My first rehearsal was exciting to say the least. While it was not my first time acting as a leader in the studio, it was the first time that the entire time in the studio was subject to my decisions. To begin I decided to get to know the underclassmen in my piece. Allie comes from a drill/ hip hop background, Lorone comes from a Color/Winterguard background, and Amanda comes from a drill team background. I have known Lauren for a while and I already knew she would be a great influence on the underclassmen as well as a flawless example from which they could learn. It is important to me that this experience be as enriching for them as it is for me.
After I learned a little about them I decided that we should all start moving together so I could see their bodies and get an idea of what their strengths and weaknesses. What I noticed was very exciting. The combination was very swingy and loose in the lower body and very airy and light in the upper body. Amanda and Lauren really connected to these two qualities in a very similar way. It could have been a duet very easily. I then noticed that Lorone and Allie are very similar but in a vastly different way than Lauren and Amanda. Lorone and Allie are very strong in their lower bodies and very bound in their upper body. The possibilities of the two duets are all really exciting but I know that I will not be able to have a lot of unison movement as the two duets have many differences between them.
I enjoyed the combination that I taught them that day. It was not premeditated and so the freshness of the movement was really nice. The transitions were organic and simple and the movement was emotional even though the dancers did not know it was. I feel that this kind of spontaneity in rehearsal will be essential for me. I am so much more comfortable with this than with coming up with movement outside of rehearsal. I feel that this idea relates to the repeated idea of Fraleigh’s phenomenological existentialism in that my past experiences from years ago and just earlier that day are being portrayed in the spontaneously created movement in the studio. I really like this idea because it instantly makes everything I do relative to my identity. On the opposite side I feel that premeditated choreography often looks contrived and forced. I feel that if I were to choreograph this way the movement would become a little too idealistic and non-organic.
In Dance and the Lived Body, Fraleigh writes about her time at the Wigman School with Frau Mary. “She taught me that both my individuality (which is unique) and my human condition (which is universal) are inescapable present in my dance – because I am there.”(page xxiv). I really enjoyed this idea because it directly relates to the way I view choreography at this moment. The movement that I create is a portrayal of who I am and in turn when someone else performs that movement, their individuality shines through. This is beautiful to me that two identities can coexist within the same solo performance.
In terms of my own identity, I see movement similar to the way it is shown in William Forsythe’s Synchronous objects in collaboration with ART-TEC. The body acts as a generator and transporter of energy lines that are sent into other parts of the body, other dancers on the stage, or out into space to extend on into infinity. In thinking of this as it relates to my potential choreography, I decided that a concept image would be more effective that a concept statement or narrative. Air and water are perfect images for energy tossing. More specifically, gusts of wind hit each other and create a tornado and when you run a paddle through water little whirlpools are created. Two energies come together in such a way that sends both forces into a spiral. These images are very much in keeping with the way I view my own dancing and so in this way I am making myself present in the dance.
In chapter two “Dance and the Self”, Fraleigh writes about Gabriel Marcel and his theory of being present in the dance. “To say ‘I exist,’ Marcel states, is to ‘put myself forward,’ to actively exclaim myself to ‘produce myself.’” (Page 31). When I read this I got a little bit giddy inside like I was avidly listening to a testimony in church. It’s such a beautifully simple concept. I put myself in this dance and so this dance is a portrayal of my self. It’s like an instant starting point; no wordy intellectual process, just begin.
Today I am going to try to get a solid beginning done using the images of the water and the air. My initial ideas are to ave Lorone and Allie performing a morphed and slow motion version of the movement I taught in the beginning rehearsal. I feel that this will play to their strengths of being bound. I am thinking that Lauren and Amanda will act as the paddles and/or the opposing gusts of wind that will create the whirlpools and tornadoes. I also want to play with different ways of counter-pulling to create really fast spirals. I want them to take as much risk as possible so that in the movement's simplicity there will also be excitement.
Today I am going to try to get a solid beginning done using the images of the water and the air. My initial ideas are to ave Lorone and Allie performing a morphed and slow motion version of the movement I taught in the beginning rehearsal. I feel that this will play to their strengths of being bound. I am thinking that Lauren and Amanda will act as the paddles and/or the opposing gusts of wind that will create the whirlpools and tornadoes. I also want to play with different ways of counter-pulling to create really fast spirals. I want them to take as much risk as possible so that in the movement's simplicity there will also be excitement.
