Choreography showing and peer feedback 2

This week I was able to perform my choreography for a second time to my peers. The performance allowed me to gain valuable feedback as to how my choreographic process is developing. Before performing my piece, I was asked to introduce my stimulus and intention of my choreography. I stated that I wanted to portray the butterfly effect, something building from nothing and that my movements developed around the idea of the undulating flight and journey of a butterfly. Also prior to performing I asked the audience some questions to think about and answer afterwards. I hoped these specific questions would then inform my next steps.

My questions and responses:

Q1. How did you find the change in tempo throughout my piece?

A. The tempo built slowly and seamlessly. You weren’t afraid of stillness and taking your time

Q2. What do you think will happen next?

A. Something big and dramatic is coming, an explosion like a ticking time bomb

Q3. What did you feel during or after watching my piece?

A. Engaged, Intrigued, wanted to watch more, scared to blink as I did not want to miss anything

Q4. How did you find my use of space?

A.  No answer given

Other comments I received:

·       Your motifs were relevant to the stimulus and could be seen developed throughout the piece

·       Musicality was amazing, you used both the melody and the beat

·       Your movements were assured

·       I would have liked you to be more confident with what you had created

In response to question 1 I was interested to know whether my piece undulated and fluctuated like the flight of a butterfly. I was pleased to find out that this came across and that the audience felt the rhythm in my movements. I intentionally wanted to pull at the music, following its tempos and playing with dynamics.

I wanted to find out what the audience expected to happen next, this would give me the opportunity to then decided if I wanted to go with their thoughts and opinions or contradict them. My peers picked up on my intention for the piece to slowly build so they thought that a climax and escalation was imminent. This makes me question how do I interpret a climax? Do I like the idea that everyone knows what is coming next? How could I keep the unpredictability alive but still be true to my stimuli? Going forward I would like to look at the idea of the hurricane as mentioned in my previous blog, contained but explosive movement.

I had asked something similar to question 3 in my previous sharing to enquire what emotions my body and movement were portraying. As I enhance and develop my piece, I hope to incorporate more facial expressions as well as tension and release in my body to express emotion. I did not get the response I wanted to this question however intrigue is an emotion I like. I was hoping that the audience would feel overwhelmed at times by my continuous movement. Therefore, when performing again I hope to have made my movements more gestural, expansive, and committed. This will also aid my confidence as suggested in my other comments by fully embodying each movement.

Before I performed my piece, I was concerned that I was using downstage left too much however on reflection after watching my choreography I was happy with how the movements utilised the whole space. I did notice that I was too far away from the audience for small nuances to be effective.

Moving forward the dynamics of my choreography need to be heightened for example the phrase seen in clip 10 shown below (https://youtu.be/0cELcDHFgl8)  can be more staccato, fragmented and on the beat of the music, contrasting the fluidity in other sections.


 I think the variation in dynamics will help to highlight the gradual build in energy. In contrast I would like to extend and lengthen the movement in clip 11 shown below, (
https://youtu.be/nMULlGWW2l4 ) At the moment I don’t extend to my fingertips, fully embodying each movement. I do not use resistance or breath to help show tension and release.

 


 

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