7. Creating section 3

I recently had a studio session where I decided to start creating material for section 3 of my choreography. I was able to create 1 minute 30 sections during the session which is around half of the section. I was really pleased with the progress of this section as it removed the doubts and worries which I had about my

choreography.

Initially, I was feeling stressed as I need to produce more material, so I don’t fall behind and due to being ill, I have missed valuable studio time. When I began, it was difficult to get started as I felt like I had a massive task to achieve. However, I had previously planned out motifs and sections which I needed to complete and how I would approach them with inspiration from my chosen practitioner, Jonathan Burrows. In his book ‘The Choreographers Handbook’ he mentions not being afraid to be boring.

 

Reminding myself of this enabled me to feel more relaxed and take the pressure off myself. From this, I was able to create a phrase inspired by Burrows’ use of scores. However, some of the other movements I was creating were not as successful as I kept creating movements that didn’t reflect the stimulus. This section is meant to demonstrate the ridicule and frustration which women felt as they spoke at the Seneca Falls Convention, 1848 and The Women’s Rights Convention, 1851. Women faced a lot of backlash from men, who didn’t agree or believe in the issues which were being discussed, often dismissing and invalidating the issues. I wanted this section to show how women continued to fight for what they believed in, despite the hardships. I have also used direct quotes from my stimulus 'Ain't I a Woman' by Sojourner Truth, such as "That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere." (Modern History Sourcebook, 2019, p.1).  Using these quotes inspired me to create dynamic story telling sequences which are more literal in comparison to movement in other sections.

Notes from section 3

 

I think I was struggling due to feeling stressed before the session, instead of taking risks and not feeling worried about how the movement looked, I was naturally falling into movements which are comfortable to me. This meant that the movements weren’t always relevant to my stimulus and research which I have conducted as it was not critically thought out. To avoid this next time, I will prepare a sheet of research that has been analysed, to help me stay on task. Rather than deleting whole phrases of movement, I will change the parts which are less relevant to my choreography and add in movements that will support my goals for the piece. I will create a plan of research and references to choreographers and academic research to ensure my choreographic work is analytical, intellectual and innovative. Twyla Tharp states “obligation is a flimsy base for creativity, way down the list behind passion, courage, instinct, and the desire to do something great” (Tharp and Reiter, 2006 p.128). Reminding myself of the goals and passion I have for my stimulus will help me remain motivated and on track throughout the next few weeks. 

My goals for my next creative session is to begin linking sections together and to stop being afraid of asking my peers for feedback.

Below is a video of the section I choreographed during this session. 

Video from my creative session for section 3.

Silence motif which has been developed from section 2 using embellishment.

 

References

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

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Tharp, T. and Reiter, M. (2006). The creative habit : Learn it and use it for life. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Modern History Sourcebook (2019). Internet History Sourcebooks. [online] Fordham.edu. Available at: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp [Accessed 19 Jan. 2022].

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Bibliography

 

Balkansky, A. (2019). American Women’s Declaration of Independence: Newspaper coverage, 1848 | Headlines and Heroes. [online] Library of Congress. Available at: https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/07/american-womens-declaration-newspaper-coverage-1848/ [Accessed 19 Oct. 2021].

Halsall, P. (2019). Internet Modern History Sourcebook. [online] Fordham University. Available at: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp [Accessed 14 Oct. 2021].

Shane, C. (2018). Why the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 Is Still Relevant to Women Today. [online] CoveyClub. Available at: https://www.coveyclub.com/blog_posts/seneca-falls-convention-feminism/ [Accessed 11 Nov. 2021].

Wellman, J. (1991). The Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention: A Study of Social Networks. Journal of Women’s History, 3(1), pp.18, 28–29.