12. Final Evaluation

 Today marks the end of my choreographic process as I performed my solo to be assessed. I have gained many new experiences throughout the process which will not only help me in my dance career but also in my day-to-day life.

At the beginning of the process, I wanted to show the struggles which women faced in the 1800s, tackling injustice, ridicule, and invalidation. I then developed this idea by showing these themes through movement, created motifs using quotes from my stimulus ‘Ain’t I a Woman’ and created a section that relates to how these issues are treated in the 21^stcentury. Now at the end of the process, I am happy with how I have been able to portray these ideas throughout my choreography. Initially, I intended to have an abstract piece and I didn’t have a storyline in mind. However, as the process progressed, I found myself discovering a natural storyline between showing the development from being a housewife to speaking out at conferences and developing these to show changes in modern-day life. I also wanted to use my chosen practitioner, Jonathan Burrows, to inspire and guide me through the process. I was able to achieve this by using his choreographic processes, learnt through reading his book ‘A Choreographer’s Handbook’ and through the evaluation of his work. Researching Burrows has been particularly useful in supporting me in my own creative processes while giving me inspiration for concepts to consider. Processes such as limitation and repetition, which feature in most of his pieces, were relevant to my stimulus and intentions. This enabled me to create phrases that were recognisable in multiple sections but had been developed to show different themes.

 

While I did create 10 minutes of choreography, I did struggle at the start of the process. It took me a while to find my feet, settle on an idea and begin to create movement. Women’s rights are something I am very passionate about however narrowing this topic down for a stimulus was particularly challenging. Additionally, another challenge during this process has been trusting myself. I found it difficult to believe in my ability to create innovative and creative movements which shows my intentions. Reflecting on this process, I can see a change within my confidence to create movement without worrying about how it looks. Receiving feedback throughout the process helped me to feel comfortable knowing that people enjoyed my choreography, and my intentions were clear to the audience. In the future, I would trust myself and my abilities and remove comparison to others during the process. I would also create a solid routine, recommended by Twyla Tharp (2006) as I found giving myself goals to achieve allowed me to keep on track.

 

While I am happy with my creation from this process, I am left wondering how much further I could’ve gone. I have researched multiple Women’s Rights events during the 18^th century and 21^st century, showing the comparison between both. But, has this been effectively achieved using only one person, or would it have looked better as a group? As the suffragette movement was such a significant part of history, I think my stimulus could be further developed using more dancers to emphasise the idea of women joining together. Furthermore, if I was to do this again, I would consider wearing clothes like those of the 1800s to set the scene. These are things that I will be able to consider for the future if I decide to choreograph again for the stage.

 

 

References

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

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

Truth, S. (1851). Speech Entitled “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth Delivered at the 1851 Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio. [online] Available at: https://thehermitage.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Sojourner-Truth_Aint-I-a-Woman_1851.pdf [Accessed 19 Oct. 2021].‌