne in order to develop three of the six motifs we had spent time on learning. We chose to do Anthony, Holly and Luke's motifs, as these were, in our opinion, the best ones to develop. We changed the timing of Luke's motif to make it slower, which then changed the dynamic also. The then changed the level of Holly's motif in a way that made it lower down, thus seeming more sinister. Then, with Anthony's motif, we decided to add a lift and then make it flow lighter. The video below shows you I and Dionne's motif development.

Relationships in Dance

Relationships in dance

The first of our RADS is relationship.

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake (mother and son):

C asked the group to identify the relationship in Matthew Bourne’s (WOOP!) Swan Lake, specifically the scene between the Queen and the Prince which occurs in the latter’s chambers. This happens 26 minutes and 25 seconds into the video. You can watch it here.

I get the sense that, unlike in what is expected of a mother and son relationship, the queen did not appear too fond of her son. She made him hold his head up high, as if she were more bothered about his status rather than his own feelings. The prince, however, seemed desperate for attention. His movements were like those of a child’s; holding onto her tightly. However, due to his age and strength, it made his manhandling of her seem almost sexual, although I don’t believe he wanted her sexually. He wanted affection from the one woman who had never given it to him. The music, to me, sounds desperate and dangerous. It helps to show the distance in the relationship between the Queen and the Prince.

My chosen video:

I have chosen to look at a dance piece called El Tango De Roxanne. Originally, I wanted to look at the Moulin Rouge version, but, after talking to C who said that she wanted the same message to come across without the lyrics giving anything away. So, I looked and found this video. I think that this is better for the task that C has set us, because it's different to the dance in the movie.

One thing I liked about the relationship was that the relationship seemed violent from the beginning. However, at first it was more sexually violent, but around 1:40 seconds into it, it seems more personal, as if the man is offended. although in the movie, the dance is between and prostitute and an actor, I feel as if though this piece takes it into a different direction. The man seems hurt that he isn't able to control the sex worker. To me, it seems as if the sex worker doesn't want to be tamed, whereas the man wants to do just that.

If you watch the video with the music, it quite clear that she's a prostitute. However, what isn't clear id the man's role. I think this is interesting as it can lead to many different interpretations.

Dynamics in Movement

Looking at Dionne's group's dynamics in both tasks:

The dynamics used in Donne’s group’s work, in order to suit the music Requiem For A Dream, were robotic and jagged. The movements are intense and purposeful, and created a dark sense of foreboding. I thoroughly enjoyed the powerful, intense movements of the upper body. Furthermore, I enjoyed the fluidity of the slow motion sequence.

I liked the fact that, after we were told to use juxtaposing movements to our piece, Dionne’s group turned their movements into more gentle, caring movements that felt timid and shy. It was also interesting to see how the slow motion sequence was made softer, more passive.

How did you feel about the tasks?

All in all, I felt like the task to juxtaposing movements to music was difficult, but quite fun. One major issue that I had was timing; we made our movements faster, more harsh than our original movements to Blue Sun. Because of this, I was unsure with the new timing and how long to hold movements for.

Do you like dynamics?

I do! Dynamics, I feel, correlate well into drama. Movements are used to create an emotion, and you could juxtapose motions to music or setting in drama, too.

Analysing the Other Group's Video

What are you analysing?

Today, we are looking at action within dance. Now, for this the groups were split. In my group, Tilly, Keavy and Summer. The other group; Holly, Dionne, Anthony and Luke.

Previously, I uploaded my group's video, which the other group then has to analyse. I, on the other hand, have to analyse that group's video, which can be found here. So, I've been told to just look at th

e actions that I can see in the group's work.

So, I'll just bullet point what they do, and then go into more detail:

• The group begin with stillness
• They then put one foot in front of the other
• The group do a half turn
• The group then crouch
• They then roll onto the floor
• They are still
• The group do another roll
• They go back up into a kneel
• Luke and Anthony do a quarter turn and then go into a roll
• Dionne and Holly are still
• Luke and Anthony stand up straight, which then leads into a run behind the two to create a square
• They all do a full turn
• Then, they all do a waving gesture
• Another full turn s performed
• The group end in a half jump to face the audience.

