Re: choreographers and composers

Nick Rothwell (nick@cassiel.com)
12 Jan 1998 13:48:21 -0000

> Really interesting point! I personally can't sit through music
> concerts, they drive me insane... I want to move or see something
> happening.

Actually, I have exactly the same problem: and I'm a musician. There's
something about the performance of most music on stage which I find
frustrating. Perhaps I want there to either be a more ambitious
performance/visual aspect, or there to be none at all so that I can
mentally provide my own.

> Perhaps musicians feel the same about pure dance? Perhaps
> not.

By "pure dance" do you mean dance without music?

I've seen a few pieces like this, and I have no problem with them,
assuming that the choreography is strong enough to work without the
music to provide imagery or context. In fact, in some ways, score-less
dance is quite refreshing, in the same way that I find visual modern
art in a peaceful gallery to be refreshing, and more inspirational to
be as a composer than listening to music. One needs the mental space
in order to create.

> I
> don't see why you can't have a performance without music... but I
> don't see how you'd get away from rhythm!

I don't see why not. Dance generally has an underlying pulse as a
structure, but I don't think pulse and rhythm are the same thing, and
I don't even see that a pulse has to be regular. (But then, I'm not a
choreographer...)

-- 
         Nick Rothwell, CASSIEL        contemporary dance projects
         http://www.cassiel.com        music synthesis and control

years, passing by, VCO, VCF, and again, and again