averagedancer

[averagedancer]

Ballet rotoscope by Masahiko Sato & EUPHRATES

[averagedancer]

“It’s over, Anakin. I have the high ground.”

[averagedancer]

                             We could leave this world, leave it all behind                              We could steal this car if your folks don’t mind                              We could live forever if you’ve got the time

[averagedancer]

12/5/17

Semester Reflection

This semester was a definite journey of slight improvement from the beginning. One of the biggest struggles was being more comfortable sharing and speaking in class. Overtime I became more comfortable with sharing and speaking some. I contribute the slight improvement to two factors. The first factor was that I became closer with some people in the class. It made it easier because I was more comfortable with them. This comfort helped relieve some of the anxiety about presenting. Well I felt slightly better about speaking in the CRP I still found this a point of struggle. This is because I became more comfortable with my classmates. On the other hand I found that I did not process others dances always fast enough. So while my thoughts were processing others were already voicing on such. I hope to continue developing this skill in order to better participate in future discussions in later courses. I plan by doing this by practicing by myself when I got watch performances or videos I watch online.

After looking back on all of my studies I noticed that there were a lot of similarities. While I felt like I progressed in exploration of different elements I hope to try and find new movement qualities besides the one I would typically work in. Similar to the beginning of the semester I still focus and begin work the best when I'm laying down/more centered and calm. As time progressed I feel like it became easier to create different studies because I was in the habit of such. I feel to better prepare myself for further work with composition I should try and practice the skills I have learned this semester.

[averagedancer]

11/30/17

Inspiration/Work Day B

On Wednesday evening I looked for inspiration for my study. When searching for such sources I came across two songs which I posted before this post. These were two of the main songs I used for inspiration along with the rest of the playlist that I found, that contained them. Today I attempted on altering the two phrases I choreographed the previous class. I tried to take some of the movement and alter to match how I interpreted the songs in order to give it more of a story. This method helped me tremendously as I no longer felt like I was aimessly stringing steps together. After finding more inspiration my first diagonal evolved more. Also, this is when I decided to reuse the beginning diagonal in a sort of reverse pattern and then used the running to represent the "break free" idea. In my first ideas for the study I had used my entire first study in it and just worked off it. However, I ended up scratching such. In the end I only borrowing two small sections from the base study. These two parts were the first step of the study and then the percussive part. The percussive part though had evolved to be more soft and not have an purposeful audiable part to it. If the original study had not have had so much angular movement I do not think such an evolution would have occurred. Overall, I noticed that when creating I would have spurs of inspiration in which I was able to create a bunch but then hit a wall and not be able to think of anything else.

[averagedancer]

So let me freeze time Before it turns cold The moments go by And life goes on The torturous stars Are taking every breath I wish I held The love in my heart Is never ending

[averagedancer]

Nothing can breath, in the space Colder than, the darkest sea I have dreams about the days, driving through your sunset breeze But the first thing, that I will do Is bury my love for you

[averagedancer]

11/28/17

Work Day A 

After break I came back to class and went over the work I had completed beforehand and ended up scratching most of it. I realized that majority of it had been extremely angular which went against my challenge for the study. There were a few parts I was able to alter to have a softer vibe to it. When creating though I found myself with a lack of inspiration for movement/phrasing since I had no source/story to work off of. This was a definite struggle because the majority of this work day I felt like I was just aimessly stringing varying steps together. One goal I set in this work time was to look for some kind of solid source of inspiration in order to feel more successful the next class. Despite this I was still able to create two separate phrases (that I eventually combined). When creating these phrases I found ease in the exploration of different shapes and variations of a shape but much more difficulty with energy. I feel like I struggled with energy exploration because I like working in a certain comfort zone of energy. Also, once I get in a certain place my energy likes to stay steady and not really wander away from whatever that day’s energy is. The shape exploration was simpler because if I went into an angular shape I could think and try to shift it into a more organic one. When I focus on that concept it is just simpler for me to grasp. 

[averagedancer]

Binds Us, Surrounds Us

[averagedancer]

Messy Notes from Work Day A

[averagedancer]

11/21/17

Last Class Before Thanksgiving

Shape; body parts - scale - organic/angular - symmetrical/asymmetrical

Space; level - floor pattern/pathways - stage space - facing

Time; tempo - momentum - duration - accent - stillness

Energy; active/passive - force - dynamics ---> movement qualities (percussive & sustained)

+ sequencing

+ transitions

General End of Semester Notes;

- last study (tumblr post) should focus/highlight these items in your explanation

-  all four areas must be mentioned

- Think: what have I learned?, Why are the decisions I made important? How did a prior study influence this last study?

- a decision should be made in each header

- study should be 2:45 - 3:15 minutes

Work Time;

  Today in class there were very few of us in attendance. This was nice because there was a lot of space in the room to move around. After going back through and looking at my previous studies I eliminated the source of inspiration to two studies. I had gotten down to my study Believer and Titan. In the end, I chose Believer because it was fresher in my mind. Additionally, I enjoyed the exploration on levels and wanted to continue with that idea while also keeping some of the same movements. When beginning the piece I remembered from our pathways study the strength behind a diagonal from stage left to stage right. So I knew for sure I wanted to start off my last study with that in mind. I decided to simply substitute some rhythmic walks in the beginning and to go back and edit it at a later time. My challenge I received for the last study was to incorporate more soft/circular movement. This did not surprise me as it is something I struggle with because I prefer angular/sharp movement and it is a zone in which I am slightly more comfortable.

