First class rehearsal notes April 10th:
Plan: With this rehearsal, I really just tried to feel out my movements in the space. I had fully planned out a general structure for the first half of my dance and I wanted to execute that well. I was less concerned with my actual gestures and more concerned with my movement patterns and the general arc of my piece. I also wanted to run my concept by my classmates to see if they liked the idea of switching from the flashlight idea to the chair idea.
Feedback: Overall, people were receptive to my concept and liked what they saw. People especially liked when I manipulated the chair while on the ground. They enjoyed how I crawled up to the chair as well. I think for a lot of people this was their favorite moment. They also commented on how well the music fit with my piece in terms of rhythm.
Reflection: I felt reassured by my choice to switch from a flashlight searching theme to more of an abstract chair theme. I was glad that people really liked the crawl up to the chair as this was also my favorite movement. For next time, I want to work more on the middle of my piece, especially my transition from being upright to being on the floor.
Second class rehearsal notes April 17th:
Plan: I wanted to experiment with new movement while on the ground. I also wanted to be more acrobatic during the transition. I felt that adding in an element of virtuosity might liven up my piece and I also wanted to push myself as a mover. I also tried to nail down more of my movement decisions by establishing a movement vocabulary based on the narrative arc of my piece.
Feedback: The feedback I got was mixed in terms of the virtuosity piece. I spent too much time moving back and forth and the problem with virtuosity is that it could detract from my narrative. According to my audience, the virtuosic elements of balancing and running over the chair didn’t help with expanding the narrative of searching that I want to portray.
Reflection: I still had trouble coming up with an ending to my piece which is something I want to get down in my next rehearsal. I also will remove the virtuousic element and work more on developing my narrative.
Third class rehearsal notes April 24th:
Plan: Going in, I really wanted to work on moving in more three dimensional ways and breaking symmetry. Doris Humphrey in her checklist noted these first on her list so I assume they are important. They also remedy some of the feelings that people got from my piece last week, mainly too much back and forth movement. I also really wanted to accentuate my movements because as Doris says in her checklist, movement looks weaker on stage. Therefore, I tried to make my gestures more visibly pronounced and slowed them down a bit. I also performed without music in order to free myself from a predictable rhythm.
Feedback: People liked that I broke the horizontal plane and moved downstage and added more dimensionality. They were more confused by my accentuated gestures which I understand because I mainly completed these with my head. Mira also said that she found the lack of music to add a more powerful tense component to my piece.
Reflection: Overall, I got a lot of valuable feedback to work on for the final rehearsal. I want to vary my relationship between myself and the chair. I want to add more dynamic movement that brings the focal point to me as a mover.
Fourth Rehearsal Notes May 1st:
Plans: I added in new music that I felt captured the mood of the piece better. Also, I added new movements from a text-movement analysis I did with the lyrics of the song I chose. The movements I created fit the theme of the song but also I hoped would capture the emotionality of searching. For instance, I came up with numerous reaching gestures that I hoped would convey finding the “light.” I also tried to tilt the direction of my piece so that there were more diagonals in the movement arc because Celeste mentioned that the horizontal plane is the most boring to watch.
Feedback: People really like the added elements of my movement and saw clear separation of me from the chair. They also noticed more specificity in my movement which was another of my goals, to try. They said it created a “gravitational pull” between me and the chair. They also really liked the change in music!
Reflection: I felt like I had added a new element of meaning to my piece. Not only had I added in new movement but I added in movement that I felt had added meaning behind it since it now also related to the music. I came up with a more effective and dynamic movement vocabulary.
Below is a video from my Fourth Rehearsal
References
Humphrey, D. (1959). The art of making dances. Grove Press.
