Wednesday 21st October
Additionally, the
dancers do a joint forward contraction with fanning arms, whilst maintaining
contact; this is an example of a more contemporary style movement. This is
repeated 3 times during the routine, which is an example of repetition; Justin
Peck may have deliberately done this to make this movement stand out. This
movement may imply that the dancers are suffering in some way but our
supporting each other. I really like this part as it allows the dancers to show
emotion during the routine.
The music used in Justin Pecks choreography piece ‘Year of
the Rabbit’ is played by an orchestra, which makes the routine feel more
traditional to the dance genre. The lighting is only shone onto the dancers and
the rest of the stage is in pitch black. The simplicity of the lighting and
setting allows the audience to focus their attention on the choreography and
the way the dancers move.
Bibliography:
Peck, J. (2019). Peck 1 - Year of the Rabbit PD2.vep. [online] Dropbox. Available at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8tx09ir9avt2h0a/Peck%201%20-%20Year%20of%20the%20Rabbit%20PD2.vep?dl=0 [Accessed 6 Dec. 2019].
My chosen choreographer is Justin Peck so I have taken a
look at his choreography piece ‘year of the rabbit’. This dance is a duet so is
made up of male and female dancer, both from the New York city ballet. Although
this routine feature classical ballet , it also includes some more contemporary
style movements. Further, both the dancers’ dress codes are typical to the
dance style of balle as the female is wearing a skirted leotard with pointe shoes and the male is wearing
a unitard.
The routine begins with both dancers on the floor and the
first sign of movements is taken from the male as he pushes the female dancer
up to standing, this is an example of contact work as the males movements
influence the females. This shows the trust the female has in the male, and
also conforming to the stereotype that the males are in control of females. I
like the way the dance begun, as I feel like it is an eye catching and
significant part which would intrigue the audience.
I also noticed that Justin Peck includes quite a lot of choreographic devices into his piece. For example at the very beginning retrograding is shown when the female bourees forwards and then bourees back, she separates a way from the male and is then instantly drawn back to him, perhaps implying that she is reliant on him. Furthermore, this relates to the way the dance is structured, the dancers separate and dance some movements individually in unison but then come back together to perform a pad de deux. This part at the beginning may be significant and have a meaning behind it, but this isn’t made to clear, so it allows the audience to interpret it in their own way, although I think it suggests the dancers are drawn to one another. However I think that this is very effective from the audience’s point of view and is also very memorable. Furthermore, throughout the dance the female’s movements are exaggerated almost as if she’s falling forward but then the male dancer catches her just before, further implying the female dancer is reliant of the male and wouldn’t be able to do the move to the maximum without support from the male.
I also noticed that Justin Peck includes quite a lot of choreographic devices into his piece. For example at the very beginning retrograding is shown when the female bourees forwards and then bourees back, she separates a way from the male and is then instantly drawn back to him, perhaps implying that she is reliant on him. Furthermore, this relates to the way the dance is structured, the dancers separate and dance some movements individually in unison but then come back together to perform a pad de deux. This part at the beginning may be significant and have a meaning behind it, but this isn’t made to clear, so it allows the audience to interpret it in their own way, although I think it suggests the dancers are drawn to one another. However I think that this is very effective from the audience’s point of view and is also very memorable. Furthermore, throughout the dance the female’s movements are exaggerated almost as if she’s falling forward but then the male dancer catches her just before, further implying the female dancer is reliant of the male and wouldn’t be able to do the move to the maximum without support from the male.
Furthermore the dance
ends on a pas de deux piece where the female steps up to a first
arabesque, I think that this is a significant part or the routine at it is the
biggest movement and only happens once, therefore it is a highlight.
Overall the movement
shown use a fairly low amount of energy and are performed slowly to really
exaggerate the preciseness of the intricate movements. Further the entire dance
is very elegant to create a sense of effortlessness; I really enjoy watching
this routine as I feel like the choreography allows the dancers to express a
lot of emotion, and the movements are very delicate, but also include various
dynamics to make the choreography interesting
for the audience to watch.
Bibliography:
Peck, J. (2019). Peck 1 - Year of the Rabbit PD2.vep. [online] Dropbox. Available at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8tx09ir9avt2h0a/Peck%201%20-%20Year%20of%20the%20Rabbit%20PD2.vep?dl=0 [Accessed 6 Dec. 2019].
Your view of the piece and Justin Peck's is really expressive and I liked that you also looked into his style of choreography. Will you be taking his techniques into consideration when choreographing your solo?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. Yes I will definitely be including some of Justin Pecks techniques in my own choreography.
DeleteYou have discussed the dancers movement and choreographic intensions in create detail as well as stating and explaining which choreographic processes Peck had used which makes this a really strong piece of writing. How do you think the costumes and the set enhanced the performance of the piece and do you think it would have had the same impact without them?
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comment Storm! I think the use of the black out lighting on the entire stage with just a spot light on the dancers, made the audience focus on the dancers and enhanced their movements, furthermore this made the routine intriguing. I don't think the routine would have the same impact without this use of setting.
DeleteI enjoyed reading this blog post as you've gone into a lot of detail into the movement in the piece. You mentioned that the piece allows the audience to make their own interpretations, what other interpretations do you think could be made from the movements and relationships?
ReplyDeleteThank you Mhairi. You could interpret the movements in the way that the female is reliant on the male and perhaps there is a romantic relationship between the two dancers.
DeleteYou have discussed the criteria of this blog in great detail. I like how you went into great depth about the choreographic devices of the piece.
ReplyDeleteWhat emotion do you think the piece is trying to project? Also, you mentioned the lighting in the dance, what effect does it create? Was it successful?
Thank you for your comment Louisa. I think the main emotion shown in the piece is happiness. The lighting on the stage draws all the audiences attention to the dancers. It also creates quite an eery setting, which I think is done successfully as it intrigues the audience.
DeleteThis is a great start! Your writing clearly describes the movement used, including detail on the use of choreographic devices. For further development, it will be worth analysing the purpose of the piece further and discuss what the piece is trying to communicate to its audience. Think about why the choreographer may have included certain movements/ choreographic devices/ emotions. What impact did the music have and how did this have an effect on the piece? By carefully analysing your observations, it will offer new questions for your consideration and may help you recognise details you may not have considered whilst watching. Using other resources, can you consider what other ideas may have been discussed (please reference). In your opinion, was the piece successful? Please link the video within the post
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback. In my opinion, I think the piece is trying to communicate to the audience the idea of working as team can overall impact the whole routine in a positive way. Due to the fact the male and female dance as one, and there movements are reliant on each other. I think Justin Peck has used the choreographic device of repetition to make certain movements stand out. The emotion in this routine is linked to the movement, and their facial expression stay quite serious throughout. I think Justin Peck deliberately kept the emotion to the minimum to make the audience focus on the movements. The music is fairly emotive which further links to the movements shown. I think this piece was successful and I enjoyed watching this choreography piece. I will attach the video to my blog.
DeleteThis is a very detailed blog in which you have clearly explained about your thoughts and opinions based around this work. You have discussed about the movement material well and I like how you have included a video of the work as it helps to give the reader a better understanding about what you are discussing within the blog.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you feel Justin Peck has chosen this particular lighting?
well done I really enjoyed reading this blog.
Thank you very much for your comment Rosabella. I think Justin Peck used the lighting of blackout, with just two spotlights directly on the dancers on purpose. Perhaps to draw all of the audiences' attention onto the dancers, without any distractions of setting or more complicated lighting. Additionally, he did this to create an overall eery feeling to the dance, in order to leave the audience questioning something and also to keep them intrigued.
Delete