Week 9 – Critical Review of Dance Piece #2
The choreography that I will be critiquing is McGregor's Woolf Works. This piece is bases on Virginia Woolf who defied the false order of narrative conventions to depict a heightened, startling and poignant reality. re-creates the synesthetic collision of form and substance in her writings.(Studio Wayne McGregor, n.d.) Originally performed by the Royal Ballet company, the piece aims to represent Woolf's world of 'granite and rainbow' where human beings are at once both physical body and uncontained essence.(Studio Wayne McGregor, n.d.).
Firstly, whilst watching the piece I was drawn to the costuming and staging. The costumes in which the dancers are wearing are very bare showing every part of the human body, which links back to McGregor's other piece infra where again they were wearing revealing costumes. By showing every part of the body it makes you realise how everything in the body has a purpose and that it's all very mechanical, this can also be interpreted by the black tinges on the ends of the costumes, as black has connotations of mechanics and oil. Also, the lighting is mostly just spotlights whether this be one or multiple. The use of a spotlight shows how McGregor only wanted the focus on specific dancers at one time, however it also could've been done to reflect the soul as many depictions of the soul has relations to light.
In addition to the use of the spotlights, there is also a lot of duet work in the choreography, again a similarity both McGreogor's pieces have had. The reliance of one another during the lifts and how the movements between one another all link, shows how the soul can be reliant on other people and also how one soul can also affect another person's. Moreover, the structure of the piece links to how mechanical the body can be but the essence of the soul links with other peoples. It starts with the movement of partners but then develops into a unison group movement. This represents the freeness of the human soul and then moves back to focus on the mechanics of the human body as every movement os quite staccato whereas the spotlight movements are more free and loose.
There are many similarities and differences between the infra and Woolf pieces. Some similarities include the costumes in the pieces. Both choreographies have the dancers dressed in nude coloured leotards, however I feel like the this choice was made for contrasting reasons. In infra they were dressed in revealing leotards to mirror the vulnerability and openness of human relationships, where as in Woolf works the use of the nude with tinged black edges and nude colouring shows the mechanical and biological side of the human being. Another similarity includes the use of partner work. in infra the partner work shows how they have to rely on one another to make the relationship work however, in Woolf works it shows how the human souls intertwine with one another and affect one another.
This is a really good blog post Niamh, well done. I particularly like the way you have given some detailed background information on this choreography piece. Additionally, I like the way you have given suggestions as to what certain movements may be implying, and also discussed the potential meaning behind the routine. Did you notice any choreographic devices used in this choreography piece 'Woolf Works'?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Rachel, I noticed unison being used and also augmentation. I felt like these two devices added to the meaning of the piece when interpreting it to be based on the soul. The use of unison enhanced the idea that all our souls link with other peoples and augmentation showed how the should interacts with others as one movement then affected someone else movement.
DeleteThis is a really well written piece that gives a lot of detail about his work. You mentioned about similarities within the two pieces, I was wondering if he used any similar choreographic devices in the two pieces? Which dance did you enjoy more and why?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Eliza, I noticed that the use of repetition was used in both dances and also augmentation as both show how things are vulnerable and are easily affected by other things. The performance which I most enjoyed was Woolf Works as I felt that the use of the different lighting really drew the audience into the choreography. Moreover, I found that this dance was more intense physically whereas Infra was more emotionally intense.
DeleteExcellent work! You have included some interesting points. Please further discuss the style and movement used? What is the purpose behind the choreography and what impact did the music have and how did this have an effect on the piece? In your opinion, do you think the piece was successful - were there any parts you liked/disliked? In comparison to your first critical analysis, can you notice any major differences between the two pieces? Please expand your analysis by discussing how the emotion and dynamic/ intention differed? Overall a well presented critical analysis.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Miss Norman, the style of this piece is neoclassical. In this piece there's a lot of focus on leaps, shunts and lifts. These things support my idea that the choreography is based on the idea of the soul. Through leaps and lifts it reflects the saying of "lifting people up". The soul reacts with other people and so lifts symbolise the reliance on other people to support them.
DeleteThe music is performed by string instruments, there is also a lot of harmonisation in the music. This adds more depth to the piece as not only are the audience seeing complementary movements between dancers but they're also listening to complementary notes between instruments. Therefore, the music plays a huge part in the audience's experience as then both senses get the sensation of harmonisation. Due to these pints I feel like the piece was successful in showing the vulnerability of the soul and human emotions.
The point in the piece which really captured my attention was the part when all the dancers got in to two lines to then proceed to dance in unison. This was a real contrast to the rest of the choreography as this is one of the only times when all the dancers were together and no spotlight was used. I thought this was effective in showing how people can come together to create something really beautiful. An alternative interpretation could be that even though they're all very uniform at that moment in time everyone is still an individual.
Some major differences between the two pieces are the types of movements the dancers did in the partner works. In infra, there was a lot of weight exchange between he dancers but not many lifts whereas in Woolf Works the dancers are not as grounded. The emotion in infra differs to that of Woolf Works. During infra it shows the journey and development of the relationship as humans and so has more soft dynamics, whereas Woolf Works shows the freedom of the soul and so is a lot more elevated in dynamics and emotions.