Week 11- critical review 3 Wayne McGregor Genus

Critical review on Wayne McGregor’s piece - GENUS 

Following on from previous critical reviews, in this blog I’m going to be exploring and reviewing the piece ‘Genus’ by Wayne McGregor.


In comparison to the other two dance pieces this ones style is abstract and isn’t the typical neo classical style. This is due to his creative movements and elements involved within this piece. Certain movements involved within this piece are also in the other two, however they are adapted and changed to link within the idea of this piece. In the section I’m reviewing there is only one dancer, a male who is completing a 2 minute solo, where as the other two there was more than one dancer involved in the section i analysed. One noticeable similarity between all three pieces is McGregor’s use of the LED background.This is one technique he uses to add effect and a different outlook to his piece. I really like the way he uses this in each of his pieces I have explored.

From watching this piece the end and beginning are set out the same meaning the entrance and exit of the dancer are the same. At the start of the solo the movements are dynamically slow but link with the musics tempo, this idea is the layout of this section as each movement is created to fit the music. Each movement of which the dancer executes is portrayed very technically and precise which shows how clean the choreography is. The movements involved are very sharp and set which give the impression the piece is portraying a link within this.The movements layout of this piece contrast to the ones in the other two because the movements in this piece are dynamically matched to the tempo of the music where as the other two pieces movement coincide with the music and are expressed as more flowing. The music used is instrumental with many different sound effects which add to an unknown sense and link to the abstract idea.

Additionally, I personally really like this section of this piece as it’s very intriguing as you feel like the movements the dancer is portraying are fitted perfectly to the music. Also, I love the fact all three pieces are similar yet very different to each other.

Research about the piece Genus 
The point of view which is executed by choreograph is relating to the inquiries of Charles Darwin, creation and evolution. This is used as a platform to express ideas and remind us of our own evolutionary process and thinking along with our connection and reaction to the natural.
Mcgregor also uses his aim of letting the audience interpret his pieces. I feel for this piece the way the whole piece is conveyed to the audience is very abstract. By creating this piece he has achieved a choreography which involves a well known idea of the evolutionary process created by Darwin.

Darwin’s theory of evolution- It’s a process by which organisms change overtime as a result of changes in physical or behavioural traits. The changes are what allow an organism to adapt in a positive way to it’s environment for it to survive and have more offspring.
^the research above helps you understand the main theme towards the choreography piece and gives your understanding a wider perspective.

   This picture shows the evolution theory.









References
Clip of genus- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=27fWeDjPojY
Point of view - https://nycdancestuff.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/wayne-mcgregors-genus-extracts-with-film-installation/
 Clip of live rehearsal- https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LWNQK8y50SI
 Darwin’s theory - https://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html

Bibliography-

Clip of genus -M.youtube.com. (2019). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=27fWeDjPojY [Accessed 6 Dec. 2019].
Point of view - NYC Dance Stuff. (2019). Wayne McGregor’s “Genus” (Extracts with Film Installation)….. [online] Available at: https://nycdancestuff.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/wayne-mcgregors-genus-extracts-with-film-installation/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2019].

Clip of live rehearsal-M.youtube.com. (2019). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LWNQK8y50SI [Accessed 6 Dec. 2019].
Darwins theory -Than, K. (2019). What is Darwin's Theory of Evolution?. [online] livescience.com. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/474-controversy-evolution-works.html [Accessed 6 Dec. 2019].

Week 10 - Studio Performance

Studio rehearsal:

The learning outcomes of the choreography assessment were:
    •critically analyse and evaluate a variety of works by a chosen choreographer within the     current dance scene
    •Demonstrate the application of theories, processes, devices, and technical dance skills to choreograph, create and design original dance to pre-selected stimuli
    • critically evaluate and reflection on personal choreographic work and the creative process used
 I believe that I have successfully completed and followed these outcomes within this assessment. These different learning outcomes I have achieved throughout the whole process of creating my choreography and are something I’ve look at through different tasks. 

Additionally, as I have completed my piece I just need to polish and clean the movement. Although during this practice there is 10 seconds of movement near the end of my choreography which I am going to adapt. However, this is a small change and will not have a huge impact on the rest of my piece. By changing this little part will allow my ending to be smooth and all the movements to flow.  I have also decided after reflecting from the video of my choreography to add the choreographic device complementary, I’m going to show this when I’m on the floor rocking sideways with my hands in my head to then change it so I’m rocking sideways with my head in my hands stood up before my climax section. By adding this I feel like it will add more variety to my piece and the audience will make a clear link between these two parts.

Reflecting on my previous creative sessions I feel as though my piece has come together from these tasks and completing these different blogs has allowed my ideas to develop further. This links in with the development of my own choreography which has helped my piece look more creative and advanced in the way the movement is set. The previous tasks have been building blocks for my choreography as they are what has got me to this point.

The feedback from the studio performance given to me: 

• Use emotions throughout the whole piece and to not let my emotions drop by the end section 
• Sharper arms in the places where I’m throwing them 
• The contrast of beginning to end was good 

Doing the whole of my choreography in the studio and getting verbal feedback was very beneficial for me. This is because I’ve been able to practice my piece full out with the music and have someone else’s perspective towards it. Also, having verbal feedback has given me something to work on further and key points to improve. In this lesson I recorded my choreography so it allows me to reflect on my work as an individual and give myself feedback by identifying parts which may need adapting or improving on. 

Some previous feedback from peers from my previous blogs to do with my choreography have been applied and used. Such as using some of the symptoms of depression in my movements to express this.Also, one piece of feedback which I looked into more detail was including gestural movement to emphasise certain emotions which will grab the audiences attention and will reflect on their own personal emotions. 

