Infuential Performers

As part of my research into the topic of performance I have investigated the attributes of influential performers. Below is a mind map of the dance artist that initially spring to mind:

Dance Artists Who Have Informed Performance

Martha Graham (1894 – 1991) The Graham Technique

‘The function of dance is communication… By communication is not meant to tell a story or to project an idea, but to communicate experience by means of action… out of this came a different use of the body as an instrument, as the violin is an instrument. Body is the basic instrument, intuitive, instinctive. As a result an entirely contemporary set of technics was evolved.’ (Brown, Mindlin & Woodford, 1998, p50)

Martha Graham is described as the mother of modern dance, her style and influence is still very much alive today, elements of which can be seen within the current ISTD Modern Theatre syllabi. The Graham Technique is often the centre of professional contemporary and classical dance training.

Graham developed an interest in the human body influenced by her father, a doctor specialising in nervous disorders, he believed that the body could express its inner senses which she found fascinating. Growing up she was not permitted to dance and therefore enrolled in an arts programme at college after her father’s death. She developed an original style incorporating jerky, inverted and rigid movements which clearly apposed classical dance, a far cry from the beautiful soft aesthetics of Ballet. The method of this movement requires considerable physical strength to accomplish such lines, it was therefore necessary for Graham to educate her students in the appreciation of strength. A vocabulary of exercises was devised in order to train the body in this unique manner and is still taught extensively today.

‘Since the purpose of dance is to translate emotional experience in physical form, in the Graham technique every movement must have a clear perceivable meaning.’(Mazo 1977, p189)

‘I wanted to begin not with characters or ideas, but with movements. I wanted significant movement, I did not want it to be beautiful or fluid, and I wanted it to be fraught with inner meaning with excitement and surge.’ (www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/martha-graham/about-the-dancer/497 8.11.15)

Graham’s work explores the darker depths of human emotion, the relentless use of contraction I feel signifies inner turmoil and sorrow. The signature ‘strike’ an angular arm line, as if shooting an arrow from a bow - strong and warrior like, perhaps representing battles of such strife. The distinctive ‘pleading’ position - palms forward at the hips, conveying vulnerability and desperation. Graham and her company dancers gave emotionally charged performances fraught with intensity and solemnity. Her dances were created to represent the current time – ‘Life today is nervous, sharp and zigzag. It often stops in mid-air. That is what I aim for in my dances.’ (Mazo 1977, p161)

When I first discovered the Graham Technique as a first year student I thoroughly disliked it, I found the lines ugly, impossible to get right and I did not understand the concept, why were we being taught to move in such a way? We had a guest teacher come in to teach us a piece from ‘Primitive Mysteries’ we were to dance as Mary at Jesus’s crucifixion. This seemed odd to me and truthfully a little boring (I was only sixteen!), however after learning the complex components and spending the majority of the afternoon in a rigid contraction I began to embrace its obscurity. At the end of the workshop I watched everyone perform, it all made sense the movements embodied the yearning, sorrow and emotional pain, it was truly moving to watch and indeed also to dance.

I use Graham’s influence extensively in my work when choreographing lyrical or contemporary pieces of a more sombre nature, I feel these types of movements portray those darker emotions effectively.

‘My dancing is not an attempt to interpret life in the literary sense. It is an affirmation of life through movement.’ (www.biography.com/people/martha-graham-9317723 4.11.15)

An example of The Graham Technique and its meaning can be seen in this youtube clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYu-wL2ti80 12.11.15

Margot Fonteyn (1919 – 1991)

‘The most athletic is not necessarily the best, Fonteyn’s artistry and discernment make her a dancer to cherish.’ (www.telegraph.co.uk/margotfonteyn 7/11/15)

Margot Fonteyn was a classical ballerina whose legacy has gone down in history as a result of her charismatic and heart felt performances. Her portrayal of Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty was considered to be the definitive of the era. Fredrick Ashton created many roles especially for her outside of the traditional classical Ballets. Fonteyn was not a technical virtuoso however she danced with passion, serenity and a unique softness, she was a natural performer and a true storyteller. Such qualities lead to a television career following her retirement from dance.

Her famous partnership with the equally brilliant Rudolf Nureyev propelled her career further, despite being nearly twenty years his senior, they complimented each other both technically and artistically. She credited him with ‘giving her a new burst of energy’ while he claims she ’inspired him and helped calm him’, he said of Fonteyn that they danced with ‘one body, one soul’. They learned from one another and performed at their very best when together.

