Throughout this essay, I will be exploring Siobhan Davies’ choreographic technique; how it has changed over time and how artists influenced the change to her technique. A comparison to Ian Spink and a contrast to Dorothy Madden will be made to further discussions about Davies’ technique.
Siobhan Davies; born in London during 1950, was amongst the first group of students to train at the London Contemporary Dance School shortly after it opened in the mid-1960s. Once she had graduated to become a dancer with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre, she quickly ascended as one of the first generation of British choreographers that the company had created. Her technique has changed throughout her career, with the help of such influences. Originally her work utilised the Graham’s technique; as taught to her by Robert Cohan. Over time other artistic influences have altered the characteristics of Davies’ style. Davies ‘founded her first company in 1980. In 1988 she formed Siobhan Davies Dance Company and toured nationally and internationally’ (Digital Dance Archives). Currently she is the director of Siobhan Davies Dance Company and associate choreographer with Rambert Dance Company.
The main choreographic technique that can be seen throughout 1972 and 1975 is
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By that I do not mean a conservatoire style training, but the type of dance that grew in American universities often developing from Physical Education programmes and often based on the pioneering work of Margaret H ‘Doubler at the University of Wisconsin. This was a form of education that developed the whole person and saw that technical ability was not an end in itself but was at the service of creativity.’ (Jackson,
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Grossman’s dance movements vary from one production to another. In the 1975 production ‘Higher’ the dance movements were mainly using the whole body. The piece went for 15 minutes and was explicit in its design so that the audience could clearly see and understand the intended message/s. This piece received many awards and is what got Grossman noticed and brought into the dancing world.
Every dance that is created by a choreographer has a meaning and or purpose behind it. The dance choreographed could be used to send a political, emotional, or a social message. Regardless of the message being sent, each dance created possesses a unique cultural and human significance. This essay will examine and analyze two dance works from history and give an insight into what each dance work provided to the society of its time.
Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment provides visions into the many features of dance and inspires scholars to keep an open mind and think critically about the stimulating, bold, ever-changing and active world of dance. Learning about Dance is particularly useful for those who do not have a wide and diverse dance contextual, such as students in a preliminary level or survey dance course. This book consists of twelve chapters. Chapter one dance as an art form focuses on the basic structures of dance. Dance is displayed through the human body, it has the control to communicate and induce reactions. Dance can be found in many different places, it enables the participants and seekers to touch and knowledge the joy of movement. Dance is discovered as being one of the oldest art forms worldwide. Dance existed in early cultures was recognized in a sequence of rock paintings portrayed dance. Since this discovery of rock paintings, several other forms of art have been found that depict dance. People used rituals in order to worship the gods and believed that the rituals held magical and spiritual powers. During the ancient period civilizations sentient decisions began to be made with regard to dance. Other periods that had an impact on dance were the medieval period, the renaissance period, and the contemporary period. Chapter two the choreographer, the choreographer is a person who comes up with the movements created into a dance routine. The choreographer expresses themselves through choreography because this is their way of communicating with the audience. In order to be a choreographer you must have a passion for dance. Each choreographer has their own approaches and ways of making up a routine. Choreographers ...
Dance is an ever evolving form of art; in much the same way that one can categorize and differentiate between eras and styles of architecture one can also do so with dance. These eras at times have sharp delineations separating them from their antecedents, other times the distinction is far more subtle. Traditional forms of dance were challenged by choreographers attempting to expand the breadth and increase the depth of performance; preeminent among such visionaries was Seattle born dancer and choreographer Mark Morris. Mark Morris' began as one of the millions of hopeful individuals attempting to simply make a career in dance; he not only succeeded but managed to have a lasting effect on the entire landscape of dance.
