Natural Selection Phrase

I wanted to create a new section of movement to slot in between my beginning motif of silence and the New Order ‘Blue Monday’ section. I wanted this new section to link the silence and the contrast of music together better to ensure the piece worked cohesively. I like the juxtaposition and the unexpected change in dynamics from silence to the beat of the New Order music however I felt my choreography would benefit from a gradual build up of movement and intensity. I like the uncertainty the silence brings, and I enjoy the focus being solely on movement. After my first choreography showing and peer feedback session it was evident that I found it difficult to keep in time with the music being introduced as my silence phrase had no prompts. Therefore, finding a piece of music that had subtle sounds allowed me to keep track of where I was in the piece.

After finding the piece of music ‘Natural Selection’ by Earth is Flat, its slow increase in intensity and tempo allowed for a gradual increase in speed and fluidity as I developed this new phrase. I decided to let the music inspire my movement ensuring they matched the pace and rhythm. This allowed me to be more decisive in the way I wanted my body to move. Also taking inspiration from Chroma by Wayne McGregor in my previous blog post I mentioned wanting to work with the music as his dancers do, experimenting with non- stop movement and by implementing this idea into this section I hope to build on the momentum of the piece. Shown in clip ‘Natural selection 1 and 2’ I have been analysing my movements asking myself questions such as:

·       Can I make more of each movement?

·       Can I extend each movement?

·       Is every movement as important as the next?

·       Am I extending to my extremities?

·       How can I enhance it?

·       Am I dancing Internally? Is this the effect I want?

·       How does a movement effect the rest of my body?

·       Even just a movement as simple as a shoulder roll, what does this suggest?

Asking myself these questions has allowed me to process my movements differently. I found that by watching the phrase back from an audience perspective, this forced me to question these types of subtle changes. A shoulder roll can be perceived in different ways and by practicing it I know I want it to show tension and resistance, for the effort to be apparent as if it’s hard to move the shoulder, for it not to look too soft. I have also decided that I prefer this phrase to be more internal so that the contrast of the more upbeat music choices is evident. I think putting tension into the shoulder roll should ripple through the body, but not in a rigid way, it should still look fluid.

Erin Taylor Natural selection Part 1: https://youtu.be/DRMkEsQOX8w

Erin Taylor Natural selection Part 2: https://youtu.be/9leWoL8QRxY