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.