I quite enjoyed watching their performance, and on a not so action-y level, I also enjoyed the different levels and shapes the group made with their bodies. It was interesting stuff! Now, I don't think from my bullet points above that I could recreate their dance. But, at least now we know the actions that take place in the dance.

So, when we begin to look at the other aspects of RADS, I know that I can at least identify the Actions that take place.

Maybe one day my knowledge will be so vast I could describe any dance in immense detail...

... Or I could just use Labanotation.

Dance: Exploring Action

This is the video that Clare wants you to study.

Rudolf Laban and Labanotation

Who is Rudolf Laban?

I won't spend long on talking about Laban's past.

Laban was a Hungarian dancer, director a theorist. He was born into a rich family that governed provinces within the Austro-Hungarian empire. So, he had a pretty happy childhood. He originally moved to Paris in order to study architecture, but then gained an interest in the relationship between human movement and space. It wasn't until Laban was thirty that he began to study, in Munich, the art of movement, known as Ausdruckstanz (no, I have absolutely no clue on how to pronounce that). He had connections to the Nazi Party, but that's not really too important at the moment. All in all? He's been pretty successful. Good for him.   

Why should I learn about him?

Mentioned above, Laban was interested in the link between movement and space. He wrote several books on this topic, such as A Life For Dance, The Mastery of Movement and Laban's Principals in Dance and Movement Notation. So, yes, he wrote a lot. However, as the title suggests, in my dance class, we are focusing on Labanotation.

What's Labanotation?

Besides being a fantastic word to use in Hang Man, Labanotation is a systematic way of noting down movements. You see, Laban felt that there wasn't an efficient enough way to note down dance moves. So, as all great minds do, he created his own method. Unlike using stick figures and words, he used a series of shapes and shades, as shown in the above picture, lovingly displayed by Laban himself. 

Laban used his notation for the following:

• To show the direction and level of the movement
• Which part of the body was actually doing the movement
• How long the movement occurred for
• The Dynamic quality of the movement

Hold the phone, if you're anything like me, you're currently wondering 'hmmm, what in the world is the dynamic quality of the movement. The stone cold truth is, it's the way the movement is done. Fast, gracefully, slow, frantically. So how would I write the dynamic quality of the movement?

• The way the movement is performed.

Much more simple, wouldn't you say?

Why is Labanotation worth learning?

If I drew a stick figure spinning, it'd A), look horrendous and B), not give you all the information that's needed.

You see, I could give the same horrible stick figure drawing to five people in my class. Dionne, for example, may want to do the twirl gracefully, taking her time. Luke may want to do it quickly. Summer might want to do it with one hand in the air. Anthony might do it whilst moving across the dance studio.

But I, the original creator of the horrendous stick figure drawing might want it to be done in a sinister way. There are so many different interpretations of that one drawing that, unless I were to write out exactly what I wanted in as much detail as possible, the movement could be completely different to what I actually want. Since writing it out in so much detail is a waste of time (and my handwriting is awful), I would want to use a method that tells the dancers exactly what I want. And which method does that?

LABANOTATION!

Sorry, I got excited. But yes, Labanotation tells the dancer what to do with their entire body. Let me show you with exciting graphs.

So, it's a bit like Dance Dance Revolution...

... With levels.

What on Earth did you just show me?

I know. It's so strange to look at. But trust me, it does begin to make sense. I'm not qualified to teach this whole new language, but this lady here is. CLICK HERE FOR LABAN LESSONS!

So, do you actually understand Labanotation?

I understand what Labanotation is for. I don't actually know, however, how to follow and learn from Labanotation. I'd like to, though. It's pretty interesting stuff and, who knows, maybe one day all dance lessons will be taught with abstract shapes and shadings.


So, what are your thoughts so far?

I'm looking forward to finding out how to piece together all of the Labanotation theories. I can understands the basics, if the amount of times I've spoken about abstract shapes indicates anything. Although the initial concept looks horrid, I have been assured by C that in reality, it isn't actually all that bad. Whether she's lying or not, we'll just have to wait and find.

I'd also go and give his wiki page a quick read if you're interested in Nazi Propaganda. His personal life was pretty interesting, despite being possibly the most scientific dance practitioner I've ever heard of.

