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PAMELA LYDON solo performer |
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COMPOSITION
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Dance Composition Workshop I walk in the studio to teach a composition workshop, and I see ten dancers....or fifteen....or fifty. I have just stated a major problem of such workshops; a problem which I refuse to solve by saying either "let's all learn to make a solo", or "let's all collaborate on a large group work". In my composition workshops, I try to focus on the tools for dance making rather than the obligatory dance. First, generating material and learning how to manipulate phrases. I find that beginning choreographers are often overwhelmed by the task of making enough material to "fill" a dance. Second, molding the generated material to conform to a theme or idea. Sometimes a simple lesson in dynamics and gesture can turn on the light, as can a few exercises in locomotor skills (i.e. running and walking). Third, understanding patterning, both in using the entire dance area in a balanced fashion, and in breaking the rules for effect. This leads me to my most important tool; breaking the rules rationally. It seems to me that dancers who learn a set of choreographic "dos and don'ts" often become stuck with these for life, and make dances that are both predictable and uninteresting. I give the dancers in my workshops the freedom to experiment and step outside of conventions, as long as they are aware of what those conventions are, and have good reason for deciding otherwise. At the end of a workshop, I do not really want to see a completed dance. I want to see the excitement of creation. I want to see the wealth of new ideas and shared discoveries that dancers shape with the new tools that have been put into their hands. I strongly feel that dance composition is something to be elicited from an individual, not taught by rote. It is a difficult undertaking to teach the unteachable. It is my forte. |