Rudolf Nureyev (1938 – 1993)

‘Give your insides, blood! Perhaps something is dull? Do something about it. Gamble. Make the performance pulsate.’ (http://nureyev.livejournal.com/5370.html?page=1 11.11.15)

Nureyev, a late comer to the world of dance did not enrol into a dance school until the age of 17, at 23 he became famous after he defected from the Soviet Union to the west to perform with the Royal Ballet.

His artistic skills as a performer allowed him to explore the expressive side of dance, he was an individual artist and a nonconformist. He redefined the role of the male ballet dancer, an artist in his own right no longer serving purely to partner the women

He excelled predominantly in classical Ballet and later on branched out into modern dance, proving his versatility. He later went on to direct, choreograph and act, he even became a conductor in his final years before he tragically died Of AIDS.

He attracted a new audience to the dance world, more than any other dancer in history, if you ask the average Joe to name a dancer Nureyev is sure to come up.

Later in his career he directed and choreographed extensively for many companies as well as appearing in films, he was also famously a guest star on The Muppet Show in the 1970s, which clearly demonstrated his celebrity status.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUKmzKXNnSs (12.11.15)

Tak 4d: Literature Review (Part 3)

The Heart of Expression, Teaching Mime and Acting for Ballet

(By Pilar Garcia)

http://gelseykirklandacademyofclassicalballet.org/the-heart-of-expression-teaching-mime-and-acting-for-ballet/

(Accessed 3/4/15)

The author of this article is a mime and acting teacher who works extensively with dancers aiming to 'chase the gold in a performance'. Having trained in Ballet from a young age up to advanced level, it became apparent throughout her training that the acting element eclipsed her dance ability. This passion for acting lead her to coaching younger students to act within their Ballet roles, working alongside the Ballet teacher to achieve characterisation and animation bringing the vision to life.

Her professional role entails nurturing student's expression in performance through the means of acting and mime. The author credits the use of mime particularly in early training to encourage artistic growth, to add the expression a movement requires, giving purpose to Ballet in terms of communication and story telling. The author's personal explanation of performance I consider to be the most fathomable I have so far come across; one's ability to dramatise movement, giving it meaning and enable the power of communication.

She encourages students to seek counselling for self esteem and confidence issues, a concept addressed by my previous literature review. She feels low confidence will inhibit not only the dancer's ability to fully express themselves but also impair the learning process, affecting student's potential.

Garcia believes technique provides the foundation, a canvas on which to create the visage allowing a means to express oneself through, therefore technique and performance cannot exist without each other. 'The purpose of technique is to ultimately serve the artistic endeavour which relies on the heart of the expression, otherwise you will not have a whole dancer.' The concentration solely on technique can bury the joy of what one is doing, this now leaves me to ponder, to what extent is technique overlooked in favour of performance? Reading this article has lead me to ask, what is more important technique or artistry? A question I intend to include within my inquiry research.

I now consider it necessary to gain the view point of other arts professionals not just dance teachers.

The collaboration of dance, acting and music all contribute to the overall performance, I therefore now need to look at interpretation and influence of music on performance.

Task 6a Pilot Survey

Here is a link to my pilot survey, I would really appreciate any feedback as it is still in the planning stages, let me know if you found the questions straight forward and if it was easy or hard to fill in, I look forward to your comments.


https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JK7BZ66

Task 4d: Literature Review (Part 2)

The Student Dancer; Emotional Aspects of the Teaching and Learning of Dance

(Julia Buckroyd 2000)

The author herself is not a dance artist or teacher but has worked extensively with dance students throughout her career. She worked as Student Counsellor at London Contemporary Dance School, (a role I did not know existed until reading this book). She is the the director of studies for counselling at university and works as a psychotherapist and consultant to many professional dance schools. This book gives an over view of the emotional and psychological aspects of dance teaching and training. Information for this book has been sourced from staff at leading dance training establishments such as Central School of Ballet, Elmhurst and Arts Educational School

The relevance of this book to my inquiry is based on the notion that one's ability to express oneself derives from one's level of confidence. The book explores what factors might affect this throughout the process of emotional development in childhood and adolescence. I have previously studied this subject in the 'Life Span and Development' module of my Certificate in Dance Education (ISTD) and feel it important to explore this subject further. 'The Student Dancer' enables the reader to gain a greater understanding of how and why students express certain behaviors and how these could be strongly linked to the ability to perform.

Student's self belief is vital in order to achieve a level of competency, this is a common occurrence I feel my students struggle with. The book explains how factors such as upbringing, parenting and bullying can have an effect on a child's emotional and social development. For example, some children are encouraged to voice their feelings and express themselves fully where as other families strongly discourage this behavior, therefore resulting in a more introvert child. This could be one explanation why some children are socially more confident than others, the book gives a study of students displaying varying behaviors and how this will affect their presence and ability to 'add colour' to their work.

