5. Practitioner Study

Still captured from 'The Stop Quartet' (Burrows&Fargion, 2020c)

During my choreographic process, I have previously mentioned that I will be using Jonathan Burrows’ work and processes to aid and support me through my journey. One of his works that interested me during his research is ‘The Stop Quartet’ (1996). This was one of Burrows’ first pieces and is 43:29 minutes long, however, I will be analysing 2 smaller sections from 17:28 - 19:58 and 38:10 - 40:01. The filmed choreography is in black and white, the background is plain apart from squares on the floor.

Link to full video

 

The first section features short, staccato movements performed as a duet. The dancers aren’t always dancing in unison however their movement has a relationship to each other. The movements and motifs are repeated multiple times to create a sequence, one of the dancers remains mostly grounded while performing while the other dancer travels slightly more performing complementary movements. The dancers pause for varying periods of time which can feel uncomfortable at times, before continuing with their movements. From this section, I could immediately identify Burrows’ choreographic process from the knowledge I learned during research. The Stop Quartet is “based on the idea that each of the layers of performance have holes cut in them through which one can see other layers” (KaaiTheater, 2008). The starting point to this piece is very interesting as Burrows mentions ‘cutting some holes’ (Burrows, 2010a) in his book ‘A Choreographer’s Handbook’. He recommends including stillness and silence in your work to avoid the audience becoming exhausted. I think Burrows has achieved this well in The Stop Quartet as he effectively uses pauses and silence in conjunction in this section. The music used in this piece is relentless and busy which both complements and contrasts the movement depending on the section. However, this can become like a mental puzzle for the audience so the stillness and silence act as a break for the audience while still providing them exciting, stimulating movement.

 

The second section features all four dancers. This section juxtaposes the first section as the movement quality is different. There is a greater relationship between the dancers, while they are not performing identical movement sequences, they are all dancing in a similar style and in relation to each other. The movements have a fluid continuity, incorporating the full body. The dancer's relationship and use of space are angular and linear, they form lines and squares and travel in a calculated, methodical way. Burrows discusses the relationship with the audience in his book, “The audience are usually in front of you and facing them is one possibility. It isn’t, however, the only option, and isn’t a guarantee of communication” (Burrows, 2010a). This idea of orientation and placement regarding the audience is present in The Stop Quartet as the dancers rarely face directly towards the audience. They face the back, sides, each other, which enables the dancers to not only have a connection to the audience but to the space and each other. Burrows used two sources to create movement, one was using numbered squares on the floor to create foot patterns which I believe was shown in the duet, allowing for intricate and rhythmical footwork. The second source was a collection of the arm, head, leg, or body movements that lasted between 1 and 8 beats. I think the second source is clearly shown in the quartet as all four dancers repeat their individual sequences (Burrows, 2010b).

Example of a movement sequence (Burrows, 2010b)

Example of the numbered square sequence (Burrows, 2010b)

 

The music was composed by Matteo Fargion and Kevin Volans. Burrows and Fargion have collaborated throughout their careers to create sound and movement. The piece used African music notation. The score was complex and made up of ‘blocks’ and each section had different block lengths (Burrows, 2010b). 

In the duet, the music starts quite loud and fast but begins to drop in between periods of silence where you can only hear the dancer’s feet on the floor or their arm moving through the air. In the quartet section, the music is a monotonous hum that continues through to the end. Burrows states that “The atmosphere created by sound or music can give the performance a sense of greater meaning” (Burrows, 2010a), the atmosphere he creates in his piece isn’t overly dramatic but keeps the audience interested nonetheless. The music and movement combined make a very mentally stimulating piece, it's clear that the movement has been cleverly calculated and presented.

 

The music had a heavy influence on the movement in this piece s they linked the African music notation to the movement, where two marks aligned in the notations, movements were made at the same time, alternated, or overlapped (Burrows, 2010b). While I am not creating the score for my piece, I would like the music to have an impact on my piece.  Instead of creating rules from the music notation, I could use the beats to influence and determine the movement. By doing this hopefully, I will be able to create the desired atmosphere, build tension where necessary but also include silence and pauses.

 

 

Reference list

Burrows&Fargion (2020). The Stop Quartet (1996). [online] Vimeo. Available at: https://vimeo.com/388686366 [Accessed 26 Oct. 2021].

Burrows, J. (2010a). A choreographer’s handbook. Oxon: Routledge.

Burrows, J. (2010b). About The Stop Quartet. [online] www.jonathanburrows.info. Available at: http://www.jonathanburrows.info/#/score/?id=6&t=content [Accessed 26 Oct. 2021].

KaaiTheater (2008). The Stop Quartet. [online] Kaaitheater. Available at: https://www.kaaitheater.be/en/agenda/the-stop-quartet [Accessed 26 Oct. 2021].