Contemporary Dance - From Basic Concepts To Practice
Contemporary Dance - From Basic Concepts To Practice
Contemporary Dance - From Basic Concepts To Practice
Introduction:
Hello, dear students. After studying the introduction to arts, writing your
own rawitdawit, and composing an original song during the midterm period,
you crafted visual artworks which were inspired by your previous creative
outputs. Let’s continue your learning experience, this time, in the field of dance.
We will be indulging in one of its genres, contemporary dance.
There are three sub-topics in this lesson: the introduction and brief history,
the basics of dance (elements, efforts of action, and fundamental dance
positions), and the creative process. As you study the first two sub-topics, you
will already have snippets of the creative process. You’ll also experience it as
an assessment task for this lesson wherein you’ll choreograph and perform an
original one-minute contemporary dance piece. You must be able to apply
the elements and your selected basic efforts of action through the
accompaniment of the original music you composed (an excerpt) while also
incorporating the theme/s from your visual artwork/s.
Let’s Start!
Do you still remember the first time you watched a dance performance?
Or perhaps, the first time you danced in front of a crowd whether it be at home
or in school? Who among you here are dancers or dance enthusiasts? Well,
whether you are one or not, one thing is for sure: you’ll like dancing more after
this lesson.
An introduction to dance as an art form was already discussed in the first
lesson during the midterm period, and we will now focus on contemporary
dance. I want you to watch the video of a dance performance from France
Got Talent through the link provided below. Some of you may have already
seen it since it went viral online in 2018. I want you to focus on it and share your
thoughts afterwards.
https://youtu.be/-q6CQAppxSU
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Now that you’ve watched it, what can you say about the performance?
Share your thoughts on our discussion board under CONTEMPORARY DANCE
THREAD in the course site. You may talk about how you felt while watching it,
what you think the story is, what its theme is, and how you were able to infer
such.
There are two types of dance: social dance and performance dance.
Below is a table that shows their respective characteristics.
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Let’s take a closer look at the performance dances. Ballet is more on
creating long lines with the body and is often about myths and fairytales. It also
emphasizes how different men and women are. Jazz dance makes use mostly
of the hips and angles; classical Indian dance has distinct facial expressions,
geometry and footwork; street dance has acrobatics, prowess and emphasizes
rhythm; and circus dance involves gymnastics, aerial dance, and is gravity-
defying. In tap dance, the shoes play a crucial role, footwork is emphasized,
and there is improvisation. African dance has polyrhythms, is cyclic, and
movements are weighted. Other performances that can be considered as a
social dance are: Javanese, Tai Chi, Shaolin Kung Fu, mime, Noh, Balinese
dance drama, Hula dance, cheerleading, capoeira, and Butoh.
The statement is very direct and truthful. We need not explain because
it’s easy to understand as it is. But let’s digest it still. When we talk about dance,
you don’t have to purchase various tools or equipment because all you need
is yourself, specifically, your body. Dancing shoes, costumes, props, and other
paraphernalia only come secondary. But what do we do with our body in order
to practice the art of dancing?
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THE BASICS:
There are Five Basic Elements of Dance. You can easily remember them
through the acronym, BASTE. What do you think these letters stand for?
B–
A–
S–
T–
E–
Alright, what are your guesses? Let’s check if they matched with the ones
below:
The most important, of course, is the body because it is the mobile figure
or shape felt by the dancer and seen by others. Dancers may emphasize
specific parts of their body in a dance phrase – called isolation, or use their
whole body all at once.
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The body moves in ways to express ourselves using locomotor and non-
locomotor movements. Both are fundamental body movements and I’m sure
you know how they differ from each other. Let’s refresh your memory by
reviewing them. Locomotor movements refer to movements that move the
body from one point to another, causing the body to travel. Such movements
could either be even or uneven in terms of rhythm. Even rhythm movements
consist equal, unvarying actions including: walking, running, hopping, leaping,
and jumping. For a little background, a hop is technically defined as a springing
from one foot and landing on that same foot, while a leap is a springing from
one foot but landing on the other foot (commonly used when people jump
over objects like over a rain puddle). Uneven rhythm movements consist of
unequal actions and sometimes incorporate alternating actions. Such include
skipping, galloping, and sliding. A gallop is defined as stepping forward and
pushing up with one foot, while the other foot follows and the person lands on
the trailing foot. A slide is similar, but the lead foot glides forward or sideward
while the other foot follows. The lead foot does not step or push off into the air
(such movement is used in skating or skiing).
According to Walter Terry, “the body is the channel between the inner
realm and the outer realm”. How so? To help you understand this concept, I’ve
created a simple illustration below:
INNER REALM
BODY
OUTER
REALM
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The inner realm refers to your intentions, ideas, emotions, and identity
while the outer realm refers to expression and communication. You are able to
manifest your thoughts and feelings through the gestures and movements you
make with your body. You communicate what’s inside you to what’s around
you through your body. See? That’s how important our body is. Aren’t we
taught and reminded to take good care of it because it is the temple of our
soul? Taking care of the body isn’t only for the dancers and choreographers,
but for everyone. It is our only means of mobilizing ourselves.
Those are the important things you have to know and remember about
the first element.
BODY
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Movement (or action) can also be improvised. Improvisation is when the
dancers make up movements “on the spot” as they spontaneously dance. It
can also be giving a twist to a basic movement, and it is usually how
choreographers create a dance piece.
Now, I want you to stand. Think of and execute a movement which you
think reflects the following efforts of action. Don’t be shy. Move. Find out if you
are familiar with these actions.
