Rooster Choreographic Style of Bruce Notes

Choreographic Style of Bruce

Physical Setting

• Use of black box to focus attention.

• Lighting is employed to create different atmospheres and direct the audience's focus.

• Costumes support the characters: simple designs avoid distracting from the dancers.

• Bruce collaborates with designers or designs his own work.

Aural Setting

• Eclectic music collection is used.

• Music is chosen to enhance choreographic intention.

• Genres include pop, folk/cultural music, and classical music.

• Commissions original musical works.

Use of Dancers

• Dancers exhibit a strong sense of musicality.

• Emphasis on characterization.

• Dancers provide personal interpretations of their roles.

Choreographic Devices

• Motif repetition to reinforce ideas.

• Accumulation technique used.

• Repeating of scenes reinforces ideas

• Repeating gesture

Movement Content

• Classical ballet forms the foundation.

• Graham technique is incorporated.

• Tap, ballroom, flamenco, and folk dance elements are included.

• Popular dance and everyday gestures are integrated.

• Pedestrian movement is utilized.

• Stillness is contrasted with fluid action, punctuated by sudden stops.

• Simplicity is contrasted with intricate footwork.

• Essence of styles is given rather than authentically replicating them.

Themes

• Exploration of emotions.

• Autobiographical elements.

• Addresses political themes.

• Addresses social themes.

• Addresses ecological themes.

Stimuli

• Themes are selected from various stimuli, conveyed through dance.

• Inspiration from music, paintings, and literature.

Structure

• Episodic structure is common.

• Occasional use of cyclic structure.

Key Themes of Rooster

Swinging 60s

• First teenage generation free from conscription, allowed to enjoy their youth.

• Parents encouraged their children to enjoy their youth.

• British counterculture emerged in the mid-60s, dividing the country.

• Rock 'n' roll spread from the US.

• Music became a vehicle for social change.

• Protest songs and psychedelia soundtracked a sexual revolution and anti-war marches.

• The Beatles inspired musicians, including The Rolling Stones.

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

• Recreational drugs, like LSD, became more common.

• LSD created feelings of happiness and optimism, contributing to the hippie movement.

• Drug effects influenced psychedelic art and films.

• Fashion mirrored social changes.

• The miniskirt, designed by Mary Quant, symbolized youth, sexuality, and female power.

• Late 60s saw psychedelic prints and vibrant colors in clothing.

• Feminism became more influential due to increased job opportunities for young women.

• The contraceptive pill was legalized, allowing women to focus on careers over starting families.

• Women became more involved in politics and governance.

Courting Rituals

• Exploration of courtship practices.

Male Chauvinism

• Addresses themes of male dominance and sexism.

Key Facts

• Created for Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve in 1991.

• Rambert premiere in 1994.

• Features 10 dancers: 5 male, 5 female.

• Costumes designed by Marian Bruce.

• Lighting by Tina MacHugh.

• Set design (black box) by Bruce.

Origins of the Dance

• Aimed to be “a celebration of the music”.

• Songs used to create meaning and themes.

• The competitive feel reflects 1960s courtship/dating.

Rooster in Context of Bruce’s Choreography

• Rooster continued a trend of choreographing to cycles of songs.

• Examples include Ghost Dances, Holiday Sketches, Sergeant Early’s Dream, and The Dream Is Over.

• Bruce often choreographed to music from his youth.

• Use of popular music in dance was more common in America.

• Bruce frequently draws choreographic motifs from lyrics.

• Prior works were serious; Rooster stood out with popular music and animalistic movements.

• The work is typical of Bruce’s style, using ballet, graham technique and a wide range of social dances.

• Characters are interchangeable, taking on multiple roles.

• The role of the rooster is watching over the flock, watch out for predators, alert when danger is near and help them find food, mating with the hens to create chicks.

Aural Setting

• Songs by The Rolling Stones:

  • Lyrics used for movements, characterization, costume, color, and mood.

  • Little Red Rooster

    • Describes a rooster's activities and role as peacemaker.

    • Features a harmonica, common in country music, linking to the farmyard environment.

    • Links to the lyrics allows the audience to understand that the make 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

• The Rolling Stones:

  • English rock band, popular in the 60s.

  • Won awards with estimated record sales of over 250 million.

  • Impacted young people with rebellious lyrics and punk outlook.

  • Set trends in fashion and music.

  • Challenged conventions through lyrics and 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 Jagger’s “dandy” phase

  • Costumes were initially made in the 60s and 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.

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 flow dress.

• Hair down with a red bow/ribbon

Key Motifs

Rooster Strut

• Stylized walk performed by the men.

• Toes slide along the floor, head and neck jut forward.

• The rest of the dancer's body is pulled towards the outstretched extremities.

• Mimics how cockerels move.

Grooming Gestures

• Slicking down hair.

• Straightening cuffs and sleeves.

• Adjusting ties.

Characteristic Jumps

• Suggests a chicken trying to fly with its stubby wings.

• Dancer holds jacket lapels, arms bent like chicken wings.

• Elbows lift, appearing to flap as the dancer makes fluttering gestures with their feet.

Everyday Gestures

• Example: the handshake in 'Sympathy for the Devil'.

Extravagant Courtly Gestures

• Suggests steps of a minuet with bows and flourishes.

Lighting

• Initially, the center stage is illuminated.

• The first dancer walks into the 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.