Sophia Levine, DNC 360, No and dimensional Thinking

No and Dimensional Thinking: This is Good Stuff

            Though I don’t think I will be adopting the actual No stage arrangement, I like the idea of having different zones within the space. As I was watching a rehearsal of Tiffany’s work with her company the other day, I was struck by how cleanly their movement defined a corridor moving from downstage to upstage on the stage left side. The corridor was not structural, like in No, but the way the dancers moved through it marked it.

            I have realized that with my dancers I want to create places. And having zones that the dancers mark with their movement is a really effective way of doing this. One idea is to have a “ducking zone” where no matter what the movement material, the dancers must duck as if they are avoiding a pole that is hovering horizontally in the space about four feet from the ground.

            The other idea I found intriguing in No- the Art of Space Arrangement, was the idea that (44), “the distance between the actors can heighten the tension between them”. This idea inspired some movement ideas that I plan to work with. First, touch and close proximity and then, an electric distance like that between same sign polarized magnets.

            Dimensional Thinking was similarly thought provoking. I love the idea of shadows being distorted 2D representations of our bodies and think there is lots of potential movement exploration there.  I could have one person move as another’s shadow, or have one person do their movement vertically and then have them imprint the same movement against the floor.

            The article also provided me with an interesting scale. It says that (213), “The scale used by people who work with people runs from about a third of a meter to ten meters.” Especially within my site specific work for my senior project, I see the opportunity to push these boundaries. I see giving instructions to run to the end of the space. In a theater, this might be the wing, but in a field or grass, the “edge” might be as far as the horizon, and in a bathroom stall, it might only be a couple of inches away.

            The idea of reinterpreting a simple instruction in different settings, also deals with time, which is, as the articles tell us, “relative to the motion of the observer and the observed” (216). Yay! More movement ideas… How can I create a timeless place through movement? How can I change the audience and my dancers’ experience of time?

            I see good things coming from these readings. I have lots of new ideas now.