Choreography is counterpoint, it's ultimately a musical event, and both these phenomenas (choreography and music), are basically an organisation of simultaneous ideas happening over time.
Mind the gap
You need to choreograph both the solid and the void. The dancers, as well as the constantly changing spaces between them.
Positive
The way I see it, art's main role should be to counterbalance the culture of negativity. It should be a constant injection of positivity. In today's cultural context, if you want to be subversive, make positive art works.
THE choice
Structure Vs effect.
Every artist should make a choice between these two.
Tape/wall work by Yifat Gat
Music
The way in which we listen to music today has radicaly changed. It has become very much detached from the live aspects of music playing. The fact we can listen to any musical piece in amazing sound quality within the intimacy of our headset, wether we're in an airplan traveling 12000 feet above ground, walking through a crowded street, or at the privecy of our toilets as we are going about our business, changes deeply the options open to us when working with music. The ‘pause', 'fast forward/backwards’, ’shuffle’ and all the rest of the control buttons on any musical app, are the biggest musical revolution of our era.
The guardians of tradition will always be there of course to remind us we are commiting sacrilege anytime we ‘use’ and manipulate the treasures and ways of the past within this new context, but this is the normal reaction to any form of innovation.
And also, there is no way in which what’s playing in your headphones while walking in the street or looking at the ocean, doesn’t match perfectly whatever movements you’re seeing.
Spacing
What is known in dance terms as ‘spacing’, doesn't have to be a deliberate decision made by the choreographer. It can be treated as an emerging constellation managed by the dancers in relation to the work being done and the task at hand. In most cases, making an active descision such as upstage/downstage, right/left etc, will result in a simplistic, non organic and not very credible result. Spacing at its best, simply happens. Trying to pre-organise this, will get in the way of the naturaly emerging spatial relations between the dancers. There is no sense of randomness about this, it is actually allowing a deep logic of organisation to take place. There is a phase along the process though, when actively making decisions in relation to spacing, becomes relevant again as a creative tool. But i find that most times it's happening quit late in the process. The more you wait, the more things will tend to "fall into place" with a logic that is impossible to reproduce artificially. it is impossible to try and recreate the complexity/richness/coherence of self governed choreographies. In that sense, a horizontal system, devoid of hierarchies, will always be more artistically efficient and revealing than a vertical, hierarchical one. Spacing in that sense, is a group endeavor rather than one managed by the choreographer.
And also, the right spacing is always the result of precise, clear musicality.
Risks
Dancers (should) love taking risks.
Photo: Michel Cavalca
Responsibility
The more I look at it, the more I think dancing is mostly about understanding responsibility and how it functions.
Choreographic Dancing
Dancers are either in a constant state of actively choreographing, or whatever it is they are doing, can't really be called dancing.
No player is bigger than the game
No dancer is indispensable, bigger or more important than the choreography he/she is part of. When that's the case, it's usually the result of a lacking choreography.
Don’t
Choreography is very much an observation process..
Pre-planing gets in the way of observation.
Don’t Plan.
Movements
I think dance movements are no different than washing dishes movements. Both are as meaningful. both can be executed amazingly well or poorly.
it is only the context that paints them differently.
STFU and work
We (the audience), don't give a fuck about how you (the dancer/maker) are feeling, or what you're going through. Just do your work. Premeditated, deliberate self expression, is the lowest form of art making. The highest, is being in service of the artistic process.
Letter to a panicking friend
Letter to a panicking friend,
It takes time until it starts looking like something. Don't let the way it looks in the beginning frighten you.
Keep generating as much material as possible as well as compositional ideas, tools and strategies. Don't give notes to what you see and try to delay having an opinion about the outcome as long as you can.
Give the dancers tasks that allow you to sit and watch and do nothing for long periods. Look without trying to find the answer. just look. then, you will notice immediately the few interesting things that are happening.
Don't think of the time you have - I know its hard, but you have to work as if you have one year to do it.
Trust the dancers and what they do instinctively.
Until the very end, dont give any corrections about movement to anyone. You can do that in the end if necesary.
Try to spot what are the new things they offer you, stuff you don’t know, even if its very different from what you are used to or what you expected.
Don't be afraid to do things you already did and use ideas you already used somewhere else - this is usually the best place to start. it will anyway change a lot during the process so you dont have to worry about repeating yourself. it often looks like a stupid school thingy at the beginning. If you stay calm and make room for the dancers, it will morph into something else very fast.
And remember, it's a game:)
Accents/stops
Dancers like to accent movements. All the movements. All the time. (not to mention insert significant stops every two movements...)
You have nothing more counterproductive than accents and stops over-used or misused. On the other hand, there's nothing that makes a dance phrase clearer and more charged with meaning than these two when used effectively.
Either or
Choreography is either a tool of separation, or connectedness. It is either inclusive, or exclusive.
Dude, it’s not about the movements I tell you!
It's never about the mouvements. It is a terrible reduction of what choreography can be, to make this the focal point. And in any case, even dancing is not really about dancing, but mostly about commitment, attentiveness, a sense of responsibility, pleasure, loyalty and interaction.
Repeat
We always choreograph the same three questions, it’s just that we always come up with different answers.
Getting old/wise
Choreographic maturity is watching your dancers take a direction you're not comfortable with, and say nothing.
Tasks
The most urgent task contemporary dance should embrace today, is the emancipation of the dancer through allowing her/him to become a fully independent, active and aware choreographic thinker/practitioner.
