Sylvia Halls Choreography

"Pizzolla Caldera" by Paul Taylor I will be analysing a piece of choreography by Paul Taylor called "Pizzolla Caldera". The song is "Concierto para quinteto" by Gidon Kremer. The dance is a sensual tango and has been reinterpreted with modern dance. Taylor is respecting the tradition of tango and preserving it in his choreography.  I think the message they are trying to portray is the contrast in styles can relate to modern-day society. Different personalities can work together to create a supportive atmosphere. At 2.40 minutes of the piece, there is a canon of classical movements. This choreographic device shows the individuality of each dancer but also it portrays the independence that people have. I think the choreography does have a relationship with the music because when the string instruments are lengthened and shortened, at 1 minute of the piece, the dancer responds to this by making her movements flow or have sharp dynamics.  As an audience member...

"Mental health" By Tom Richardson Tom Richardson      I will be analysing a 2 minute piece, choreographed by Tom Richardson called “mental health”. The dancer in the video is Włodek Kołobycz. Richardson uses a quote by Glenn Close "What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation" in the description of the video. The message they are trying to portray is that when mental health is ignored it is even more of a struggle to open up about what you are going through whereas, when you add the sunlight it exposes the mental health and therefore society will see what people are having to go through. There is a moment in the piece (1.20 minutes) where the shadows multiply to create the idea of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is when a person may not always be able to distinguish their thoughts and ideas from reality. (Schizophrenia, 2020) The dancer then looks down at one of the shadows with a fearful expression which reinforces the idea of ha...

 So far in the choreographic process, we have encountered problems such as spacing and time management. This table shows the problems and solutions from our choreography piece. 

The choreography we created links to the theme of the piece because people who have suffered from traumatic experiences often have DID later in life to help cope with that past trauma. The section I have choreographed with Isabella is representing a bad memory. The memory will be about abuse and neglect which reinforces the idea of past trauma. Our movements are very quick and the arms are sharp and flexed which is to show harshness. At the beginning of the section, there is a canon starting with the tallest member of the group from the upstage left corner to the smallest in the upstage right corner. One person will be crouching in the top right corner and the canon of movements is meant to show repetitive physical abuse. Throughout the section, there is a lot of negative space which to me could link to the idea of neglect because that space isn’t being filled with happiness or love. We found that pathways to get into formations are harder to get there in time due to music time pressur...

One of the choreographic devices we have used is formation. In the beginning of the piece we are all in a formation, each row in different levels, representing the brain. We then each individually spread out into places in the stage with movements that represent/ show the emotion that we have been given. After this a split focus will occur with different levels- A small group of people will be doing set choreography, on a high level, created by a member of the group whilst the rest of the group will be doing different choreography on a lower level. Later on in the piece there is a short count of music that will be for a cannon. I think this represents the process of the brain and the signals that you get from a reaction. Using the choreographic devices has helped us develop a better idea as to what that movement means which helps us link back to the theme which is mental health and DID. For example, myself and another member of the team have created the idea of the emotions colliding...

  The music for our choreography piece is called “Bloodstream” by Tokio Myers. This piece of music was suggested by another member of the group. I think the music fits perfectly with the theme of creating awareness for mental health because there are a lot of different sections in the music where there is a change in dynamics and chords. This helps highlight the everyday struggles that a person with DID has to go through. We listened to the music and allocated each different section to people. They then created an idea of what the music would represent and what emotion would be shown. Section 1- Piano melody, group- For this section everyone is all together representing the brain. Section2- Piano trill- This is when we continuously brake off individually to show the emotions we have picked in our solos. I am confusion and the way I am going to portray that is by doing a movement and through my face think that I have the wrong arm. Section 3- Change in chords, nostalgic- This ...