11. Personal Review & Reflection
I have now completed my first draft of my solo. In the next few weeks, I will be focussing on rehearsing and making edits to my piece to ensure it is polished and achieves all criteria for the module and the goals I set for myself.
Something I have realised since completing my piece is that it is difficult to perform constantly for 10 minutes. This has led me to reconsider the pace of my solo to allow for a consistent performance throughout the whole piece. While section 1 is slower paced, it requires a lot of effort and impulse behind the movements which I didn’t consider would be tiring, especially when transitioning into section 2 which is bouncier, travels more and has a more energetic and dynamic feel. Perhaps by adapting the theme and feeling behind the moves would allow for more breathing time in section 2, allowing the pace to be more suitable for a 10-minute solo. It has been found that discrimination is linked to depression, anxiety, and alienation, along with rage (de la Torre-Pérez et al., 2022). I could develop some motifs to portray anxiety and alienation by being closed off, lower to the ground and smaller, requiring less energy, while portraying rage (shown in video below) by being sharper and more forceful, requiring more energy. This will allow me to sustain energy while still showing the themes and emotions which I aimed to.
Another edit I am intending to make is to section 4. This section uses motifs from section 1,2 and 3, however they have been developed to show how women’s rights have changed throughout the years. I believe I could develop this section further by using different choreographic devices such as embellishment, fragmentation and retrograde. The use of retrograde would be particularly interesting in this section as it is showing that actions have changed but performing them in reverse order could imply that there are still issues in society in the 21st century.
The feedback I have received over the process has been invaluable over this process. It has aided me in identifying areas of strengths and weaknesses in my piece. I have been told that my choreographic clearly shows my intentions, with motifs which are easily identifiable in what I aimed them to show. For example, the cleaning motif in section 1, shackled motif, and prayer motif. While my use of change in direction in the first section was effective, my goal of showing being ‘trapped’ as a housewife was not clear to the audience. Using Jonathan Burrows technique of ‘limitations’ (Burrows, 2010), I created this first section. To emphasise my intentions, I begin my solo walking in a square formation. This square is my limited area which I remain in for section 1. Creating this boundary makes the limitation immediately clear to the audience and set the scene.
My peers also gave suggestions for areas which could be used throughout my piece. My prayer gesture was commented on as something which could be referenced throughout my piece. This gesture was intended to reference the religious commitments people had in the 19th century and as a prayer to a better life. I initially feature this in section 1; however, I have subtly brought it into each section by changing hand placement.
Receiving feedback and suggestions from peers has allowed my work to be more successful by informing me whether my intentions are clear to the audience. Identifying weaknesses and incorporating new ideas gave me a new insight on how to view my piece, and from this I was able to critically evaluate whether my movements were relevant and effective.
References
Burrows, J. (2010). A choreographer’s handbook. Oxon: Routledge.
de la Torre-Pérez, L., Oliver-Parra, A., Torres, X. and Bertran, M.J. (2022). How do we measure gender discrimination? Proposing a construct of gender discrimination through a systematic scoping review. International Journal for Equity in Health, 21(1).
Comments
Post a Comment