choreography 18/11/14

Choreography logbook

Tuesday 18th of November 2014

In today's class we started to look at and focus on the word 'Motif' which is a phrase or an action that represents an idea/theme throughout movement. So from last week where we started to get ideas from our stimulus we now had to develop that further and create movements which portrays the thought we had. Both me and my partner picked the words trapped and close to develop, by using these two words we were able to come up with different actions that showed dynamics, levels and speeds. 

However we didn't just add these movements for the sake of it, we wanted to show a purpose, a link back to the motif. So the idea of using different levels was to symbolise either being trapped and close together or at a distance- far apart.We decided to start on the floor together, a position where we are both close and therefore came up with the idea of the floor representing us being trapped and as we got up the thought of us trying to become free. I feel like associating different level with different ideas helped us make the choreography more interesting and in result easier to start a journey through movement.

Here is a floor plan me and my partner started, by doing this it will allow us to remember from week to week what we are doing.

Although it may not make complete sense to whoever is reading it, both me and partner understand it and find it useful to do in the first lesson, however we have decided not to continue with it because we found out that it takes up to much time whilst in the studio, but it was a useful method to have.

what progress did we make?

I felt that during this class we used 60% of the time to start to create our phrases and the other 40% to note it down, which is fine but I would prefer that we focused more time on dancing and understanding the purpose of the movement- only reason was because studio time is precious and we need to seize the opportunity when we can.

In the class we started to develop a motif, we took an idea from our brainstorm, which we both agreed on and then started to improvise, whilst also referring back to the original movement to ensure that we remembered what we had done and wasn't free styling every time. At this point I felt both me and my partner got on very well, not only did we listen to one another but we felt comfortable to voice each others opinions, so if I didn't like something or was unable to do it, we worked together to adapt. We had a little jump which I could not do because of my injury, so we cam up with the idea of pauses, so my partner would do a move and then pause and then I would do a move after, but of course referring back to the idea of close/distant. 

At the start of putting our phrase together we used counts, however as we went along I notice we forgot about them and just did the movements, which is ok but did make us lose track at times. I feel for next week we need to implement this back in to ensure our time keeping is on point, but overall I felt both me and my partner worked well and I look forward to improving our work for next week.

what do we need to do next?

• After performing this piece in front of the class we got the feedback of being aware of the spacing, to ensure the audience gets the best possible view from us. So when it comes to next week both me and my partner are going to look at where the focus is for the movements- to remember it doesn't always have to be to the front!
• Another piece of feedback we got was not to allow the hands to look like they are mystic and magical, I agree with this point made because it doesn't relate to the piece we want to show, I personally believe it was a natural impulse, so therefore next week we also want to look at the hand gestures.

Aim for next week:

my aim for next week is to come up with a motif for a solo phrase.