ASIU109 Module 1/ Dance and Music

reading choreography

there are choerographic codes and conventions that give dance its significance, and there are ways to understand them.

what are the categories to look for when reading choreography

the frame,

the mode of representation,

the style,

the vocabulary

the syntax.

the frame (choreography)

it is the way dance sets itself apart as a unique event from other forms of art.

what can be said about the frame

the performance space may convey a sense of intimacy or formality or majesty.

proscenium stage meaning

a proscenium stage is the traditional theatre layout where

the audience sits in front, all facing the same direction

the stage is framed by a “proscenium arch“, like a big picture frame

the dance is viewed from one frontal perspective.

A certain relationship between performer and spectator
Typically separated — the dancers are “over there,” the audience watches as if looking at a painting.

kinda like a painting.

the typical proscenium stages tend to

preserve the strong distinction between life and art.

proscenium vs non proscenium stages.

Being physically proximate to or distant from the action on stage, seeing dancers sweating and breathing or watching a theater of illusion where dancers are presented to be as otherworldly flying creatures will offer two highly opposing viewing experience

the ways to convey frame

program notes, proscenium,title,

what can the program titles and note do?

it can further guide the spectator about what to expect

program title examples

the title cave of the heart suggests a psychological drama, where as dance for three people and six arms predicts an (objectivist, “movement with no external reference, simply as it is“) dance about the movement of the body by three dancers. 

program notes

they frequently offer the choreographer’s interpretation of the piecem guide the spectator, and help situate the dance within the larger dance (and performing arts) tradition.

ways the gaze or the focus of the dancer might be

looking directly at the audience, even exchaning smiles,

gazing out majesitcally without seeing anyone in particular;

focusing the gaze in the performing space, attentive to the other dancers and action, declining to acknowledge the presence of the audience

the gaze or focus of the dancer might

arouse in the viewer a set of expectations about the dance event: formal or familiar, sacred and serious or playful and humurous, classical or contemporary

ways to convey the frame

proscenium, program notes, program title, gaze focus

what is the mode of representation

the way dance refers to the World.

how might the mode of represenatation appear in any given dance

all mode of representations might appear in any given dance, usually one mode predominating.

what are the mode of representations in dance?

replication, imitation, resemblance, reflection

what is the mode of representation, resemblance?

focuses on a ceratin quality or attribute, and repeats that quality in the dance movement.

resemblance mode of representation example in the context of river 

winding can appear in the curved motion of an arm or that of a path the dancer traces on the floor. The movement does not look precisely like that of a meandering river, it simply embodies a quality shared by many events in the world.

what is the imitation mode of representation?

the choreography produces a schematized version of the river’s appearance. Imitataion depends on a spatial and temporal conformity between represented entity and danced step. The curves, width, speed, color, and texture are carefully reproduced in the movement.

The movement, although altered to the scale of the human body and simplified in certain ways, leaves little dout about the referent of the movement.

What is the mode of representation, replication?

rather than approaching the object as a set of visual or aural characteristics, replication signifiers the object as a dynamic system, as could be seen for example in the tension between the surging energy and the limits of the body or in the interaction between two dancers, one deflecting the movement of the other.

as in resemblance, the exact identity of the replicated event may be unclear. The movement of the two dancers could as easily represent a realtionship of two rivals, lovers or the seasons of winter and spring. A relationship between qualities (plural) is represented.

What is the mode of representation, reflection?

by reflecting its own movement the dance can suggest the object as one of many possible associations evoked by the activity of moving.

Reflective representation makes exclusive reference to itself, to the performance of movement. 

The idea of the object may not be inteded in any way to the interpretation of the dance.

A sustained run across the performance can mean nothing but itself, or it may invite the association “object“.

what is the style?

the way the dance achieves an individual identity in the world and in its genre

what does any stylicsitc choice in dance imply?

a background of alternatives rejected in favor of some feature of movement that lends distinctiveness to, by signifying and identity for, its bearers.

What three related sets of choreographic conventsion set the style of the choreography?

The quality,

the characteristic use of parts of the body,

the dancer’s orientation in the perfomance space (three-dimensional spatial grid)

apart from these on could also anaylze the texture of the choregraphy very much like in music.

how does the quality determine the style of the piece?

also defined as texture or effort, the quality is about with which the movement is performed.

rudolph van laban’s systemization of the quality of movement

dividing it into four basic components

space: indirect/direct

time: sustained/quick

weight: strong/light

flow: free/bound

an example of laban’s categorization of the quality of movement (the style)

one dancer might perform swan queen’s (swan lake ballet) speec to the prince “Please, don’t shoot my swans“ with a light and maybe sustained quality, thereby indicating her delicate, ethereal identity. Another dance (in another Swan Lake production) might be asked the perform the same sequenece with more force, directness and quickness, indicating her regal authority and conviction.

how is the dancer’s orientation in the performance space (three-dimensional spatial grid) affect the style?

movement that occurs in the air, such as a jump or lift, or that gestures toward upper space is usually associated with abstract, the pure, the heavenly, or the ideal, whereas movement occurin on the floor or oriented toward the ground evokes a more primeval or earthy existence. Movement at the center of the space is regarded as more important than movement at the periphery.

on a proscenium stage, forward movement implies progress and increasing signifance; recessive movement signifies receding time or regression.

