Articles: Dance Trends

[Old_Faun]

I must confess as an total amateur I have done a angsty choreo on myself ( friends and family has to watch it ), too - but with lots of dancing and a happy end .

 

It's easier to build and understand- you have a fearful moment to throw yourself onto the floor (why else I should get there?) and do a bit of rolling, and then get more up and higher as music and choreo gets more happy to a nice end.

 

The local dance company here dances in their modern pieces - you can watch these shows, perhaps they are not contemporary enough. But I like it.

[diane]

Old_Faun, that sounds very much like a lot of what I see where I am, too.

And, yes, it is kind of fun to do; but I am not so sure how much most audiences like to watch it; it depends on many factors.

The "angst-filled" movements tend to go down pretty well in Germany, I find. ;)

 

-d-

[Old_Faun]

Diane, I think this is a very common dramaturgy since the greek time -

You start with a situation, you get a complication, a crisis and finally a solution.

90% of all (successful) theater pieces and films are build like this, so I as an Amateur feel free to do it like them.

 

What the problem is with watching a show is when there is no suspense curve - when everything is angst.

 

My plot for example was more at the classical dramaturgy: a plain and unsatisfied reality (1st dance) - a dream (2nd dance), inbreak of reality into the dream (the angst) with the solution "make your thing and let not compromise you, be yourself" (3rd dance, every one different music and style).

 

As I said, a classic build. Real artists can do more, but they have to be good to break the rules.

[EFW]

I do agree with this article as well. Some contemporary dance doesn't seem to show off any technique or even much thought/interesting choreography. If I can do it, and I'm not a dancer, just a dancer's mom, then I don't need to waste my money or time.....I know we all have different ideas regarding what art is but hopefully I won't have to watch my daughter practicing her artistry in that way.

[Polar]

I had an opportunity to open my mind if just a little bit more than it already was when someone invited me to embrace the fact that the dance made me uncomfortable; irritable even. To understand that by evoking an emotion it had done its job. So, I did consider that but my walk away was still, "Yes, if evoking a response was the goal, goal met. I still prefer to watch dance that evokes something other than irritability or impatience..." Interesting read. Thank you for posting it.

[learningdance]

Noel19. . I just guess I wonder if these folks have an artistic purpose? Like if I'm getting irritated with something that's wrong in society or some kind of injustice, the evoked emotional response serves a purpose. If I become aware of something or kind of "step into the shoes of another," that might be a purpose.

But alot of this stuff is just about emoting.

[Polar]

Agreed, learningdance. I believe there are choreographers whose goal is simply to provoke a response; even knowing that it will be a "negative" response. I'm sure there are many who can appreciate that, and appreciate the nuances of that, but I'm not included in that category for now.