Skills Workshop One and Two Versatile Actor Dances

 

Skills Workshop One and Two Versatile Actor Dances

 

 During the improvisation workshop, we explored a range of skills including transferable skills. For example,  we needed to become creative,  adaptable and spontaneous in order to improvise well to complete this task. You also need to fulfil the physical skills, such as balance and coordination for the balletic movement throughout Nutcracker and our own interpretation of it.

 

 In task one,  we had to remember any fantasy dreams we have had in the past and begin to move around the space slowly.  We then had to slightly develop this further by adding gentle gestures and facial expressions to demonstrate how we interact with others in our dream ‘world’.  For example, in my dream I would interact by looking around for people in a despairingly manner to illustrate fear.  I also included some senses like smell, temperature and atmosphere to help create my environment. We then moved onto task Two, where we started to incorporate subtle movements and think about clear body language or group status. This improvisation was exhibited through multiple different motions like leaning and rolling, which I added to convey the idea of falling towards the end of my sequence.

 

The key practitioner we studied in the workshop  was Matthew Bourne and we watched his take on ‘Nutcracker!’ (2002). Bourne’s views state that the Nutcracker is traditionally a ballet mainly seen by mothers and daughters and could typically become a bore for other members of the family. Therefore, Bourne wanted to create a touching,  coming of age story where all of the family could find something to thrill them during Clara’s adventure.  Some professional skills I can depict within the production are classical ballet however, he contradicts this with modern contemporary dance and dance from around the world like the flamenco.  He also ensures. The focus is on storytelling but rather through the body instead of with words. Bourne also involves a sense of humour to his productions to reveal links to today’s society. It is clear that Bourne is influenced by Hollywood musicals from the lavish, memorable sets and costumes. The escapism felt by the audience allows a warm relationship between the audience and performers to be built.

 

 The work of Matthew Bourne influenced my own exploration of combined arts in the workshop.  Similar to Matthew Bourne in my sequence I made sure to include a few of his styles, such as expression and characterisation to portray the overwhelming emotion of fear, that takes place throughout my dream.  I also included a contrast like Matthew Bourne as my sequence is almost quite delicate and dainty however, the pirates in the dream are stereo typically rough and inconsiderate.