Evaluation
At the beginning of this daunting task, I was of the opinion that I wouldn't complete it. I had other intimidating tasks ahead and I was worried about my time management and how I could be as proactive as I can during my choreography sessions, in order for my piece to be fulfilling and captivating to the audience.
Using research throughout this process based on my chosen practitioners Marco Goecke and Raphael Bonecheli, as well as exploring work from renowned practitioners such as Jonathan Burrows, Kate Flatt and Twyla Tharp was an essential part for my choreography to be well-executed and as successful as it was. Whenever I felt unmotivated or a little anxious and stressed with how to start a section of my piece, I would often seek guidance from their books and then follow their desired approach in order for me to navigate my choreography effectively. Each practitioner helped me in different sections of my choreography as they aided me in envisioning aspects of my work from multiple angles. Flatt's questions that I reviewed in my last blog empowered me to think more about the way I use my time proactively, in order to gain an effective response from the audience. She mentioned that, 'working for a bit longer at an idea will reveal something that communicates more clearly', (Flatt, 2019), and with this came a multitudinous amount of ideas of how to embody my character as a victim of domestic violence. Burrows ideas and suggestions helped me with my mental health around this task as it's stressful to be both the dancer and choreographer. One of the most valuable pieces of information that I will take away with me is 'knowing when to stop working is just as important as working' (Burrows 2010). Taking the responsibility of acknowledging when I'm not in the creative headspace is one of the concepts that has helped me during this journey and as a consequence has kept my choreography vibrant, fresh and alive. This year I have really focused on interweaving my research and creative processes together and evaluating the relevance in each section. I felt like I illustrated this in my performance as I was confident with what I wanted the audience to take away from each section.
Within my choreography, it was important for me to show the themes that I gathered from my research as I wanted the audience 'to enjoy a range of experiences in my piece' (Flatt, 2019). Within my personal review and reflection blog, I mentioned the idea of contrasting different dynamics and rhythms in order to add more depth and meaning to my piece. On one hand, I want the audience to be sceptical and suspicious about my character, as I have a gun motif that is present throughout all my choreography. On the other hand, I want them to feel sympathy towards her, as she is stuck in an abusive cycle with no way of escaping. Due to this piece being 10 minutes, structuring my choreography in sections and dedicating set themes to each one, helped me stay on track in my creative development and also kept me accountable for how thought-provoking each section was. I am particularly proud of the beginning section despite me only adding it a couple of weeks ago. I accomplished my goal of 'challenging my natural movement style' (Athorn, 2022) and I made myself aware that I am more versatile than I originally thought.
By having found inspiration from research, such as Steiner's speech and Pardee's poem, my personal development as an artist flourished with each section. The way I incorporated and interpreted the material that I assessed was portrayed in the emotional intensity that I gave to my choreography, For example, in my nurture section, I focused on the upper body and how the hands caressed my face to symbolise the loving that my character yearns for. The stillness of my body, along with the soft melody of the music was a contrast to my dominance section, in which all of my movements are sharp and vigorous which matched the chaotic and commanding beats in the music. By having these pieces of research, I could easily go back to my intentions of the piece, in order for my practical work to be relevant to my research.
One of the targets in my choreography was to "have a build-up so the audience can grasp every stage...", (Nijinski Ballet Premiere ⎮ Marco Goecke ⎮Ballet Zurich, 2019). Not only did I want to do this with my emotions, but I also wanted my choreography to have many climaxes so I could 'move with expansiveness and captivating presence, (Athorn, 2022). As mentioned in my personal development blog, I have no issues with becoming my character as I am aware I am good at telling the story through my facial expressions, however, with movements I find it more intimidating. I argued that 'I have wonderful eccentric ideas, but I find it hard to physicalise them. I want my possibilities to be endless, however, I have realized that the visions that I have in my head are sometimes beyond my own expectations', (Athorn, 2022). Reflecting back on if I were to do this task again,, I, first of all wouldn't doubt my choreographic capabilities so much as the beginning as I believe it wasted valuable time. Instead, I would record my ideas and thoughts more frequently and correct myself. I would see that with some work, many of my ideas could have been spectacular, instead of being self judgemental and worrying what others might think. Following on from this, if I were to do this task again, I would write down what I had achieved as in the choreographic process, I felt stimulated and empowered by my thoughts, however, at the end when I reflect back on the small amount I often felt disheartened. Having a more positive mental health approach to this task would have aided me in acknowledging my accomplishments sooner. Despite this, I am thrilled with how I worked on this task and I enjoyed exploring the theoretical concepts and potential movement styles for my piece.
Overall, I am thrilled with how my 10-minute piece went and I have understood how I can involve compositions and dance together. When combining these two concepts together, I have found that I had more stimulating ideas that were of value. When performing my choreography, I wanted to be in the present moment and enjoy what I had produced. All of my efforts have gone into this 10-minute piece and it was a fulfilling experience to know that I performed it as professionally as I could. The sincerity in my piece, was in my opinion, shown throughout the whole 10 minutes and I didn't fail to show the audience my intentions. Being proactive and knowing when I was in the creative headspace helped me gain a new perspective of my choreography, aiding me to come up with new innovative ideas. My organisation throughout this project aligned my focus for when I was either in the studio, or equally doing work at home. This showed in my dedication and devotion in my performance as I wasn't apprehensive about what section came next, or if I was on time with the music, or most importantly, embodying my character. This task was a challenging yet rewarding experience and one that I feel extremely rewarded by.
References
Athorn, L., 2022. Initial idea/Stimulus. [Blog] Lucy Athorn Advanced Independent Solo Choreography (MU60362O), Available at: https://lucyhannahathorn16.blogspot.com/2022//02/perosnal-development.html [Accessed 8 February 2022]
Burrows, J., 2010. A Choreographer's Handbook. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Ltd, pp.54-57.
Danza Ballet. 2019. "Nijinsky" Ballet by Marco Goecke. Swiss premiere Ballet Zurich. [online] Available at: <https://www.danzaballet.com/nijinsky-ballet-by-marco-goecke-swiss-premiere-ballet-zurich/> [Accessed 8 February 2022]
Athorn, L., 2022. Initial idea/Stimulus. [Blog] Lucy Athorn Advanced Independent Solo Choreography (MU60362O), Available at: https://lucyhannahathorn16.blogspot.com/2022//02/perosnal-development.html [Accessed 8 February 2022]
Burrows, J., 2010. A Choreographer's Handbook. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Ltd, pp.54-57.
Why domestic violence victims don't leave | Leslie Morgan Steiner. 2013. [video] TEDtalks.https://youtu.be/V1yW5IsnSjo
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