Author: katerose Page 5 of 7

When I started Un Jour Dans La Vie, I was really excited. The music and the dancers allowed for so may new possibilities and opportunities to explore blending styles, characterization, and mood.

The music sounded playful, angsty, chaotic, light, and smooth all in one. With the musical piece being 17 minutes long with various sections and instruments being used, our first step was to narrow down which sections we wanted to use and in what order we put them in. During the first rehearsal the four of worked on the music together. First, we listened to the whole piece and I had the girls put there hand up when they heard something they liked. We then went back and listened solely to the sections that we liked and narrowed it down further. We then ct out the sections we no longer wanted. While we were choosing, we also decided that we wanted to include some variety in the sections instead of choosing the ones that were more similar to each other. After the sections had been chosen and the cuts had been made, we worked together using Audacity to rearrange the music so that it fit smoothly together. Lastly, we listened to our whole edit and we were amazed that we could make such a smooth edit and turn a 17 minute piece into a 3 minute one!

The second step in my process was the movement exploration and improvisation. I gave the girls a task to each come up with one or two Jazz styled movements and find a way to blend it and integrate some Ballet style into it. We wrote down and drew the movements on a white board that looked something like this. I then asked them to find ways to put the different movements together into 8 count phrases. we ended up integrating these phrases into a later part of the dance.

Next, over the course of a month, we held multiple rehearsals to put together the dance. We created new phrases, shapes, and movements together and built the skeleton of the dance through exploration, improvisation, and taking from the different techniques, styles, and repetoire.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

After, the building blocks of the dance had been put together, we bang to rework it and find ways to make it better and implement more artistry. We looked at effects and concepts such as;

1. 1. Shapes
   2. Spacing
   3. Dynamics (speed, flow, weight) and
   4. Characterization

Once the dance was completed, we continued to run it and clean it persistently to prepare it for festival and competition.

Completed!

Our next step was picking out costumes to create our desired affect and pull the piece together. We figured that it should be something blue as the name of the song suggests.  We chose some royal blue corsets with a baroque pattern to assist the idea of possible a vintage jazzy saloon type era with a matching ballet skirt and sleeves to match. We also incorporated some prop hats into the piece to provide more of an era illusion. This piece was fun and interesting to work with since it gave us so much more possibility. The hats we chose are straw barber hats which the girls each decorated individually to add their own creative flare.

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.

My Inspiration: The music, Rhapsody in Blue, and the girls.

While conducting my personal research on different views on choreographic processes, I came across an article written for DANCE magazine. This article written by Jose G. Sadan, looks at how a dancer my adapt themselves to participate within various choreographic processes. Sadan discusses strategies for dancer to look to while working with choreographers in order to keep the vision alive and put their best foot forward. I found this interesting to read as growing up I worked with multiple different teachers within various technical styles and approaches to choreography. Sometimes I found hard to work with some teachers more than others due to the approach that they took to the piece and how they instructed the dancers. This article lists strategies that I have used as well as some that I have never thought about. The strategies given will definitely be able to help me engage students and myself in future artistic works.

The first of the strategies provided includes developing and using a growth mindset. this further links to many discussions and lessons we have had throughout our academic year as the mindset benefits overall learning through constant goal setting and believing in intrinsic and personal success through improvement. The article suggests to let go of the notion of getting it perfectly the first time. It helps to think of improving and working towards a final goal as the piece progresses. It is okay to be perfect in the first moment.

The second suggestion is to create a personal warm-up to engage in before any rehearsal begins. This allows the dancer to mentally prepare themselves and engage their body in movement that works beyond any set technique. This further works to allow the dancer to be ready to engage in the development of new movements and be ready for anything that the choreographer throws at them.

The third strategy includes extra work for the dancer. It is suggested that dancers make time to review, reflect, and practice on their own outside of rehearsal. This allows them to be further mentally and physically prepared for future rehearsals as they better memorize the movements given previously  so that they are more able to focus on the new material be given. It also allows them to become more fluid in the movement and explore the artistry that they can bring to the phrase later on.

The fourth suggestion includes weighing the pros and cons of your reasoning for participating in the project and working with the choreographer. Sometimes working with certain choreographers can be frustrating especially if the room develops a feeling of tension, a lack of communication exists between the dancers and the choreographer or a artistic limit exists within the piece. In this situation it can be helpful to ask yourself why you are there. What is the bigger picture? What am I gaining from this experience.

The fifth and final strategy discussed includes the combination of looking beyond frustration and developing a growth mindset. If a dancer can look beyond frustrating movement phrases and choreography and keep an open mind to the choreographers visionary’s and what they themselves might be able to accomplish by the final performance of the piece, the dancer will then have the opportunity to turn a difficult experience into a rewarding collaborative accomplishment.

Research retrieved from:

https://www.dancemagazine.com/how-to-adapt-to-any-choreographic-process-2314473741.html

DANCE Magazine. Written by : Josie G. Sadan. Mar 16, 2017

Accessed on February 19th, 2020

I am a huge fan of the growth mindset idea. In my past dance classes this was something I struggled with. With dance (depending on the style) it is often looked at as an art form that requires a certain level of skill and technique that is geared towards perfection. While working on my current group piece, I have tried to implement this thought process more with myself and the dancers I am working with. It helped that I worked together with the dancers to develop the movement and put it together. this allowed us to explore and see what worked and what didn’t and move beyond perfection. very rehearsal we had we looked at how could further build upon or better what we had done, moving beyond the idea of perfection.

Enjoy these videos on embracing mistakes and developing a growth mindset through the arts!