1. Punching 5. Slashing
2. Pressing 6. Wringing
3. Dabbing 7. Floating
4. Flicking 8. Gliding
Watch the video in the link provided on the next page to check whether
you executed the actions correctly. Make sure to watch carefully and move
along so that you can fill in the table about it afterwards. You may pause and
replay the video as often as you want or need. After that, grab your
notebook/journal and supply the correct terms and concepts in the table that
follows. This way, you can easily understand and remember the Eight Basic Efforts
of Action.
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Laban Movement Efforts
https://youtu.be/OK-7QhORB9k
Elements
EFFORTS OF ACTION
Space/Focus Time Weight Flow
Punch
Dab
Press
Glide
Slash
Flick
Wring
Float
*The key to correction for this table is found on the last part of this reading material.
Now that you already know and understand the basic efforts of action, it
must be clearer to you how and when to use such movements in a dance.
Remember improvisation as discussed earlier? The reason you no longer
recognize clearly the basic efforts of action when watching a certain dance
performance is because they have already been improvised by the dancers and
choreographers while they were still in the creative process. A basic action is
either exaggerated, minimized, or given a certain “twist” to make it more
dramatic. Of course, you have to unleash your creativity in order to craft a
meaningful and memorable work of art.
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ACTION
STUDY BREAK
At this point, congratulate yourself first. If you wish to review or check some of the
activities, you may. But now is the time to do some more stretching and even give yourself
some rest first for at least, ten minutes? It depends on you. We still have a lot more to
tackle so make sure to recharge! You’re doing just fine. Keep it up and see you as we
continue the discussion.
We’re done with the second element. Let’s proceed to the third: space.
Space refers to the way the dancer moves through and interacts with space. It is
about how he/she occupies the physical world. When it comes to space, you
have to consider the direction, blocking, level, size, and pathways. Direction can
be sideways, forwards, backwards, or diagonally. Blocking (or facing) refers to
how the front of the body is positioned in relation to the audience. Level is the
relationship of the body to the floor (It can be low/earth, middle/man, and
high/sky). Size is the amount of space occupied while pathways refer to the line
of travel which may be quite direct towards one or more points in space, or
indefinite/meandering.
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SPACE
Closely related to the element of space is the element of time. After all, a
dancer cannot move through space without moving through time as well. This
compositional element deals with the dancer's interaction with time since timing
is key to any dance (or performance, even).
Time may also be organized through clock time, sensed time, or event
sequence. When we say clock time, the dance is based on units of seconds,
minutes, and/or hours. For example, a certain section of a dance may be
assigned a time such as 30 seconds into which all the choreographed movement
must fit. Another example would be a performance in a public setting set up to
repeat continuously between 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm. Sensed time is used when
dancers pick up on each other's timing such as gradually increasing from a
walking tempo to a running tempo by cueing off each other rather than a music
score. Another example happens when dancers hold a group shape then
spontaneously move out of it based on the group's organic impulse. For event
sequence, an internal or external event signals a change such as repeating a
traveling phrase over and over until everyone arrives at a corner of the stage. You
also see this at sports events when a touchdown triggers a dance cheer.
Dancers may take sight cues from each other to start the next phrase or
listen for music cues. They may even take cues from an event such as a train
whistle during an outdoor dance performance. The inherent rhythms in our
movement and our aural landscape are a rich source of variation in dance. What
connects these scenarios is what we call “awareness”, which is related to
“energy”. More of this will be discussed in the next and last element of dance.
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TIME
tension
ENERGY
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▪ FUNDAMENTAL DANCE POSITIONS
You were already taught the five fundamental dance positions way back
in elementary and high school. To refresh your memory, arrange the figures found
on the next page in their proper sequence. Just put numbers 1-5 on the blanks
before the letters.
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Alright! Give yourself a tap on the shoulder if you’ve successfully executed
the five fundamental dance positions. You may opt to do it again if you think you
still need some more practice.
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Liza Macuja-Elizalde – She is a renowned Filipina
Prima Ballerina and the founder of Ballet Manila,
a resident company of CCP as well;
There are also Bicolano local artists who are active, appreciated and
awarded in the field of dance whom you must know about. Some of them are:
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Rodrigo C. Salando, Jr. – He is a choreographer
and dance coach born in Polangui but
resides in Iriga City. He is the long-time trainer
of the MAG Dancers, an Iriga-based dance
group which has been a consistent
Cheerleading World Championship gold
winner. He dances and teaches hip-hop,
contemporary, and cheer dance.
▪ BODY TALK
There you have it! We’re done with our discussion. How do you feel? Do you
like dance better now? I’m sure the discussions helped you understand and
appreciate dance on a deeper level. Feel free to write down on your journal
about it and start applying these learnings to practice. You can always go back
to this reading material if you need to.
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STUDY BREAK
At this point, you can choose to either review the topics discussed or take another
break before proceeding to the assessment task that awaits you. Break a leg! (That’s how
we say “Good luck” in theater.)
Assessment Task:
Choreograph and perform an original one-minute contemporary dance
piece using the composed music and incorporating the theme from the visual
artwork.
Record the video and upload an mp4 file to Google Classroom, your folder
in Google Drive, or album in the Facebook group.
KEY TO CORRECTION:
Elements
EFFORTS OF ACTION
Space/Focus Time Weight Flow
Punch Direct Quick Heavy Bound
Dab Direct Quick Light Bound
Press Direct Sustained Heavy Bound
Glide Direct Sustained Light Free
Slash Indirect Quick Heavy Free
Flick Indirect Quick Light Free
Wring Indirect Sustained Heavy Bound
Float Indirect Sustained Light Free
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
SA YA W
REFERENCES:
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The Elements of Dance retrieved from
https://www.nationalartsstandards.org/sites/default/files/Dance_resource
s/ElementsOfDance_organizer.pdf
Tiongson, N.G. (1991). Tuklas Sining: Essays on the Philippine Arts. Manila:
Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas
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