The author describes how dancers can command an audience through their charisma, presence and ability to communicate, in spite of technical limitation. This raises the question, would what audience members rather see, technical excellence or performance? Obviously they would rather see both, but to what degree? I suppose technical ability underpins the performance and the response it evokes from the audience. I feel that technical expectations continue to rise through standards and greater access to dance and forms of media.

Task 4d: Literature Review (Part 1)

I have selected various pieces of literature to review as part of my research based around the topic of performance. The current working title for my inquiry is: How can we as teachers develop the following in our students: Artistry, Presentation, Performance, Interpretation, Expression?

Developing Performance, Expression and Communication Skills in Ballet

(Angeline Lucas 2013)

www.danceadvantage.net/performing-with-artistry (Accessed 14/4/15)

The author explores the concept of performance and what aspects this entails, something I find quite difficult to describe. This article was obviously written for dance students wishing to improve their performance skills, however I feel teachers can equally benefit from ideas and methods within this article. I particularly liked how she explained the subject matter, 'how to breathe life into your work', which explains my topic perfectly. The article is intended to increase one's awareness of this subject and asks the questions, what is performance? How can students be more expressive?

The author (a dance teacher) believes, from personal experience that such skills are mastered and continue developing over time. The notion that performance incorporates an individual's charisma, stage presence, artistic sensitivity through one's ability to command attention, sensitively respond to the music/choreography and show a sense of confidence.

She gives varying examples of imagery that could enhance performance, I feel that the suggested methods would also perhaps be used in meditation or in a drama class. Imagery is an effective teaching method particularly in Ballet as some movements are so difficult to describe. Imagery needs to be age appropriate to allow the student to relate it to personal experience, it can be a wonderful form of motivation and promote greater understanding. I thought her ideas were imaginative and I would like to try these out on my students in order to assess the effectiveness.

This article is based around teaching Ballet which is useful for me as I teach a lot of Ballet, however I wish for my inquiry to be based around improving skills in various genres including Modern, Tap, Contemporary and Jazz. I feel that the principle of this article can be applied to teaching other forms of dance.

This piece of literature will be useful to my inquiry as it incorporates the aspect of musical awareness which I plan to explore further. The author describes how the dancer should give the illusion that the music is 'channeling through you' and she encourages her students to take time to listen carefully and describe the music in detail. This approach will enable the student to not just focus on the steps but make the music interpretation a priority allowing the significance to become the subject matter of the dance.

In a typical class, set syllabus music can become rather uninspiring for the student (I recall thinking this myself). Which raises the question, how far can the use of free music in class influence one's performance skills? If a student is dancing to the same piece of music week in week out, how will they be inspired to express themselves? A broad musical education will potentially contribute to one's versatile ability to convey a wide range of moods and genres.

Choreography might need to be expressed in a certain way by the demands of the syllabus where as

a solo piece might require individual interpretation. I think that awareness can be gained through the syllabus work, paving the way for a more individual approach through maturity and experience.

Reader 6 and Skype Session

Reader 6 and Skype Session

Upon reviewing reader 6 and taking part in the group Skype session, I have gained an understanding of ways in which I can utilise various research tools in order to formulate my inquiry plan. I am aware of methods used to collect varying forms of data, depending on it's purpose. Reader 6 has enabled me identify how will I go about obtaining the information I need, considering how I will record and the archive this. With regards to part 5, I can apply knowledge of ethical practice to my research to ensure I do not cause any negative affliction to others.

I feel the nature of my inquiry requires a predominantly qualitative approach as a lot of my research will be based around people's opinion's and personal experience. However I feel a degree of quantitative research will enable me to collect less complex statistical forms of data and reach a wider audience. In order to to gain a wide perspective of my topic, 'Artistry In Performance' I propose to arrange interviews with professionals in varying roles to inform my research, these include; My employers, colleagues, ex students, Drama Teacher, Ballet Pianist, Examiner, Company Director and a Company Dancer. I am continually developing my questions for the roles of these individuals through the interaction of like minded professionals .

I plan to conduct class discussions and observations with my students, upon being given permission from themselves, my employer and parents (ethical practice). I feel it would be an ideal time as we are working towards exams and I will tackle the inevitable anxiety that students often experience affecting performance under pressure. During this process I will be keeping a work journal allowing me to reflect and record my findings. My school also have their annual production coming up in June so it will be interesting to analyse the degree of performance skills in varying ages and abilities of students during rehearsal and performance.

A survey will allow me to discover popular opinions of teachers and dance professionals, this information will enable me to analyse trends and variations. A survey is a useful tool as I can send it out via post, email and share it on social media sites, again considering the ethics relating to this tool.

