What follows is not a description of some never before tried compositional gambit. This is not written for experienced choreographers…no complicated aesthetics here. It is a reflection upon a favorite part of our process, written for you who do not do this on a regular basis.
When it works, this part of making dance is what keeps you doing it for years…When it doesn’t, you question the entire structure of your life and existence. But trying to make something physical, with others, that is interesting enough to want to invest your time and energy to it: priceless. Sounds easy….
So last Sunday, Lynn Marie, Uta and I met to see if we could take some of the photos Aeric shot at our benefit, and arrange them in an interesting travelling phrase on our feet.
In brief, we arranged four shapes in an order, agreed we’d try it in unison first, and decided to mirror each other. These simple decisions led to asking a number of questions. What drew us to these four shapes? What is interesting about them? How do we transition from one to another, so its not just a physical slide show? What if we sped up? Slowed down? Inserted other movement? Changed the quality? How does this relate to other sections of the dance? How badly do we wish to distort the shapes? Can we hide the structure, so that people see movement, not a strategy? Does it carry any emotional weight? Can it suggest more? What happens next?
So, three hours later, we had a phrase of movement that lasts about 40 seconds. We’ll look at it next time, decide to keep it or scrap it, and maybe modify it…who knows? Hell of a way to spend your time.