When José Limón began to choreograph his own pieces, he brought to his work all the abandon of a twenty-year old trying to find out what his body could and could not do. It was a raw style that came quite simply out of the process of his own discovery of dance, before he learned the technical “craft” of dancing; that is, before he learned how to point his feet or straighten his legs in the air. He threw himself into everything he did, without worrying about his balance, shape, or what dancing was supposed to look like - and audiences were enchanted
In the dance world a staggering number of choreographers have made a lasting impact on the way dance is seen to its audience. Alonzo King’s exceptional oeuvre of work includes him in this great history of significant choreographers. He not only created the link between modern and ballet in the twentieth century, but he bridged the ...
Trisha Brown is considered to be one of the most pivotal choreographers of the 1960’s as her work and practice shifted away from historically considered “appropriate” movement for choreography. This ideology references the modern era of choreographers, moving away from the aesthetics of Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham who worked with codified techniques, virtuosity and expressionism, whereas Brown saw dance as being of greater importance to the physical and mental process of the performer. Born in Aberdeen, Washington and studying dance at Mills College in California, Brown took improvisational workshops with Anna Halprin, discovering the concept of task orientated work. This knowledge would become central to her later experiments and work. She then shifted her life to New York to study composition with Robert Dunn to further her knowledge of movement and choreography. Physical research that was undertaken in these classes became publically presented programs, eventually leading to the evolvement of Judson Dance Theatre. In the late 1960’s, Brown constructed experiments to play with the dynamics and stability of gravity, using props such as ropes and harnesses to extend the dancers past their physical limitations. These experiments went on to become a working method for the work she created throughout her career and with her company which she founded in the 1970’s.
Ramsay, B. (2000). Dance theory, sociology, and aesthetics. Dance Research Journal, 32(1), 125-131. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1478286
Contemporary 20th century choreographer Paul Taylor used the components of dance -space, time and energy to explore the struggle of an individual versus the conformity of the masses in his dance Esplanade. In addition, Taylor intertwined the principles of contrast, repetition, and resolution throughout Esplanade to portray the emotion, which accompanied this isolation. This esplanade (a long, open, level area usually by the sea) represented the journey of an independent women’s movement against the societal norm of heterosexual couples within the masses.
The work ‘Ghost Dances’ by Christopher Bruce was viewed on 26th August, 2011 to the Year 12 Dance class. The individual interpretation of the social/political or world issue/ comment the piece is attempting to make. Using direct examples from the performance, the use the choreographer has made of the movement and the non-movement components have been identified. Also the effectiveness of this piece has been evaluated.
[6] Cohen, Selma Jeanne. International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.
New Dance is described as a developing art form; this dance was articulated in the early 20th century. According to Chapter 8 in History of Dance book, “the new dance emerged as a response to the ballet that populated the variety shows and music halls, which had a rigid formula of steps and poses” (Kassing). The New Dance was a product of several strands that interlaced together dancers’ studies and backgrounds; these strands and others were woven together in a historical, political, and societal framework. For instance, one strand of New Dance consisted of the concepts, techniques, costumes, and stage settings from around the world. These strands influenced major dancers and choreographers, such as, Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn.
Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. New York: Abrams, 1992. Print.
De Mills’ close relationship with Martha Graham contributed greatly to heavy influence of contraction and release that was present in de Mills’ work. De Mill apprenticed under Martha Graham and learned much of what she knew about modern dance and choreography from her. The two remained very close for a long time and de Mille even wrote a book detailing the strong influence Graham had in her own life as well as the legacy of dance. The combination of these two forces in the world of dance is extremely prominent today, as Oklahoma! is performed all over the world with the same exact choreography that de Mille created, and dancers experiment with new ways to use the contraction and release method to create more intense and dramatic dance performances. Oklahoma!
While the 20th century expressionist movement prompted dancers, as artists, to focus on individual expression rather than description or imitation, later movements attempted to abolish individual expression, order, form, and rules. Even later, movements meshed the two styles together, creating another style in it’s own right, as exemplified with Ratmansky’s works. Pina Bausch exemplifies the 20th century expressionist movement with intense, expressive movements while, later on, Merce Cunningham sought to break down this very notion of dance. Then, Alexei Ratmansky combines the two styles, forming an expressive, yet less traditional style of dance. Throughout the course of history, dance has changed it’s face to reflect the society at large