I like the idea of conducting a focus group, however it would take careful organising to ensure that participants were all able to attend, given the location and time. I think a focus group would be useful as it's a more informal approach to gathering research, based more on discussion. As detailed in Reader 6, it can encourage the more self conscious individuals to voice their opinion. It would be interesting to analyse what conclusions arise from this method of research.

In the group tutorial we spoke about the importance of creating a time line in order to enable to formulate a schedule to organise ourselves, this allowed me to plan my time realistically as I must confess I am always one of those last minute students in a big stress at the end of term! At present I am currently catching up on a few previous tasks as well as formulating my plan. I feel my literature reviews will be ongoing as I continue to discover more and more throughout my ongoing research on particular topics that relate to my inquiry.

Task 4b: Special Interest Group - The Art Of Performance

Please join my Special Interest Group by following the link on google:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/105881750232330332856

Or on Face book if you'd prefer:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/809665509117098/

My special interest group will help me to network with other dance professionals as well as those who enjoy watching dance and fellow students on BA PP Arts. I am looking to explore how performance skills can be developed in individuals, as a teacher I feel that this is the most difficult area to address. I feel that as dance teachers we spend our time teaching technique, musical awareness, vocabulary and choreography, but how do we encourage a student's own sense of artistry and performance? What do audiences consider to be an engaging performance and why?

As teachers, most of us generally teach to a syllabus as we find it a good basis for structure and repetition, an order to follow to base each lesson around. However it is equally as important to teach unset work in order to develop student's ability to pick up and retain choreography, encourage a varying repertoire of styles within a genre and influence versatility. I gained a greater insight into the debate between benefits of syllabus vs free work from Jess Marshall's blog (Module 3).

This lead me to consider how this might affect one's development of artistry, the ability to add interpretation, character and 'bring to life' a set of steps or movement, to commutate and captivate an audience. In my SIG I would like to find out what fellow teachers, performers, students and dance lovers consider to be truly memorable performance and their reasoning.

Anna Pavlova was not renowned worldwide for her technique and impeccable lines, but for her engagement with her audience. When watching footage of her perform, I truly believe that she is a forlorn swan dying of a broken heart. This is what made her truly iconic, I wonder where this ability came from? I plan to explore further...

I am a massive fan of Matthew Bourne's New Adventures as I particularly enjoy the animation of the dancer's characters, they are so entertaining and charismatic, there is never a dull moment on stage.

I often find stories sometimes difficult to follow when watching dance productions, however I never seem to get lost when watching New Adventures, which gives credit to their fabulous story telling abilities. Upon attending a Q and A with Matthew Bourne I discovered that one of the prerequisites for his dancers are their excellent acting abilities, which makes sense as dancers are of course story tellers.

Through my Special Interest Group I hope to raise the discussion of possible topics such as:

What is stage presence?

Is it something one is born with or can it be taught?

I wish to encourage members to share:

Who are your favourite performers/performances/companies and why?

What is it that makes their performance so captivating?

How do you as dance professionals encourage and develop a sense of artistry and performance?

I plan to share some of my favourites and explore my reasoning for preference.

From a teaches point of view I would also like to utilise my SIG to discover how other practitioners and teachers develop performance skills in their students. I wish to discuss what factors might affect one's ability to perform, what methods have proved useful and how others raise confidence effectively to improve performance.

I have personally found that the exposure to performing to an audience on a regular basis has allowed some of my students to improve their performance skills. We are lucky at my school in that we do a show once a year as well as summer fêtes and festivals.

However I expect students to perform during class so it becomes second nature to them and I often find they are rarely able do this. I feel these skills should be nurtured with equal importance to all the other elements of class, but how?

Auditions for professional performing work demand the dancer's ability to perform a piece of choreography learned in a short space of time. This is the ultimate aim for our students so it is our job to prepare them adequately as a performer, this is an area I particularly struggled with as a dancer which hindered my chances of employment and I found it particularly challenging to perform choreography learned in that short space of time.

However the majority of our students will be attending class as a hobby purely for pleasure, to keep active and express themselves. Dance training I feel gives individuals vital skills for a world outside of dance instilling motivation, discipline and perseverance from a young age encouraging commitment and dedication in whichever path they wish to pursue. I came across an article on Adesola's blog: '6 Reasons Why Dancers Make Awesome Employees' (http://www.partnershipmovement.org/news/p/6-reasons-why-ballet-dancers-make-awesome-employees/ which discusses further the subject of transferable skills from a dance background.

I look forward to discussions and the sharing of ideas surrounding performance skills from my peers and fellow arts professionals.