The feedback from this lesson and my previous creative blogs has been successful and been a way of improving my work further.

One of the questions given is about sustaining energy and purpose through my choreography:

Below is a graph of an energy timeline which links to my piece to give a more visual representation of my aim. 

Where as showing the emotive side of my piece will be done on my own ability to sustain my emotions to allow for them to be expressed to the audience.

Below is a small clip of my choreography:

Week 9- creative development session 3

Vlog

week 9- Critique and review piece 2

Critique and Review Wayne McGregor’s piece

The piece of Wayne McGregor’s which I’m going to critique in this blog is Woolf Works Corps. This piece was first premiered in 2015 and Virginia Woolf defied the false order of narrative conventions to depict a heightened, startling and poignant reality. However, like explained in a previous review blog on Wayne McGregor he likes to keep his pieces open to interpretation.

The dance style he is portraying is contemporary ballet so neo classical. This is shown by the movements used in the piece as he uses leaps and developes along with abstract movement which isn’t ballet related. Also, the females are wearing pointe shoes which highlights some of the movement within the piece is done on pointe.

The fist section of this clip is done with one spotlight in the center of the stage and the dancers only do the movement in the light and is like a follow on. Therefore, it links to order and chaos as its flowing but the dancers have many different movements in and out of the light at different times and with different amounts of people and its different pathways. This makes the piece look really interesting as there is so much going on but not too much so its confusing. Following on from this section it goes into a group section where there are six duets all in a line completing the same motif at first then it goes to one couple doing one motif with the rest doing another different one behind. Including a section like this explores all the different choreographic devices which draws in the audience’s attention as it makes the piece more varied. Then the dancers created two circles at both stage left and right and there was a short motif of movement. Then the two circles of people turned into spotlights with different dancers doing movement in them representing the idea of order and chaos. Next, the piece ended with four spotlights across the stage and the same idea of different dancers creating different movement in the piece.

I believe that Wayne McGregor’s aim to the audience with this piece was to show the idea of order and chaos as I think this idea links really well to the whole aspect of the piece and the layout of the piece. The impact of his work on the audience is mind blowing in the sense the movements are so clean and the way the patterns of different movements are set but the quick pace makes you wonder how its possible to create such a technical piece at a fast pace and for it to look clean.

It is very clear in dynamics that this piece is more dynamically strong with element of low beats and quicker movement in comparison to Infra which had varied dynamics but not as strong as the base of this piece. Both pieces have very different stimuli and this is shown clearly in the movement created in the pieces. The music in both pieces is also very contrasting but similar in the fact that the piece of music allows both dances to have the style of neo classical. The movement vocabulary in the pieces have similar and contrasting motifs for example both pieces have a lot of use of high leg extensions. Both pieces show a very different story/theme due to the way the movements are set as they entail different things and the intentions are different, however, his overall aim is still the same of wanting the audience to create their own interpretation.Also, I noticed in both his pieces he uses an LED patterned/ pictured background to add more elements to his piece and gives it a different outlook. This element of his work is very inspiring as he works with his audience in a way and allows them to get involved with his work.

Overall, I really like the way this piece is presented and how clever its choreographed.

https://www.roh.org.uk/productions/woolf-works-by-wayne-mcgregor

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v6-BCezkrjM

Week 8- creative development session 2

Choreography process

Following from my previous blog after today’s lesson I feel like I have made immense progress with my choreography.

I have now only got 40 seconds of my 3 minute 40 second piece left to choreography which is the section in the middle. I ended up choreographing backwards for my last minute as I knew how I wanted to finish but now how to get there. This is one of the main challenges I faced in today’s lesson as I had to reverse my choreography. Additionally, a few little challenges I faced was having several motifs that had sections between that hadn’t been choreographed, therefore I had to work on fitting these motifs together and adding extra movement where necessary so that these sections were following.

Some of the movement I’ve been starting to add relates to my stimulus such as a lot of hand gestures and movement which links to an emotion. My theory of my piece is the stages of mental health and how a person has to hide what they are feeling and my choreography works in sections linking to this (which was explained further in my previous blog). At this moment in my choreography I have included the following choreographic devices: retrograde, levels, climax and highlights. My research is starting to evolve during my process, I have been able to use my research to inspire my movement which creates a connection with my stimulus. This has quickened my choreography process as it gives me a main source of ideas coinciding with my aim. Creating movement has come from the music along with trying to link it to my stimulus and the basis of my plan. Having a plan of how I want the outcome to be like has given me the challenge of having movement which fits this criteria.

In my choreography I have linked a few movements inspired by my chosen choreography, Wayne Mcgregor. By doing this I picked out a small section of movements (2 or 3) and used these movements as a base to create my own motif from this. When developing this passage in the style of Wayne Mcgregor’s choreography it allowed me to incorporate movements which I wouldn’t think to include originally. Also, I was able to link their style of movement in with this section. The process of doing this is quicker than my process and seems to be harder as I’m having to adapt my movement to link within my chosen practitioner’s. The movements that are inspiration have slightly more detail with positioning and placement whereas with my own work I do what I feel is right. Furthermore, Wayne Mcgregor’s process was finding his music to then choreograph where as my first interpretation of choreographing has changed as I now choreograph to the parts of the music, I have been able to create movement.

Below is a video of the section of my piece which was inspired by my chosen practitioner Wayne Mcgregor:

Week 7- Creative development session 1

Start of my choreography