Wednesday 25th September
Review of today’s class
Review of today’s class
In today’s class we gained inspiration from watching Justin Pecks ‘In countenance of kings’ choreography piece, this lead us to then forming our own solos. I noticed that the main choreographic element he focused on in his piece, was continuously changing his rather interesting patterns and formations of the dancers. This made the routine rather exciting, and gave a feeling of suspension, as the audience are unable to predict what will happen next. After watching a interview with Justin Peck, he confirmed that the shapes and patterns is something he focuses on the most when creating his choreography. He also spends a lot of time drawing out different shapes in order to make his dances more interesting and eye catching for his audience.
Once we watched “In the countenance of kings” our task was then to develop are own choreography by using different body parts to draw out shapes. Therefore we went around the class and each of us drew a shape on the piece of paper just like Justin Peck does. After a while there were 17 unusual shapes on the piece of paper. Then we were asked draw or imply each of shapes with different body parts, and use the arrangement of shapes on the page as a map. Although I found this rather challenging, trying to think of movements to suggest the peculiar shapes. After a while I managed to come up with a short phrase which demonstrated some of the shapes. For example to represent a swirl, I chose to do a body ripple going up to relevé, which then led to me a doing a developé to the side evoking a squiggly line. To represent a trapezium I did a rigid plié in second position, whilst maintaining a flat back with arms on second. My next steps would be to continue developing my piece inspired by shapes, by working my way through all the shapes on the piece of paper.
I like how you have communicated what the task was, and how you explored Justin Pecks different ideas on how he created his choreography. Within your choreography, you had a good amount of elevation within your jumps and leaps. In addition to this, you explored a vast amount of different directions and pathways that your body can move. Have a look at your punctuation within this blog, and also possibly publish the drawings you did in class to give the audience an idea into what your solo was about.
ReplyDeleteWhat were your strengths and weaknesses within this task? and what do you think you could have improved?
None the less, you choreography was interesting to watch and I am looking forward to seeing how your blogs develop over time.
Thank you very much for your comment. I have now published a picture of the drawings from your class. In my choreography, I think I used different levels quite effectively. Although I think a weakness I had was incorporating all the shapes into my dancing, so this would be something I could have improved on.
DeleteI really liked the use of different levels within this to show different shapes. If you were to develop this with choreographic devices, which ones would you use and why? What other techniques does Justin Peck focus on when choreographing? Would you be able to use any of them?
ReplyDeleteThank you Mhairi. I think I would definitely incorporate the choreographic device of repetition because this is one that Justin Peck includes in his choreography. A choreographic process Justin Peck uses is using the music as inspiration for this movements. This is something I would definitely follow whilst choreographing my own solo.
DeleteThis is a really lovely piece of choreography! I enjoy how you can tell which shape is which when watching your dance, as well as seeing the fluidity and connection of each movement.
ReplyDeleteI just wondered weather you had any thoughts about what went well in your choreography and weather you had anything you want to improve on?
Well done this is a really strong blog post!
Thank you very much for your comment Storm. I think I incorporated different levels in my choreography quite well in order to show the different shapes. I would like to improve on creating new movements to show in my choreography, so then I don't repeat myself too often. I really appreciate your kind comments.
DeleteThis is a great start! Was the task successful? Why?
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes I believe the task was successful as I manages to incorporate the shapes into my movements quite clearly.
DeleteWell done Rachel! I can clearly see each shape made within your video. You have covered Justin Peck's choreography process with good detail. What did you find your strengths and weaknesses were while choreographing? Do you think you will you be using this technique again?
ReplyDeleteThank you Louisa. I think my strengths were including different levels into my choreography, although I found it quiet challenging to show some of the peculiar shapes through my dancing. I don't think I will be using this technique again as I didn't find it the most effective way tot choreograph for me personally.
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