Downside-Up

January 27, 2011

Assignment #1 Solo

“Downside-Up”

Our first assignment for this class was a solo study.  We were to create a dance that had “You movement” and “Unlike you movement” as well as incorporate our identity into the choreography.  I felt very overwhelmed about this assignment and knew this was going to be a hard challenge.  I’ve had experience choreographing in the past, but in a very different form and style. I was very interested in the creative process and what I was going to discover about myself along the way.

The visual image I chose to use to represent my creative process was very abstract.  When I came across this image, I immediately noticed the shape and colors.  In my opinion, the colorful figure in the image represented an upside-down body, with the legs extended upward, appearing to be in a handstand. The thicker, more colorful part of the figure towards the bottom of the image looked to me like a skirt or dress that is falling towards the upper body. I instantly connected to this image because I really enjoy upside down movement such as handstands, inversions, cartwheels, flips, and more.  The vibrant colors reminded me of energy, brightness, happiness, laughter, freedom, and excitement.  A dark and mysterious background, representing negativity and uncertainty in my life, surrounds the bright figure in the image.  I can relate to this image as a whole because I have so much brightness in my life, but I also experience negativity in areas of my life that can at times, obstruct the beautiful colors. This image is a strong representation of my identity, as well as the movement that I enjoy doing.

When I thought about the “You movement” for myself, I had an idea of what I thought I enjoyed doing. After an in-class exercise, however, I discovered new ideas about my movement that I would have never imagined.  When referring to the Laban Dynamics, I think of my movement as being heavy, bound, fast, and direct, but after I performed an authentic movement exercise, I learned differently.  My peer in class observed my improvisation of authentic movement that felt good to me.  She described the movement that she saw in my body, and noticed that the Laban dynamics that fit me were light, bound, slow, and direct.  This was eye opening to me because I always thought of myself to move more heavy and fast, rather than light and slow.  This created a sense of confusion and wonder as I then worked on creating my “You movement” phrase.  Some ways of moving that I really enjoy are using the space, jumping and leaping, core/distal, upside down, changing levels, and powerful.  After gathering information up about my “You movement”, I was anxious to see how I was going to incorporate everything into my own choreography and to have it flow organically.

Figuring out the “Unlike you movement” for the solo was very challenging.  Some ways of moving that I don’t enjoy doing are staying in place, flow, super slow, and stiff.  I tried movement that felt uncomfortable in my body or out of my element.  When relating my “You movement” to my “Unlike you movement”, I found myself in a very complex position to choreograph.  Listing all of these ideas about my movement was one step in the creative process.  However, when I found myself trying to create movement for a certain section, the two ideas began to crossover each other and I found myself in a stressful, uncertain mindset.  I confronted my professor for guidance in this problem and the advice really helped.  She made me realize that I was thinking too hard and over analyzing my every move and if I were to keep working that way, I would not be satisfied with my work. 

After observing my very “rough” draft of my solo, my professor pointed out ideas that could help enhance the choreography.  I realized that I wasn’t even thinking about my floor pattern, because I was moving around in a repetitive figure-8 floor pattern, that wasn’t aesthetically pleasing to watch.  She also brought to my attention to think about the way I use my extremities when I dance, and suggested going to the extreme points of opposition to show contrast between the two different parts of the solo.  I found that the reading assignment given for this study was very beneficial to this first study because it pointed out some basic information about composition.  “When we apprehend – perceive, and imagine things and enjoy them for their own sakes – for their form – the forms seem meaningful to us, and this is an aesthetic situation (Smith –Autard 4).  By better understanding how art appears aesthetic through a composition, it took my choreography to a deeper, more personal level.  

After performing my solo in class, I received feedback from my peers as well as my professor that was really helpful in understanding how to improve the way I choreograph.  A couple of comments that stood out to me from the feedback I received was that they appreciated the testing of my balance, how I played with the relationship of my arms to my body, and that my dynamics, emotions, and intent were all clear.  It felt good to hear these comments because I doubted my choreography and felt unsure about how the audience was going to observe and understand it.  I think the AB structure of the piece worked with my intent and was supported by the music selection of Vivaldi’s “Double Cello Concerto,” performed by Bobby McFerrin.  Something that I think I lacked within this assignment was really exposing my identity through the movement.  Although I did succeed at creating “You movement” and “Unlike you movement,” I didn’t feel that my identity was really pouring out of the movement.  One of the biggest challenges I hope to overcome through this composition class is to be true to my movement, my identity, and my choreography, and to build a strong connection to my work.