Week 11- Dance Piece 3
The piece which I will be critiquing today is Wayne McGreogor's Genus. This was first perfromed in 2007 be the Paris Opera Ballet and has a duration of 45 minutes. (Studio Wayne McGregor, n.d.) This piece is based on Charles Darwin's On the origin Of Species. It’s the magisterial tome whose 1859 publication blew apart prevailing theories about the divine advent of humankind and emitted shock waves that penetrated almost every corner of intellectual inquiry.(Crabb, 2017) When the company first danced a McGregor piece in November 2010 audiences responded with deafening approval. It created a buzz that sounded far beyond the regular ballet crowd and lured a notably younger audience into that sanctuary of mostly high art, the Four Seasons Centre.(Crabb, 2017)
Firstly the costuming and staging is very fitting for the narrative of the piece. The costume is a unitard which is black with grey in the centre. This is very similar to a gorilla's appearance, this is because Charle's Darwin believed that we all descended from apes and evolved to be the homo sapiens we are today. The background is filled with forestry and appears to be staged outside, this is again linking to the fact that this is an ape"s natural habitat and furthers the fact that we are a primitive species. The lighting however, is very similar to that of his previous two works that I have critiqued; it is dark with a single spotlight on the dancer. Despite having similar lighting it's used to portray something different to the previous two. The use of a spotlight will not only draw the attention of the audience to the dancer but could also be symbolising that fact that we all started off as something so general and simple. This came to mind as the spotlight gives the shape of a cone in a way ( please refer to figure 1). The dancer who portrays the ape dances in the larger part of the cone showing the simplicity of the apes features, however the further up you go the more refined the light becomes and eventually you'll reach the person who is controlling the light which is a human. This shows how features and characteristics have been refined over time to make our species the one it is today.
Secondly, the movements that the dancer performs are very grounded. This shows a great contrast between this piece and Woolf Works. Most of Woolf Works' movement vocabulary was leaps and jumps and Infra's was extensions. However Genus contains many plies and isolations of the arms this is because Gorillas most often walk quadrupedally (four-footed) with limited bipedal (two-footed) movements.(Seaworld.org, n.d.) Therefore to avoid us just focussing on the legs McGregor has chosen to include isolated moevements of the arms which also influence and complement the movement of the legs to mirror the movement of the Gorilla. There's one specific movement which really portrays the Gorilla in one still movement, the dancer is in a lunge position with the back leg back and his arms looking heavy by his side. This position really looks like an ape or Gorilla as the proportions of the dancer look like that of our ancestor's. Whilst on the topic of stillness there's quite a few moments of stillness throughout the piece, even though they may not last long, there are an abundance of them. There are many reasons as to why they are there, this could be to incorporate the behaviour of a Gorilla when hearing someone and so standing still. However it could be a moment to appreciate the amazing phenomenon of how we are derived from such beautiful creatures.
Bibliography:
- Studio Wayne McGregor. (n.d.). Genus. [online] Available at: https://waynemcgregor.com/productions/genus [Accessed 1 Dec. 2019].
-Crabb, M. (2017). ‘Genus’ shows evolution of choreographer Wayne McGregor | The Star. [online] thestar.com. Available at: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2017/03/27/genus-shows-evolution-of-choreographer-wayne-mcgregor.html [Accessed 1 Dec. 2019].
-Seaworld.org. (n.d.). All About the Gorilla - Behavior | SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. [online] Available at: https://seaworld.org/animals/all-about/gorilla/behavior/ [Accessed 1 Dec. 2019].
Figure 1:
I really enjoyed reading this review, it has been clearly shown that you looked into it in a lot of detail.
ReplyDeleteWith the section where you compare two of Mcgregor's works, is there a specific work you preferred than the other? And why?
Thank you for your comment Hannah, I preferred the infra duet. This is because I felt the movement really helped convey the message and narrative, it was also open to a lot of interpretation on relationships which I enjoyed.
DeleteI really liked how you have linked McGregor's work to his stimulus and the different interpretations you have made. I also like the detail you have gone into about the idea of gorillas and how they move and looked compared with the stimulus. You have made good comparisons between the 3 dance pieces! Well done!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mhairi!
DeleteExcellent work! Your detailed critical analysis shows clear understanding of McGregor alongside his choreographic work. Was the piece successful, how did it make you feel? Do you think the purpose of the piece came across successfully as an audience? Was there any parts you liked/ disliked? Why? Reflecting back at all three pieces, which piece was your favourite and why? Can you notice any similarities between each of the three pieces?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment Miss Norman, I did think that the piece was successful in showing to the audience Darwin's theory. This theory was evolution, the idea that we have derived from apes and with McGregor not only using the costume to present this narrative, but also the the movements. Within the piece were many limb movements that portrayed the movement of an ape, moreover the dynamics gave the feeling that the dancer portraying the ape, was hearing something.I really enjoyed the way that even though there wasn't any floor work in the piece, the movement still gave the impression that the dancer walks on all fours. Due to all this the piece gave me a real feeling that I was watching a part man part ape on the stage which really reflects the idea of Darwin's theory.
DeleteAll three pieces had similarities, for example all had spotlights for the staging of the piece but these were used, in my opinion, in different ways. In addition Infra and Woolf Works demonstrated a lot of partner work as both themes surrounded vulnerability and also the effects that others have on you. However, Genus was a solo and so showed more of a physical vulnerability compared to emotional vulnerability. This came across due to the fact he is alone and that it looks like he hears an ominous sound rustling in the distance from time to time which gives a sense of danger. Overall, after considering all of my interpretations and feelings towards the pieces I feel that Infra was my favourite out of the three pieces by McGregor. This is because I felt that it was open to a lot more interpretation and was a lot more relatable to the audience as it was about modern day relationships, whereas the others were based of feelings and things that we have not seen first hand. I also enjoyed the serenity of the piece to show the development of the relationship.