How does the characteristic use of parts of the body (with their culturally coded symbolic associations) effect the style of the dance? Examples

Isadora Duncan - solar plexus as the source of movement (emotions and feelings)

Martha Graham - pelvis (primitive, sexual instincts and desires)

Ballet - fixed and vertical torso & head placed on top, watching the rest of the body for correct moving (intellect, rationality)

also how might one analyse the style in dance like in terms of the texture like in music?

in music monophonnic texture designates a single line, played by one or more instruments. so in dance when all dancers are in unison or there is a solo dancer it can be considered a monophonic texture.

in music homophonic texture describes a melody supported by chords. in dance it might be a soloist supported by a corps de ballet doing less complex movement.

in music polyphonic texture indicates that multiple lines of equal interest happen simultaneously, in dance multiple groups of dancers of equal importance might dance simultaneously.

in music heterophonic texture refers to single line being played with intentional variation, as when one ore more players or voice ornament the line. In dance it might be when dencers perform minor variations on a common theme, or perform slightly out of synchronization.

what is texture in music?

it refers to how different lines/layers of sound interact.

texture of music elements

monophonic, homophonic, polyphonic, heterophonic.

what is the vocabulary in dance?

the basic units or moves from which the dance is made.

vocabulary examples in dance

the ballet, many tpes of folk dance and major modern dance traditions, each have a lexicon of moves from which the vocabulary of a given dance is drawn. The ballet’s lexicon, for example, consists of approximately two hundred steps and their accompanying names which has largely remained in the French language such as arabesque, pirouette, frappe, cabriole…

what is the syntax in reading choreography

the grammer or rules governing the selection and combination of moves

the questions that might be asked in choreograhpy related to the syntax

why one move follows another in a given dance? what are the syntactic principles that inform the selection and combination of individual moves?

3 major syntactic principles in the syntax of dance

mimesis, pathos, parataxis

what is the syntactic principle, mimesis

a move just executed could be repeated twice or three times before the dancer goes on to the next phrase. A move or phrase can also recur later in the dance, giving both internal coherence and complexity to the dance.

Syntactic choices based on the structure of the accompanying music, sorta related to mimesis

individual moves and phrases, the spatial location of the dancers, and orchestration, the solos, duets, group phrases could be designed on the basis of equivalent structural features of the music. Choreography may also reproduce the narrative structure, libretto in other words, which could be described at full length in the program booklet.

What is the librettto?

structural narrative, booklet given.

The syntactic element, pathos

Evocation of feelings of pity, sorrow and the like. Rather than a deliberate articulation of the structure of music through dance, what the viewer sees is the unfolding of a progression of human feelings. What the viewer sees is the unfolding of a progression of human feelings. Decisions informed by emotiional life, dream life, or the realm of intuition, inspiration, and impulse guide sequencing of the parts of the dance, It can simply “feel“ right to place one move after another.

The syntactic element, parataxis

placement side by side (without causal, linear or narrational connections/conjunctions) Parataxis includes diverse procedures for sequencing movement

that range from aleatory techniques to mathematical equations and game structures

The

choreographer could flip a coin or use more sophisticated chance operations to determine

the ordering of dance phrases; phrases could be repeated each time with the insertion or

substitution of new moves; or various game instructions could be adapted to determine

movement order and the structure of the dance as a whole.

The most prevalent paratactic technique for arranging movement is variation. Variation is

accomplished by focusing specifically on the spatial, temporal or stretchable properties of a

move or a phrase. For example, a circular move performed by the arm could be enlarged, or

made smaller, or executed with the dancer facing a different direction. The circle could be

taken up by different parts of the body -the legs, the pelvis, or the head. The temporal

properties of the circle could be varied in speed, made faster or slower, or accelerated or

decelerated. The circle could also be performed with various movement textures/qualities

ranging from the tense and heavy to the liquid and light. A phrase may be reversed, or

performed in retrograde (backwards), the number of dancers could increse from one to many

as all of these variations take place…

In dances that display beautiful or ideal forms in movement, variations permit a systematic

treatment of phrases ranging from simple to complex and from the unadorned to the

ornamented.