My kind of dance practitioner is Matthew Bourne, but you can't knock it until you try it.

Bye!

Unit 22: Movement in Performance

What is Unit 22?

Unit 22 of the BTEC LEVEL 3 National Extended Certificate in Performing Arts course is, as the title suggests, all about movement in performance. Now, as somebody who began studying dance as a subject around seven weeks ago, the idea of dance is a bit skewered; I cannot leap into the arms of a bare chested man with the grace of a swan; I cannot backflip of the beat of Kanye West's new song.

In short, the thought of just dancing in front of an audience is quite petrifying. However, as the Delivery Guidance suggests; learning the different styles of movement is relevant for both dancers and actors. So perhaps the course won't be as bad as I fear.

Unit 22 has four learning aims; A, B, C and D. Creative titles, I know. Nevertheless, I shall provide for you darling readers a short summary of each below.

Aim A: Theoretical and practical ways to think of movement. So, we could attempt to look at Laban notations, or work as a group to come up with as many movements to express a certain relationship or feeling. We will also focus on understanding RADS, which I'll go into more depth about later.

Aim B: Creating a performance out of stimulus items, such as poetry or art. As a poet myself, it would be interesting to potentially see one of my poems reinvented into a dance routine. It may be a tad controversial, however.

Aim C: The actual performance. Here at Sutton Community Academy, we are given various opportunities to perform. We have a Christmas Show, a Dance Festival, an annual Musical, a Summer Show. In short, we get to perform a lot. I've been acting and singing in these shows since I was 11. The only time I've danced has been for the school musical, yet it's safe to say that my singing has been a far superior skill. So, just dancing for an audience? A bit of a scary concept. Let's hope the butterflies don't start.

Aim D: Evaluating my work. The Delivery Guidance I have been given by my teacher, C, outlines the IMPORTANCE of self-critism and constant reflection.

The current reflection of my dance skills: God, should he exist, is currently weeping.

What I hope my dance skills will be like by May 2017: Billy Elliot, step aside. There's a new dancer on the block.

What's Important?

For Unit 22, I think that the most important element of this piece will be RADS. What on earth is a RADS, I hear you yell? RADS stands for Relationships, Action, Dynamics, Space. Simply marvellous, I know.

Relationships:

I like relationships; it's similar to drama in the sense that we often use proxemics to show relationships. Proxemics is the distance and height between people or maybe a person and a prop. Relationships hold a very similar place in my head to relationships in drama. So I'm pretty confident about this.

Actions:

I like actions, too. Walking gets me places, lifting up a sandwich to my mouth fills my hunger and hugging my loved ones gives me that warm fuzzy feeling that only a loved one can give you. And perhaps, at the end of this course, Jumping, turning, boxsteps and a leap can give me a feeling of freedom.

Dynamics:

How fast am I going? How long do I hold this for? Am I showing the right amount on energy? I'm expecting dynamics to confuse me. I'm also expecting myself to just get on with it. There isn't much else to say on dynamics; it's just speed and the way the move is performed.

Space:

Let's hope I don't end up knocking somebody's tooth out. Space. Space is good. It keeps you safe, allows you to feel comfortable, shows the audience how the dance is going to work. For example, if I stood in a straight line with my group to perform, it'd look a bit boring. However, if we changed the spacing between us, to a zig zag pattern... now, that's what I call excitement! Space in dance: not quite the final frontier, but pretty close to it.

Thoughts so far?

I think that Unit 22 will be fun, despite my lack of dancing skills. My class is full of supportive students and two understanding teachers who I know will not push me past my limits, and make sure that I am comfortable with everything. I hope that by the end of this course, I am able to look back and realise how much I've improved; not just with my dancing skills, but with my confidence, too

Bye!

All About Me!

Hi! My name is Jessica, and I'm a 16 year old student at Sutton Community Academy. I am currently studying Performing Arts, a course lovingly guided by my teachers, C&A. I've never done something like this before but... well, first time for everything.

Likes:

Myself, being dramatic

Anime

Musical Theatre

Panic! At The Disco

Writing depressing stories and poetry

Dislikes:

Cheese

Conforming to society's norms

Brecht

So, that's all so far...

Bye!