Starting my Choreography

Rhapsody in Blue

This year, I had the opportunity to create a variety of choreographic pieces for my students to perform at competition and festivals. The pieces spanned across genres including ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical and musical theatre. Most of these pieces, were choreographed as solos or duets but the one I will be focusing on for this inquiry is a group piece. The group piece was of the ballet genre and was named Un Jour Dans La Vie (A Day in the Life). I have had the opportunity to choreograph many group pieces before but ballet groups are some of my favorite to work on. Even though ballet is a technical and often strict discipline, there are opportunities to get creative and look at it from a different perspective. Nowadays in Ballet, you can create storylines, blend techniques, and share ideas just as we can with contemporary or modern. Ballet can be blended with contemporary techniques which allows the dancer to practice ballet technique while incorporating contemporary styles such as contractions or bent shapes amongst traditional ballet extensions. When Ballet tells stories, it is referred to as Demi -Character. in Demi character, dancers can tell a story through the use of their facial expressions and gestures of the upper body while the lower body continues using traditional ballet technique. When Ballet aims to shares ideas, it can be referred to as interpretive. This is similar to Demi – character but the dancer aims to interpret an action or idea rather than a specific storyline or character. It is always interesting and fun to test the boundaries of ballet and use it to portray new ideas, styles, and stories which is why I enjoy choreographing these pieces the most.

In a past piece, Winds Change, I used the choreographic approach of beginning with an idea or an inspiration, and then moving on to pick a song that matched what I want to portray. I then worked with the dancers to create an interpretive and contemporary ballet piece that tested traditional lines and extensions and took stylistic impressions from contemporary dance. This was fun for myself and the dancers to see how we could manipulate set movements into something new. My approach for this piece followed that of a contemporary choreographic style as well as the three – phase process as I used traditional technique, contemporary styles, exploration, and integrated my own style.

Winds Change

When I started this years’ piece, Un Jour Dans La Vie, I started it similarly to Winds Change. I started with my inspiration. My inspiration for this piece happened to come from a classroom observation I was doing back home in Prince George. I was observing a grade 4/5 music class as they were studying the musical piece of Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin. I watched and listened as the teacher talked to the students about what dynamics and musical elements and instruments they could hear and recognize within the piece and then I watched a the children were given a large piece of paper and pencil and were instructed to draw what they heard. it could be a storyline, a place, a person, shapes, etc… anything they wanted. They continued with this activity as they listened to the entirety of the song. It was very interesting to see all of there thoughts and visualizations come to life. While I listened to the piece with the children, all I could see in my mind’s eye were an array of dancers sliding, jumping, and turning on pointe, as well as some intricate and jazz inspired footwork. I immediately knew that I wanted to create a piece with some of our own ballet dancers and bring my vision to life. While I thought about the dance, I also thought about who I could do it with. What dancers suited this style and who was fun to work with. I chose to work with my sister Sara, and her friends Laura, and Kendra. I love working with these girls as they are talented, take risks, and aren’t afraid to share their thoughts and ideas and as they are growing up I only have so many opportunities to work with them before they start their own adventures beyond the studio.