[averagedancer]

11/16/17

COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURES vs. CHOREOGRAPHIC DEVICES

Compositional Structures;

-operate independently

-frameworks and structures

-sequential patterns

-determine overall structure of an entire dance piece

Choreographic Devices;

-ways of developing chunks of movement

-original material manipulated and amplified

-developing and filling out movement

AB Form; theme and contrasting theme, unity still important, same common element

ABA Form; same as AB but an extension, A’ (second) can be different then the first A

-The transition between the different parts can be abrupt/sudden, gradual/slow/smooth or intertwined/teaser/previewABAB’AB

OPPOSITES

-hot/cold

-white/black

-sweet/sour

-in/out

-up/down

-yes/no

-light/dark

-straight/bent

-wrong/right

-day/night

-long/short

-hungry/full

-on/off

-lazy/active

-summer/winter

-North/South

-sky/sea

-wet/dry

We then were assigned to create a small phrase exploring one of these oppositions. I chose summer/winter and AB form. Instead of focusing on the temperature change in the season I focused on the happenings. I tried to think of car rides in the summer versus winter. Summer car rides have the windows down compared to the forever long cold/traffic jams in the winter. I had the transfer part in a jump. When I was challenged to change how I transitioned it was difficult compared to others as it’s hard to change the speed of a jump. In order to make the distinction more clear it was recommended that I incorporated more emotion. Another classmate, Aeva, chose the same opposition. It was intriguing because the space was “divided by” temperature. So when she was near stage left it was warm while stage left was cold and her movements correlated with such concepts.  

[averagedancer]

I don't wanna talk about it I don't wanna think about it Because the last time that I had these thoughts I just kept going on about it I don't wanna talk about it I don't wanna think about it And the worst part of it is That I don't hear from my friends anymore Yeah, everything slows down my 24 The size of my bad thoughts broke down my door And everything slows down, yeah, everything slows down

[averagedancer]

11/14/17

FORMING 

- form’s natural existence 

ex: beginning/middle/end ---> birth/life/death

      idea of a climax ---> volcano

      ABA ---> night/day/night

      theme and variation ---> 4 seasons; spring/summer/fall/winter

      unity, variety, contrast ---> human race

Form; carry the message or BE the message, grows and supports the idea, medium (message & format contribute to and complement one another)

Forming; DUAL FUNCTION 

               1.  process of developing material

               2. process of giving it a structure

Transitions; between individual movements, between phrases, between major sections of dance

Sequencing; single movements - to short and long phrases - sequences & sections - full completed piece

- which order gives the smaller units when joined together a UNIFIED and total shape as a larger whole

-how movement quality effects ordering

Today some of my classmates shared the different movements that they created from the observed movement. Londyn had people watched during a swimming practice so her movement was based off swimming. She had a section in which she sat on her knees and faced stage left. She mimicked a swim stroke but altered the scale of it. She started with her index finger and made a little motion in and then her arms and then her entire upper body. She was then asked to alter it by going from big to small/small to big/inwards/outwards. It was interesting because despite it still having the same base to the movement they had varying feelings to them. Small to big & outwards felt like something was growing while big to small & inwards gave off a sense of retreating into oneself.

[averagedancer]

11/9/17

DYNAMICS 

---> couples FORCE with TIME and produces an entity of its own movement qualities 

-used to discuss and define movement

ex: gooey, slinky, hoppy, weighted, smushy, stiff, cold, sensual, slippery, serene, soft, sharp, curly, straight, rag doll, robotic, airy, light, rooted, lifted, expansive, feathery, regal, sassy, refined, raw, monkey, circular, dizzing, carving, spicy, shakey, etc.

-These descriptors often fit into two categories 

percussive (staccato): nature of which is “detached”, sharp starts and stops, abrupt and sudden 

sustained (legato): nature of which is “smooth”, flowing, prolonged, drawnout, streaming, (range of motion/duration)

1.) percussive - fast - high energy

2.) percussive - fast - low energy

3.) percussive - slow - high energy

4.) percussive - slow - low energy

5.) sustained - fast - high energy

6.) sustained - fast - low energy

7.) sustained - slow - high energy

8.) sustained - slow - low energy

    We then took time to explore these different elements. We pulled from an earlier assignent in which we observed other people and then translated the pedistran movement into dance movement. The two actions I chose were the hand on the chin and scratching head. Then we explored how to perform the movement in one of the eight different categories. The second movement was then transferred to a different body part. One difficulty I ran into was being able to have a distinguished different between 3 & 5. It was hard because they felt extremely similar in my body. When transferring the body part it was hard to try and imagine that. I found it became simpler when  I stopped thinking of the movement in realtion to the other part it made contact with but the shape and how the energy moved.

[averagedancer]

Corps of the Paris Opera Ballet in Swan Lake

i do realise this is like my tenth gif of swan lake corps sorry not sorry