Talk:Choreography
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[edit] More choreographic advice than about choreography
this page is more choreographic advice than about choreography per se, i am also unsure if it has been copied from another source or not. i may remove this information. Ohka- 09:06, 31 May 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Removed text
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- Ballet Dacers***
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- see above musch of the text is plagiarism and specif to a small section of western dance practice. dance composition which is realted to choreography is not mention - there is a new page for choreographic technique - both pages are beeing worked on at this time Ohka- 03:14, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
The following piece was removed withoun explatation where it is now. Please explain it here. If it is copied somewhere else, give the reference and then remove the below from here. Mikkalai 01:31, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
- the new explaination is more correct as it covers the wide range of choreography that exists. is is a wadely accpted definintion in academic dance discourse - ie a score is a structure but a dance score normal refers to dance notation as does scripting Ohka- 03:14, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Choreography is the act of creating a script or score for dancers. The result of this planning (i.e., the detailed description of the dance) is also called choreography.
- will be added in a modified form Ohka- 03:14, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Some goals of choreography can be:
- entertain the audience
- make the dance fit the music
- show skills of the dancers
- express something - a message, theme, story or emotion
- the follwing are coverd in the new entry, and pantomine is not an appropiate term - slapstick would be more appropriate. also crouching tiger hidden dragon is choreogrpahed fighting but is not panto or slapstick Ohka- 03:14, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
By analogy, planning of any complex movements is also called choreography.
For example, fight scenes such as in martial arts films are essentially complex pantomimes in which participants simulate hand to hand combat and need careful choreography to avoid injury.
- there are no such rules as these in choreography Ohka- 03:14, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
A choreographer must take into account the 4 points above. They must also come up with movement that is interesting to watch. This will usually mean creating variety within all of the following areas:
- the following information belongs in choreographic technique and is in the process of being added in a more organised form Ohka- 03:14, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
- use of high and low level movement
- use of different dynamics
- usage of different body parts within the prescribed technique
- use of the stage area - directions of travel, focus on different sections of the stage
- use of the focus of the performer
- interaction, or lack of it, between performers
- complementing, or going against, the music and/or rhythm
- communication of emotion or meaning through the movement, while achieving all of the above!!!
- overly verbose and or belongs in choreographic technique Ohka- 03:14, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Some choreographers experiment in private with all the above factors, and come to rehearsal already prepared to teach movement to the dancer(s). Some arrive at rehearsal with no ideas whatsoever, and they develop movements by 'playing', workshopping and experimenting with the dancers. Every choreographer has their own approach. Choreography is a difficult and obscure art and there are few Masters of it, and even fewer who become famous or rich. Much of it depends upon instinct and so it is difficult to teach. One can teach students ways to experiment and find new movement, eg through Dance Improvisation. But putting it all together to create a dance masterpiece is another thing altogether.
- the following is a mix of plagiarism and verbosity- it relates only to western dances forms, as advice it is also subjective and process specfic Ohka- 03:14, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
Here is some practical advice and insight into the process of creating a piece of dance choreography.
For Dance choreography that will take place in front of a live audience, the choreographer must ask themselves, what am I trying to communicate? Knowing this is crucial.
Whatever your answer to this question is, it should inform and shape every single step of the creation process. If you do something in this process that does not either:
1) fulfil your root reason, or
2) contribute to effective communication,
then you are not only wasting time and energy but undermining the integrity of your final product. (Sometimes you do need to do things that will not contribute to your communication, but they are necessary for either an organisation's internal politics, or because of the project’s root reason. Don’t throw a Prima Donna Fit. This is when you say, ‘C’est la vie’ and you do what you have to do. Learn from your experiences.)
So once you know WHAT you’re trying to achieve and WHY, you can get going with the creative process. Here is one method which is fairly straightforward, reasonably idiot-proof, and tried and tested. But bear in mind that there’s more than one way to skin a cat. This is not the only way to do things and you can alter this method to suit your own personality or inclinations.
1) First of all choose your music.
a. Music choice can be crucial. You might be told what music to use, if so, it’s out of your hands. If you can choose, the easiest and most straightforward way to do it is to choose a song with words that reflect the theme you are working with. Once your creative thought process matures, you can get more creative with what music you use.
b. Listen to it over and over again and become intimately familiar with it. Make a tape of it repeated ad infinitum and play it in your car.
c. Make notes on the structure of the music. For example, how many bars of introductory music are there? How many verses, how many choruses? If your music is not a vocal piece it will still have a structure, and it will still (unless it is Debussy or something) have defined sections, no matter how loose, that you can separate in your head and in your notes to help you break the music down. Having smaller chunks of music to tackle separately will make your choreography task much easier; it is less intimidating and it gives structure to the dance.
