Choreography in Performance
Title: Choreography in Performance
Statement of Intention: To explore the performative qualities of live choreography.
Objects: 1 choreographer, 1 performer, 1 audience member.
Direction: The performer takes instruction from the choreographer while the audience member observes the entire process as a performance.
Conclusion: The performance concludes when the choreographer ends it (between 10 and 15 minutes).
Reflection: I really enjoyed this assignment. I worked with Mati as my performer. He has only been dancing since we began my choreography project, and already I can see just how strong of a performer he will become. It was interesting having our friend Kate there as our audience member; she had never seen Mati dance and was equally impressed. I felt the concept of the act of choreography being the performance was interesting and allowed me to see new possibilities in my own work.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Duet - Allison & Mati
Duet - Allison & Mati
Today someone was in our rehearsal space and refused to leave, so we had rehearsal in the theater in which we will be performing in a month. Alex was sick, so I took the body part phrases that we worked on last rehearsal and combined them and then continued it in the form of a duet between Allison and Mati.
Today someone was in our rehearsal space and refused to leave, so we had rehearsal in the theater in which we will be performing in a month. Alex was sick, so I took the body part phrases that we worked on last rehearsal and combined them and then continued it in the form of a duet between Allison and Mati.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Rehearsal Log - 10/7/11
Today was our first rehearsal. I was very excited and nervous since I had no idea how successful it would be and how the group would work together. As of now, there are four people in the project: myself, Mati, Alex, and Allison. I was worried about the dynamic in the group, because Mati (my fiancé), Alex, and I are extremely close, whereas Allison was new to the group. Allison and I were connected by a mutual friend who heard about the project on facebook and thought she would be interested. My primary concern during the first rehearsal (and subsequent project) was that Allison might feel left out. Knowing that she was a Pilates instructor, I thought it best that she lead the first warm-up (which was amazing). I thought it was important to have her voice heard from the beginning. After the warm-up, I asked everyone to remember an early movement memory. Then I split us up in to pairs and asked everyone to share their memory with their partner. Then I asked everyone to make a dance based on their partner’s memory. Then we split up into different pairs, and taught each other the phrases and combined them and performed them as two duets. We then took those two phrases and combined them into a long phrase, which we all learned. Lastly, I instructed everyone to take the long phrase and play with it to create a version that felt natural to each person’s style of movement. Here are those phrases:
Allison Shir
Alex Fred
Mati Bardosh
S. Asher Gelman
I finished up rehearsal with a 20-minute improvisation. I was really impressed by the work everyone did. The energy in the rehearsal was fantastic. My fears that I may have inadvertently created an uncomfortable situation were completely unfounded; Allison was a wonderful addition and had a great positive energy. One would not have known that she was new to the group. I was really glad, because while I had met her before and knew she was very friendly and positive, I had no way of knowing how she would get along with the group. I was also very impressed with my “non-dancers.” Alex had had training when she was younger and takes dance classes every so often, while Mati had never danced before in his life. While initially, both of them struggled a bit with the material, once they made it their own, their individual performative qualities really shone through. Alex brought a more feminine, fluid quality to the movement, while Mati brought a more angular, precise quality to it. I couldn’t be happier with their natural abilities. I am very lucky to have these people in my project. I was worried that I might have difficulty working with my close friend and my romantic partner, but when both of them entered the studio, they were nothing but professional. I can only hope that future rehearsals will be as successful as this one was.
Allison Shir
Alex Fred
Mati Bardosh
S. Asher Gelman
I finished up rehearsal with a 20-minute improvisation. I was really impressed by the work everyone did. The energy in the rehearsal was fantastic. My fears that I may have inadvertently created an uncomfortable situation were completely unfounded; Allison was a wonderful addition and had a great positive energy. One would not have known that she was new to the group. I was really glad, because while I had met her before and knew she was very friendly and positive, I had no way of knowing how she would get along with the group. I was also very impressed with my “non-dancers.” Alex had had training when she was younger and takes dance classes every so often, while Mati had never danced before in his life. While initially, both of them struggled a bit with the material, once they made it their own, their individual performative qualities really shone through. Alex brought a more feminine, fluid quality to the movement, while Mati brought a more angular, precise quality to it. I couldn’t be happier with their natural abilities. I am very lucky to have these people in my project. I was worried that I might have difficulty working with my close friend and my romantic partner, but when both of them entered the studio, they were nothing but professional. I can only hope that future rehearsals will be as successful as this one was.
Performance in Yellow Taped Box
Highway Dancer
Title: My Way or the Highway
Resources: Roll of 2" wide yellow tape.
Intention: To express the impact of societal limitation on the dancer in a confined space of a taped square
Preparation: Create a three foot square on the floor with the tape.
Instructions: One dancer performs movement inside a 2 1/2 to 3 foot square-shaped box (yellow tape) on the floor / sidewalk / other space for 10 to 15 minutes that reflects the comfort or conflict with limitation as defined by the performer.
Conclusion: 10 to 15 minute time period.
Outcome: I loved this project. It was so much fun doing it. Because of the holiday season going on right now in Israel, many places that would normally allow me to perform in their space would not, forcing me to plan B - dancing in the middle of Israel’s busiest highway. I’d like to say I got special permission to close it off, however, in actuality, on Yom Kippur, no one drives in Israel, so I was able to perform there without any traffic. I decided not to make a sign of my performance, because I did not want people to be preoccupied with what they would think I would want them to take away from this performance. I was photographed, filmed, and even joined by members of my found audience. It was truly a unique experience - performing on Israel’s largest flat surface yet only being able to use a single square meter of it. It made me think about the protests going on here about the price of living - how people are paying obscene amounts for tiny spaces in which to live. I was really glad we had this assignment and look forward to others like it.
Title: My Way or the Highway
Resources: Roll of 2" wide yellow tape.
Intention: To express the impact of societal limitation on the dancer in a confined space of a taped square
Preparation: Create a three foot square on the floor with the tape.
Instructions: One dancer performs movement inside a 2 1/2 to 3 foot square-shaped box (yellow tape) on the floor / sidewalk / other space for 10 to 15 minutes that reflects the comfort or conflict with limitation as defined by the performer.
Conclusion: 10 to 15 minute time period.
Outcome: I loved this project. It was so much fun doing it. Because of the holiday season going on right now in Israel, many places that would normally allow me to perform in their space would not, forcing me to plan B - dancing in the middle of Israel’s busiest highway. I’d like to say I got special permission to close it off, however, in actuality, on Yom Kippur, no one drives in Israel, so I was able to perform there without any traffic. I decided not to make a sign of my performance, because I did not want people to be preoccupied with what they would think I would want them to take away from this performance. I was photographed, filmed, and even joined by members of my found audience. It was truly a unique experience - performing on Israel’s largest flat surface yet only being able to use a single square meter of it. It made me think about the protests going on here about the price of living - how people are paying obscene amounts for tiny spaces in which to live. I was really glad we had this assignment and look forward to others like it.
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