Composition II
In this post, I am posting my final paper and final project from my comp II class. The purpose I am posting this because I would like to share what I have learned and created in this class.
Comp II Final Project:
Comp II Final Paper:
Composition II was a struggle for me. It was filled with ups and downs on a rollercoaster of self-doubt and stress. None the less, I am taking away major concepts that will propel me into my future artistic endeavors. In the beginning, most of my troubles with choreographing lied in my inability to let myself move and incapability to have trust in my way of moving. One particular packet really helped me take what I was making and transforming it in a way that I felt was adequate for the class in terms of what was expected. This packet provided me with tools to take what I had already made in first drafts, and convert the material into something that was exciting to not the only the audience, but to me as the performer. I found tools that took my style of moving and creating to a level where I enjoyed doing it rather than dreading the next assignment. Through required attendance at performances, I able to see how these concepts are incorporated into almost every work performed. This realization gave me confidence and assurance in what I was creating. That was I was creating is something I would build off of in the future.
Repetition is something I used in the study where we combined the 3/4 time, the 5/8 time, the unmetered fast and slow, stillness, and eight measures of recycled material. I used repetition at the end of my work not only to encapsulate it, but to bring back one movement that I had performed in the beginning of the minute and a half work. The repletion of this movement was different every time I did it. This brought an arbitrary meaning to audience members as to why I was doing it. I noticed that repetition was used in Minus 16. This took place at the beginning of the piece about three minutes into it. The stage goes black while the music is still being played. When the lights come up, the performers were all lined up in a horse shoe shape with black folding chairs behind them. The dancers repeat the same motions. Each time they repeat the motions the feeling and intention of them grow stronger. The embodiment of the movement become stronger through the repetition of it. In return, the audience’s investment became stronger as well.
Another thing I noticed about this section of Minus 16 is the accumulation of material. Every time the phrase repeats, movement or movements are tacked on to the beginning. Once the new material is introduced, it remains. For example, the performers started with the splaying out on the back of their chair followed by the speaking phrase. The introduction of new material evolves the piece. It started with a total of about three movements it its vocabulary and ended with about 15 movements. Another thing I noticed, is that there were clear sections of the piece. There was a blackout which cued a shift in the music. This shift in the music altered the way the performers were dancing. These sections are something we discussed in the same assignment that I talked about earlier.
Loom was an improvised work by the company of SeaBus. Not only was the dancing completely improvised, but also the music was improvised as well. In class, we discussed how a sound score can affect the way we perform movement. Since the music was improvised, the performers played with the beat of the music. If they happened to perform on accents in the music then it was completely a “happy accident”. As well, the musician took musical cues from the dancers. His musical accompaniment was sometimes based off of what the performers were doing. For instance, one performer felt the need to jump for a while. The musician took this cue from the performer and played a high note every single time the performer took off in a jump from the ground. This sort of reminded me of the first study we did, creating a sound score for ourselves and then later creating alternative movement using the same score. The performers were improving off of what the musician was playing. And vice versa, the musician was playing what he saw in the performers movement. Back to the first assignment, I had a very dry sound score. When coming up with new material to perform with it I improvised. I first recorded myself saying the sound score and then improvised to the beats and noises I was making. Sound score is important in a piece because it can either draw an audience members attention, or make them completely bored. The musician knew exactly when to switch the type of music he was playing. Yes, the performance of Loom was completely improvised, but I feel like this performance required an intense connection between the movements of the performers and the musical composition of the musician. As well, I noticed that the performers were filming their improvised performance. I had done with when trying to generate new material. My guess and assumption is that they were recording the improvised performance to use the material generated for a later date. When I did this, I kept the material I liked for either choreographing in that moment or for something I might do longer down the line. The company of SeaBus may use the improvised material from their performance that night and create a new work.
Particularly for me, I struggled with taking up space or using the whole space when choreographing my first draft of anything. I was typically always in the center moving away and back to the space I previously occupied. In the Faculty Concert, An Answerless Riddle choreographed by Eddie Taketa was full of motion. The dancers were never in one spot for more than two measures. Their center of weight was constantly changing direction and position in the performance space. A lot of the motion in the space consisted of jog like movement. As well, this movement was light and free, something that is hard for me because I usually have both of my feet planted on the ground. Another thing I noticed in this piece was the use of soloist, duets and trios. This reminded me of when we did the group choreographing exercise. We constantly had groups or individuals entering, exiting, or remaining in the space. An Answerless Riddle started out with a soloist. Somewhere in her solo another dancer entered the space and it became a duet. The original soloist exited the performance space as more dancers entered. This continued throughout the whole piece. The constant flow of people entering and exiting the performance space matched satisfyingly with the constant motion of the dancers around the space.
In conclusion, this class will most certainly help me when choreographing in the future. I have learned valuable tools that I will not only apply to my work, but also teach future students. One thing I will always try to remember is to also move in the space and not just back and forth. As well, I will be able to take what I learned from failed attempts and apply my new knowledge on how to fix them. Walking away from this class, I know I need to become more confident with choreographing and not to doubt how I want the movement to feel.
