Rooster notes

Choreographic style of Bruce

• Physical setting

  • Use of black box

  • Lighting used to create differences in atmosphere and to guide the attention of audience

  • Costumes used to support characters

  • Simple designs to avoid distracting from dancers

  • Collaborates with designers/designs his own work

• Aural setting

  • Eclectic collection of music

  • Music chosen to enhance choreographic intention

  • Pop music

  • Folk/cultural music

  • Classical

  • Commissioned works

• Use of dancers

  • Strong sense of musicality

  • Characterisation

  • Personal interpretation of roles

• Choreographic devices

  • Motif repetition

  • Accumulation

  • Repeating of scenes-reinforces ideas

• Movement content

  • Classical ballet

  • Graham technique

  • Tap

  • Ballroom

  • Flamenco

  • Folk

  • Popular dance

  • Everyday gesture

  • Pedestrian movement

  • Stillness contrasted with fluid action which is punctuated by sudden stops

  • Simplicity contrasted with intricate footwork

  • Gives an essence of styles rather than authentically replicating them

• Themes

  • Emotions

  • Autobiographical

  • Political

  • Social

  • Ecological

• Stimuli

  • Selects themes from stimuli which may be conveyed through dance

  • Music

  • Paintings

  • Literature

• Structure

  • Episodic

  • Occasional use of cyclic structure

Key themes of Rooster

• Swinging 60s

  • First teenage generation to be free from conscription

  • Parents wanted their children to enjoy their youth

  • British counterculture began in the mid 60s and divided the country

  • Rock n roll had spread from the US

  • Music had become a vehicle for social change

  • The protest songs and psychedelia of the 60s were the soundtracks to a sexual revolution and anti-war marches

  • The Beatles inspired many musicians including the Rolling Stones

  • Young people began to stand up for their beliefs and their individuality

  • Recreational drugs became more commonly used

  • LSD made people feel happy/optimistic and helped bring about the hippie movement

  • The effects of drugs were seen in psychedelic art and films

  • Fashion mirrored the social changes

  • The miniskirt was designed by Mary Quant, and was a symbol of youth, sexuality and power- giving women the freedom to express themselves

  • By the late 60s, psychedelic prints and vibrant colours began appearing on clothes

  • Feminism became more influential due to more jobs being available to young women

  • The contraceptive pill became legalised, which gave women the opportunity to focus on their careers and themselves, rather than having to start a family

  • Women were becoming increasingly involved in politics and the running of the country

• Courting rituals

• Male chauvinism

Key facts

• Created for Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve in 1991

• Rambert premiere in 1994

• 10 dancers- 5 male 5 female

• Costumes designed by Marian Bruce

• Lighting by Tina MacHugh

• Bruce did his own set design (black box)

Origins of the dance

• Aim was for Rooster to be “a celebration of the music”

• Songs were used to create meaning and themes

• The competitive feel of the work is a reflection of courtship/dating in the 1960s

Rooster in context of Bruce’s choreography

• Rooster continued a trend of choreographing to cycles of songs

• Some examples of works that follow this trend include Ghost Dances, Holiday Sketches, Sergeant Early’s Dream, and The Dream Is Over

• Bruce often choreographed to music he grew up with

• The use of popular music in dance was more common in America

• Bruce frequently draws choreographic motifs from lyrics

• Bruce’s prior works had been serious in terms of themes, and the inclusion of popular music and animalistic movements made Rooster stand out

• The work is typical of Bruce’s style

• Uses ballet, Graham technique and a wide range of social dances

• The characters in Rooster are interchangeable and take on multiple roles

  • Role of the rooster on the farmyard- to watch over his flock, watch out for predators, alert when danger is near and help them find food

  • They also have to mate with the hens to create chicks

Aural setting

• Songs by the Rolling Stones

  • Lyrics used for movements, but also through the use of characterisation, costume, colour and mood

  • Little Red Rooster

    • The song describes the activities of a rooster in a farmyard and how it is described as the peacemaker

    • Use of a harmonica

    • Used in country music- environment of a farmyard

    • Links to lyrics- allows the audience to understand that the male dancers are playing the role of the rooster

  • Lady Jane

  • Not Fade Away

  • As Tears Go By

  • Paint It Black

  • Ruby Tuesday

  • Play With Fire

  • Sympathy For The Devil

• Rolling Stones

  • English rock band that was one of the most popular bands in the 60s

  • Won several awards and have estimated record sales of over 250 million

  • Had a large impact on young people, due to their rebellious lyrics and punk outlook

  • Set trends in fashion as well as music

  • Challenged conventions, whether through their lyrics, or many other actions

Costumes

• Little Red Rooster, Lady Jane, Not Fade Away, As Tears Go By, Play With Fire, Sympathy For The Devil

  • Men

    • Colourful jackets (brown, black, burgundy, royal blue, green)

    • Black trousers and shoes

    • Colourful ties (grey, burgundy, green, red)

    • Colourful/white shirts

    • Links to 60s

    • Colourful/psychedelic

    • Jeans are less formal

    • Suggests Jaggers’ “dandy” phase

    • The costumes were initially made in the 60s, and were bought from second hand shops

    • Links to male chauvinism

    • Tie/suit jacket- connotations of a businessman, showed how men were the breadwinner/more powerful

    • Have a sense of individuality due to the colours, however the women did not

  • Women

    • Sleeveless black dress with red box pleats

    • Black tights

    • Black shoes

    • Link to 60s

    • Colour- red suggests love, evil, anger

    • 60s were full of these emotions

    • Love- hippies

    • Box pleats- 50s/60s

    • Sense of modesty as it is longer- knee length

    • Traditional views of modesty

    • No individuality- reflection of the views prior to the 60s

• Paint It Black

  • Men

    • Red shirt

    • Navy tie

    • Black trousers and shoes

    • No jacket

    • Link to 60s

    • Lack of jacket- rebellion of formality/freedom

    • Shedding of power

  • Women

    • Black dress (miniskirt)

    • Red scarf

    • Black tights

    • Black shoes

    • Link to 60s

    • Mary Quant’s 60s fashion

    • Miniskirt made famous by Twiggy

    • Rebellion/freedom/taking control

    • Designed to be free/liberating for women

• Ruby Tuesday

  • Men

    • Black suit jackets

    • Black trousers and shoes

    • Coloured ties (green, purple, red, grey)

  • Women

    • Long red flowing dress

    • Hair down with a red bow/ribbon

Key Motifs

• Rooster strut

  • A stylised walk performed by the men

  • The toes of one foot slide along the floor, the head and neck jut forward, and the rest of the dancer’s body is pulled towards the outstretched extremities

  • Mimics the way in which cockerels move

• Grooming gestures

  • Slicking down the hair

  • Straightening their cuffs and sleeves

  • Adjusting their ties

• Characteristic jumps

  • Suggests a chicken trying to fly with its stubby wings

  • The dancer holds onto the bottom of his jacket lapels so that his arms are bent into the shape of a chicken’s wing

  • He lifts his elbows as he jumps so that they appear to flap as he makes fluttering gestures with his feet

• Everyday gestures

  • Example is the handshake in ‘Sympathy for the Devil’

• Extravagant courtly gestures

  • Suggestive of the steps of a minuet with its bows and flourishes

Lighting

• Initially the centre of the stage is illuminated

• The first dancer walks into this pool of light, performing the rooster strut

• Suggests a sunrise

• When the rooster comes alive

• Mysterious

• Audience can see all the dancers very clearly

• Allows the audience to focus

• Shows the dancers’ importance