Choreography for Solo Performance (MU40370O)

Akram Khan is a globally renowned and established innovative choreographer within the Contemporary Dance Scene. I was particularly drawn to Akram Khan due to his eclectic use of styles and choreographic movement, which is subject to his training and personal experiences / influences from his childhood. Khan’s style is a seamless blend of Kathak (a form of Indian Classical Dance) and Contemporary dance, which I find intriguing as his choreography consists of complex footwork and structures which is complemented with complex musicality and abstract movements. Khan frequently draws upon pop culture and social issues, as well as enquiring the need for dramatic qualities and theatricality within the choreograph (established from some of his influences such as Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire and Bruce Lee). Khan frequently collaborates with other artists as well as companies such as the English National Ballet. This is important as it makes his works and choreography more diverse and experimen

  I have chosen to go with a psychopathic concept / interpretation of the Glam Jail illustration, where I will depict and explore the mind of a psychopath and why they became like that, referencing themes of juxtapositions (of personalities), gender stereotypes and also isolation. The photo drew me in and inspired me to incorporate themes of gender stereotypes (as the person can be either gender) and juxtapositions (due to the two distinctive colours in the photo) as well as making me feel contrasted feelings. I felt sympathetic for the person as they are clearly restricted within this cell and appear lonesome, however I also felt antipathetic towards the photo as I felt it was quite sinister and strange. My aim for the choreography is to take the audience through the lens of the photo, with our inspiration of John Wayne Gacy and psychopathic mentalities implemented into this to support our intentions. I hope to guide the audience through the photo, where it starts with the first impre

  Wayne McGregor is a renowned British contemporary choreographer who is largely known for his innovative and unique approach to choreography in the dance scene. We watched a video where Wayne McGregor presented one of his choreographic tasks, in which he explained that he envisions shapes and tracing letters when choreographing. He explained how he thinks of “architectural lines and three dimensional shapes” (McGregor, 2012) which we found particularly intriguing, sparking an interest in exploring this method used by McGregor. As a group, we envisioned the object of a lamp to which we firstly improvised movement material tracing this object. I found this was quite a unique way of creating new movements that I may not normally choreograph or produce normally. This was effective and I found it was easier to explore new shapes within the body. We then explored the idea of the curves within the head of the lamp as well as the circular nature of the bulb. McGregor mentioned exploring “dens

  “In the Countenance of Kings” is a work choreographed by Justin Peck’s, with the music of the piece composed by Sufjan Stevens. The short film / performance was enjoyable to watch and observe; I thoroughly enjoyed the quick succession of the music, which was accompanied throughout with dynamic choreography that fused contemporary technique with ballet qualities. I found this highly innovative in which I was intrigued to continue watching more of the performance. The opening of the performance sets the initial tone and atmosphere for the performance, where the setting begins in a studio with a dancer leaving in complete silence. The camera pans forwards to reveal a dancer laying on her side (on the floor) where she breathes heavily, filling the previous void sound with live sound effects. Of course this demonstrated the dancers exhaustion and fatigue. I found it rather intriguing to start with live sound effects from the dancer as it made the atmosphere more intimate, almost as if the