Roles and Inspirations

     One of the first things we did after creating the group ‘Mirrors of Music’ was to set everyone’s roles based on our skills.

I have to say that having in mind that this is a collaborative project, I thought that doing collaborative roles was the best thing to do. However, I realised how important is to set fixed roles so that not all the workload lands on one person. So, the roles varied a bit since the first meeting, and ended this way:

➡ Connie has been in charge of the music, and to get closer to the conductor's role, she got inspired by the New York Philarmonic playing 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' (2016), focusing on how physical the conductor was and how he is moving with the orchestra. I think that the connection between the director and the orchestra is essential as so it had to be their relationship in the project.

➡ Zara’s roles have been designing costumes, make-up and hair and she has been influenced by the ‘Three preludes’ music video we used for the piece (2020) as she took the orchestra musicians clothing to bring them onto the stage. I thought that was interesting for the juxtapose of a ‘non-alive’ character with the clothing of the one who makes it alive.

➡ Emily has done the filming and editing of the video which have had an effect from Xavier’s Le Roy Le Sacre du Printemps (2010) for its relevancy in our central idea of the conductor.

     I mainly have been in charge of the choreography, which was my initial role, but considering that I have been supporting people in their ideas and encouraging them to work on their roles and organizing meetings, I would say my role has also been being the producer. For me, this has been the hardest given that I had to cheer everyone up to do encounters and work. 

Moreover, I felt that while the choreography has been a process I had to face alone, I also had to be involved in every part and role of the piece to make it work, coming up with the angles, leading most of the part of the filming process and having the first and final say of most of the decisions. So, in consideration, I ended up being the director of the project which lead me to do a lot of research.

     Regarding the choreographer side, I had to look up a lot of artists' works in order to find the dynamics that could fit better in the project. And so my main reference has been the piece Geometric Dance by the French dance group Géométrie Variable. Through it, I took the main way to convey the song as literal as possible in movement as I have been looking for a methodology characterised for a neat definition very pleased to watch. They do so using a geometric pattern. Moreover, their dynamics are as successfully defined that they combine the structures very well with the music creating an impression of reflection. So, from their idea of making routines from geometric shapes, I found a way to produce a performance of defined movements according to the song’s rhythms.

                                Geometric Dance (2019)

I also have been prompted to use their idea of playing with squareness and power stability which could seem a bit aggressive at some points but with a mix of fluidity. I also felt very attracted by their Instagram page which gave me even more ideas on how to integrate the style and shape (https://www.instagram.com/geometrie_variable/).

Nevertheless, other artists and pieces have also contributed to my exploration:

-To create the conductor’s role, I used my own experience of being in an orchestra, and an appeal tutorial by the conductor James Gaffigan (2018) which goes beyond the act of conduction touching its history.

What a conductor actually does on stage (2018)

- To vary the dynamics I have been captivated by the pieces ‘Front Line’ by the Companhia Nacional De Bailado (2008) and Henri’s Oguike Vivaldi’s Four Seasons choreography (2013) for their power and clarity in movements responding very well to the score. As well as this, I have noticed that Ballet and Tap pieces also often conduct the beats simultaneously with the steps. So, I had referred to one of my favourite ballet variations performed by Marianela Núñez (2020). However, the difference between what I had in mind and these dance styles is that the choreographers have their own artistic identity. I have noticed this and made a conscious decision to create my own for this project.

FRONT LINE General Rehearsal 2 April 2008 (2008) Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (2013)

MARIANELA NUNEZ GISELLE BALLET VARIATION (2020)

-In addition to this, I have been thinking about Xavier Le Roy’s Le Sacre du Printemps (2010). Even he is not working with geometrics, his transcriptions of the sounds through his body are very clear and defined.

Xavier Le Roy - Le Sacre du Printemps (2010)

-Furthermore, I have been reflecting on dance notation, ‘a notation system for representing human motion’ using a symbolic method (Wilke et al., p.202). In the notation, there is a clear structure of movements that go with specific rhythms.

                                                                         La Cachucha (Zorn, 1840)