2) Are you in your choreography? You may not realise this, but it is better for you, if you’re not one of the performers. It is far easier to structure a dance piece and end up with a result that looks good, if you are not always having to jump in and out of the group to teach or watch things. Doing that gives you a very disjointed rehearsal process and often you find it’s YOU who doesn’t know which steps you’re supposed to be doing because there is too much being juggled in your brain! On the other hand it’s often necessary to be in your own work, especially when you may be one of the few people willing to perform in your group and you are needed to make up numbers.
3) How many weeks do you have to rehearse? When planning your rehearsals (yes, rehearsals should be planned!) first of all delete the final 20% of time. This is because you will need to set aside that time to polish and refine the dance piece. It should be completely finished by then. Now, look at how many rehearsals you have left, and divide up the music into sections allocated to each rehearsal. Stick to this plan otherwise you will regret it! There are few worse things than having to come up with new movement the morning of the performance, or having a team that is not pulling together and performing in a polished manner, all because you did not write up, and stick to, a schedule.
4) Costumes. Start planning dance costumes immediately. Do not leave it until the last minute. You may need help in this area! Find a person, maybe one of the dancers, who is visual or has a good sense of clothing, and is passionate in this area and willing to help you. A sewer is always helpful to have in your team! Make sure you rehearse in your costumes well before the performance in case of necessary alterations, or even sometimes it is necessary to make drastic changes. In this event, a dress rehearsal the day before the performance is too late to make those kinds of discoveries! I suggest you have your costumes ready 2 weeks in advance, at the latest.
5) Think about the emotion or ‘thrust’ of each section of music. Does the music have the same feeling maintained throughout, or are there changes that you need to be aware of, so that you can reflect them in your choreography? Steps should not be there just for the sake of filling time, they should contribute to the meaning of the piece, so you must make decisions about the emotional direction you want the movements to go.
6) Look at the amount of space you have to perform in. This is crucial to planning what your group is going to do. There is no use planning a nice, compact dance when you have a whole stage to work with – or vice versa. The ‘footpath’ of your dance is called the floor pattern and it’s important to think about what areas of the stage your dance is going to cover. It’s more engaging for an audience, to watch a dance piece that uses all the available space at various moments in the dance; develop an interesting floor pattern. By the same token consider the directions the dancers may face. Don’t just have them in a formation facing front. Turn them to the side, let them move along diagonals: consider, and use, all the options.
7) Develop the actual dance steps you will use in the piece. This is perhaps the scariest part for some people.
a. My first recommendation is that you go to some classes, and/or find some videos of the kind of movement you want to use. Don’t rip off whole phrases of movement from other people’s choreography as that would be a breach of copyright; but you can lift a couple of movements here and there and use them. And you can get loads of inspiration from other people’s work. If you are a less confident choreographer it can be easier for you to have all your movement prepared in advance and ready to bring to the rehearsals.
b. Another way to approach it is to think about the creative people in your group. Talk to them about your ideas; they can be a great sounding board and often come up with great moves that you wouldn’t have thought of. This is my personal favourite way to work but it can take a little more courage because it means you often front up to rehearsal with nothing prepared. Whichever way you choose to work will depend upon how much time you have to prepare beforehand, and how much time you have to rehearse overall. If you don’t have many rehearsals you will need to show up with movement material all ready to teach.
8) Teach your dancers the movement.
a. Let them hear the music a few times. It is useful to give each dancer a tape of the music.
b. Explain an overview of the sections of music you have worked out. Don’t get too detailed because you’ll only confuse them; they don’t have the intimate knowledge of the music and concept that you do.
c. Break movement into small sections as you teach it, say, between 4-6 movements at a time. Always go back a repeat the material a few times for your group. Ask how people are doing, and ask if they are ready to move onto the next section. Start slowly until you have an idea how quickly your group will pick up movement – some members will need extra help so give it tactfully and patiently. If a dancer needs a lot of extra help you may need to schedule a private practise with him/her, so that you do not waste precious group rehearsal time.
9) Who asked you to do this dance piece? Or, who are you doing it for? Invite them to a rehearsal a week before you show the piece to the audience. Be ready to explain what you have done and why you have made the choices you have.
10) Rehearse at the venue as much as possible and as early as possible. It is important for your dancers to feel comfortable in the stage space. They need to have an awareness of how close their audience will be, how much room they have to move, and how they may need to adjust their spacing or their breadth of movement to accommodate the performance area. Once I had to perform an entire solo on a carpeted stage which was about 2 metres square! I would have been in trouble if I had not practised on a space that size.
[edit] See Also
- all belong to choreographic technique Ohka- 03:14, 1 Jun 2004 (UTC)
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[edit] Navigation and connection
Please disambiguate the links navigation and connection: they lead to far too general pages. These terms definitely have specific meanigs in choreography, so I'd suggest to create pages navigation (choreography or connection (choreography) Mikkalai 20:58, 5 Sep 2004 (UTC)
