Compare and Contrast Historical and Contemporary Ways Art Forms have been combined.

 Compare and Contrast Historical and Contemporary Ways Art Forms have been combined.

• Eclectic - Style
• Movement type
• Themes
• Collaborations
• Cultural - multi 
• Aural setting
• Devices used
• Structure
• Physical setting 

Eclectic - Style:

Both practitioners use an eclectic range of styles throughout their work. Pina Bausch's work style is modern/ post modern Dance Theatre, she wanted to depart from the traditional style of Ballet in her work and think more about how emotions can be portrayed in movement, Bausch states 'I am not so much interested in how people move but what moves them' she uses pedestrian movements, physically demanding movements with props and contact. This is very similar to DV8 who used Physical Theatre to challenge the conventions of dance and reflect on real experiences and human relationships. Some may view this contrastingly due to the differences between physical movement and dance movements. Also, DV8 frequently illustrates challenging themes such as religion and sexuality yet Pina Bausch's themes consist of relationships, childhood and major themes of fear. 

Movement type:

Movement type within the Pina Bausch and DV8's work can be depicted quite similarly due to the combination of Contemporary dance and lack of Ballet. Both practitioners included similar techniques like the prominent use of repetition, unison, fragmentation, gestures and dance with meaning. However, Bausch's work clearly demonstrates movements through emotive gestures, which she allows her dancers to base of real life experiences and feelings. Unlike Bausch, DV8 creates different movement types through a verbatim based on 85 interviews to communicate ideas and feelings within society.

Themes:

DV8 and Pina Bausch both explore similar 'taboo' themes and subjects. Both of their work presents these themes by repeating movements over and over again to really allow the audience to understand what they're trying to convey. In Pina Bausch's Café Muller (20 May 1978) , the performers illustrate the repetition of the movement of the perhaps 'higher up' man positioning the girl onto the other man and her running away over and over again , getting faster each time, which could link back to the idea of overwhelming emotions like fear that deteriorate in our heads over time. While Bausch's themes particularly consist of fear, death, childhood and relationships, DV8's themes conclude of religion, sexuality, death, personal politics and “to connect the world outside with the world inside.” DV8’s produced To Be Straight With You (2009) based of 85 real interviews from different groups within society. This illustrates the themes of the relationship between religion and homosexuality from a the perspective of the public , which demonstrates how common the debate is.

Collaborations:

A frequent guest that DV8 seem to have collaborated with is Wendy Houston and became a principal performer shortly after she attended one of their workshops. Despite leaving the  company in 1922 to peruse her own choreographic work, Houston has partnered with DV8 throughout their Bound to Please (1977) , Living Costs and she was involved in their production of To Be Straight With You in 2008. Whereas Pina Bausch collaborated with Paul Taylor, a famous choreographer in the US. Paul Taylor created several dances, one of four being called ‘Tablet’ in 1960, which Pina Bausch performed in. It was also clear that Bausch had obvious influences throughout her work especially Antony Taylor.

Aural Setting:

Different aural settings are used within performances from each practitioner, DV8 and Pina Bausch. They both include rhythmic music. Bausch includes this to almost create a supporting role to all her contemporary movements. However , DV8 ensure that the music or any form or sound they’re using is helping to build an emotional background story specific to the character.

Devices:

Both DV8 and Pina Bausch similarly use a range of devices within their work. For example, they both include a reoccurring amount of repetition and unison. However , during Baucsh’s The Rite of Spring , December 1975, she presents to the audience a strong emphasis on the emotive gesture of the woman chosen to sacrifice herself and how her dance is slightly different to everyone else’s. Bausch’s work is also clearly fragmented as it is broken up into separate little groups to show the battle of the sexes used within Rite of Spring and the concealed themes and messages. DV8 on the other hand clearly demonstrate motifs throughout their work to really allow the audience to comprehend the views and perspectives they’re trying to convey. Lloyd Nelson produced To Be Straight With You to express the negative relationship between religion and sexuality based off his own real life experiences.

Structure:

The use of structure within DV8’s work allows the boundaries between dance and acting to be broken, which then links to the communication of ideas in an unpretentious manor creating dance with meaning. Structure is shown in Enter Achilles (1995) , Lloyd Newson states that during rehearsals , he wanted to experiment with idea of men using each other as furniture. Also the connotations of intoxication and the contrasts it portrays including community or isolation. However Pina Bausch uses the idea of structure differently, Bausch allows her dances to create a movement or sequence based of a real feeling or experience , the idea of improvisation.

My own opinion:

Personally, I believe the two practitioners DV8 and Pina Bausch include more similarities rather than differences. This is because both groups use an eclectic range of styles throughout their work including a stylised dance theatre- breaking the stereotypes of traditional dance (ballet). Also, despite demonstrating different themes, both practitioner’s work consist of challenging themes that are a reflection of real life experiences. Due to the combined use of contemporary dance from Bausch and DV8, they both tend to incorporate similar techniques like the use of repetition, unison, fragmentation, gestures and dance with meaning.