Genus - Wayne McGregor ‘Genus’ by Wayne McGregor was created in 2007 and was performed by Paris Opera Ballet. It was inspired from Charles Darwin’s ‘On the origin of species’ and is based around the theories about humankind. (Studio Wayne McGregor, 2019) “I was interested to see how a ballet vocabulary could morph and mutate through a series of iterations, different kinds of physical attitudes, and all that seemed to coalesce around this idea of what is the origin of something.” (thestar.com, 2019) The piece is a male solo which is contrasting to ‘Infra’ and ‘Woolf Works’ which I have reviewed on my blog as they were a duet and a group piece. The male dancer is wearing a black bike-tard which has a white panel down the centre front and back. This may have been used to show an organism or portray a stage in the evolution of humans. In contrast, dancers in ‘Infra’ and ‘Woolf works’ both wore tight fitting nude leotards so the costumes didn’t particularly add a c...
Your vlog was very detailed and insightful about Wayne McGregor's life in dance. I liked how you have watched many of his videos where he is choreographing or improvising dances, as you then mentioned he enjoys working at a fast pace, which I also saw when watching a rehearsal with The Royal Ballet Company. Why do you think he likes working at a fast pace? I also liked how you have read interviews about McGregor, as you can see how much information you have picked up from that and then expanded it. At 1:28 you mentioned that he likes movement to translate from his body to the dancers. What decisions do you think led him to do this?
ReplyDeleteOver all your vlog was full of useful information about your specific choreographer and this will come in handy for your future work.
I think he likes working in a fast pace as it generates lots of different ideas without too much overthinking so the movement comes naturally. I also think he likes the movement to translate from his body to the dancers as the dancers will only pick up certain parts of his original movement as he works so fast, by doing this a phrase is created from different versions of the original movement.
DeleteI really enjoyed watching your vlog and hearing about the information you have collected about Wayne McGregor. I feel within this vlog you talk about many key points relating to McGregor which will be really helpful when creating your future work.
ReplyDeletethroughout your vlog you look really confident which makes the audience feel fully engaged.
do you feel you will use McGregor's choreographic processes when creating your own work in the future?
overall I felt your vlog was very good and I felt you have made some really interesting points.
I am aiming to use his processes within my solo, I particularly want to use his process of spelling out a word with movement. I would do this using the word dementia as it then links to my stimulus. I also would use some improvisation and try to be quick paced with my ideas to incorporate his method.
DeleteThis is a really good vlog with many detailed and intresting points. You clearly stated what your thought were on McGregors work nd how this inspires you. Why do you think that the hyperextensions in the dancers legs caught your eye and what illusion did this create?
ReplyDeleteI think the extensions in the legs attracted me the most because penchés and other extensions are repeated throughout the piece, I think it created an illusion of trust as all of them are done en pointe while partnering.
DeleteVery great detail and i like how you looked at not only his choreography but also his achievements. Why do you think improvisation is such a big part of his choreography process? And how could you use this idea within your own choreography task?
ReplyDeleteI think improvisation is a big part of his process as it creates original and organic movement without overthinking. I would particularly like to use his process of spelling out a word with movement. I would do this using the word dementia as it then links to my stimulus. I also would use some improvisation and try to be quick paced with my ideas to incorporate his method.
DeleteYour extensive research is very interesting and it is clear that you have put in a lot of effort.
ReplyDeleteAs you stated that Mcgregor has a "sensory vocation" when listening to music, is this an aspect that you are going to adapt into your choreographic process or will you choreograph to the music?
I will attempt this idea of his as I would like to link my solo to his process as much as possible. i will listen to my music and see what movement my body naturally wants to do and try to incorporate this into my solo.
DeleteYou have included an incredible amount of detail in your vlog. As well as this, you project confidence when speaking, well done!
ReplyDeleteWhile looking at some of Wayne McGregor dances, did you notice any choreographic devices? If so, what impact did they have on the piece? Also, are you inspired by his way of work? Are his ways of working something you would like to include in your own choreographic process?
McGregor used a lot of repetition and fragmentation within 'Infra'. I think this was effective as it really showed the relationship within the duet as a lot of trust was needed as the repeated movements were leg extensions such as penchés en pointe. I would like to use use his process of spelling out a word with movement. I would do this using the word dementia as it then links to my stimulus. I also would use some improvisation and try to be quick paced with my ideas to incorporate his method.
DeleteThis is a great first vlog! Please further discuss why you decided to use Wayne McGregor as your chosen practitioner.
ReplyDeleteI decided to use Wayne McGregor as my chosen practitioner as I knew he was a very popular choreographer however I had never actually seen his work before. After watching some of his work I felt very inspired as everything was very clean yet so fluid. I was also intrigued about his choreographic process as he uses a lot of improvisation based tasks within his process and is very hands on within a rehearsal setting.
DeleteReflecting back, was there anything you felt you wanted to find out about your chosen choreographer?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, I would like to have found out what inspired him to dance and become a choreographer. I also would've liked to find out how he developed his personal choreographic process and why he chooses to mostly use improvisation techniques.
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