Re: Choreographic process

Lesley Wheeler (artscom@infobahn.com.au)
Sun, 03 May 1998 08:34:39 +0900

Suzy
Good to hear. The machine's a great starting point, but should it be the end
point also? Mmmm! Personally I don't think so either.

>Re. Joanne's comments on choreographic process:
>
>Ballet choreographers work habitually with other bodies - a huge shared
vocabulary makes this easier. One is also often working with larger numbers
in big spaces (and within the confines of a traditional hierarchical
environment). When I began to choreograph I worked material out in advance
of every rehearsal and would have found a computer useful in the way Joanne
describes.
>
>However, I increasingly leave the movement options open to emerge in the
studio, even when working in a classical idiom - preparation is more a
matter of defining intentions, compositional strategies and parameters.
This way the choice of movement material is not bounded by the limitations
of my own body and its habitual movement preferences(although they will
inevitably colour the outcome), but benefits from the personal reaction and
input of the dancers in the moment of creation. A movement phrase generated
and structured through the computer might be wonderful on a formal level,
but could it have the emotional charge and unpredictability of what is
generated live in the studio?

Bravo!!!!

Lesley
Perth Western Australia