Week 11 – Critical Review of Dance Piece #3
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 character to the dancers. However, the
costume in ‘Genus’ amplifies the characterisation which enables the theme and
intention of the piece to be clearer to the audience.
The movement within this piece
was quite rigid and sharp. It featured a lot of movements with straight arms,
also the head seemed to lead the movement quite a lot throughout the piece,
leading into body rolls and ripples, also to change the direction. The piece
was relatively grounded, the levels didn’t vary very much and there wasn’t many
jumps or floorwork, it just stayed on the same level the whole way through.
Similarly, ‘Infra’ also mostly stayed on the same level except from lifts
within the duet as they mostly stayed with contact and it didn’t feature many jumps
or floorwork, however it was effective as it established the relationship between
the dancers in the duet. In ‘Genus’, I believe that McGregor has kept this solo
on the same level to show the evolution of the organism as humankind evolved
from small creatures which lived in soil underground. Therefore, I think the
choreographer has decided to show the theme of the piece by suggesting the
stage of evolution the dancer has evolved from, evolving from a small organism
to perhaps a larger one that can come out of the ground. On the other hand, ‘Woolf
Works’ featured a lot of jumps, turns and lifts and was very high energy with
no stillness or pause.
I noticed that the piece had a
lot of repetition with embellishment. For example, the dancer would do a motif
but then repeat it with an arm added, more body movement or travelling,
therefore accentuating the original motif. From my interpretation of the piece,
I think McGregor has used these choreographic devices to link to the stimulus
of ‘On the origin of species’. This has been achieved by implying the theories
of evolution on humankind, ‘evolving’ the motifs by developing them through the
piece. Repetition was also used within ‘Infra’ and ‘Woolf Works’ which may
suggest that McGregor likes to use a lot of repetition in his pieces to link to
the themes of his pieces.
I think this piece has
impacted the audience as McGregor spent a lot of time in his career developing
his scientific knowledge, working with cognitive neuroscientists (Studio Wayne
McGregor, 2019), to extend his expertise and increase his insight into
how the body works so he can include it within his choreography. This changes
the industry as he does a lot of research into his stimulus before he begins
creating his pieces so he has a greater understanding. This also means that the
audiences are able to form their own judgements on what the piece is about as
there may be several meanings behind each of his works.
Bibliography
Studio Wayne McGregor.
(2019). Genus. [online] Available at: https://waynemcgregor.com/productions/genus
[Accessed 29 Nov. 2019].
thestar.com. (2019). ‘Genus’
shows evolution of choreographer Wayne McGregor | The Star. [online]
Available at: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2017/03/27/genus-shows-evolution-of-choreographer-wayne-mcgregor.html
[Accessed 29 Nov. 2019].
Studio Wayne McGregor. (2019). Wayne McGregor. [online]
Available at: https://waynemcgregor.com/about/wayne-mcgregor [Accessed 30 Nov.
2019].
I like how much detail you have gone in with your blog as it gives the audience a clear understanding about Genus. You mentioned that Infra and Woolf Works have more than one person in it, while Genus is a solo. Did this draw your attention more than the other pieces? If so why?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! I definitely feel that 'Genus' caught my eye a lot more than the other pieces. This is because the movement language was very different to the other works I watched. It was very intricate, sharp and precise whereas 'Infra' was very much fluid and soft. I also felt like the costume was a lot more eye catching and definitely suited the piece, I felt this enhanced the intention of the piece too.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. I wondered whether, that because the dancer had a costume which gave him more of a character, it was more successful in portraying the narrative of the piece compared to Infra and Woolf Works?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I believe it was a lot more successful in portraying the narrative of the piece as it gave the dancer. The costume created the idea that the dancer was an animal due to the white panel on the black costume. This could also suggest the type of animal it could be, perhaps a skunk or monkey. Furthermore, this gives the dancer a character to portray so the movement is a lot more convincing and clear to the audience so the intention of the piece is successfully achieved.
Deletexcellent work! Your detailed critical analysis shows clear understanding of McGregor alongside his choreographic work. Was the piece successful, how did it make you feel? Before furthering your research behind the piece, what do you think the piece trying to communicate or say to its audience? What was the purpose behind the movement and music and how did this have an effect on the piece? Do you think the purpose of the piece came across successfully as an audience? Was there any parts you liked/ disliked? Why? Reflecting back at all three pieces, which piece was your favourite and why? Can you notice any similarities between each of the three pieces?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I think the piece was successful as I was able to establish the character from the movement and costume, showing that the intention of his piece came across clearly to the audience. I felt quite captivated while watching due to the tiny sharp movements and isolations. I feel like the piece is trying to portray the idea of evolution and the development of humankind, the topic of Charles Darwin’s book. I think the movement was intended to represent an animal, the sharp isolated movement could be showing how the animal is trying to live and survive, perhaps implying the idea of survival of the fittest. The music was quite chaotic and had strong dynamic beats which I think adds to my interpretation of survival of the fittest as it could help suggest the idea of predators and prey. I particularly liked the use of repetition and embellishment as it helped the idea of adaptations and evolution! Out of the three piece, I think ‘Genus’ was my favourite as I was able to clearly understand and interpret the stimulus through the movement! A similarity between all three pieces could be that they all had dynamics which were complementary to their music. it was rare for there to be contrasting dynamics in any of the pieces.
Delete