Dance Art

DANCE ART

Dance Scrawls

Dance Scrawls are what happens when you listen to music and then 'scrawl' to the beat, rhythm, lyrics etc. I wanted to find a way to communicate through painting the emotion and passion in dance. Dance is an art form like any other - it communicates and connects. What follows are some pieces of art I have developed using 'Dance Scrawls' to try and capture the feeling of dance and therefore captures the 'power' part of the Design.

Artistry is a way of communicating more advanced than language – it uses the senses and the mind as well as the body. Theatre may be one of the more effective means of this because it communicates in more than just one way. Theatre practitioner Vsevolod Meyerhold connected the psychological and physiological processes and focused on learning gestures and movements as a way of expressing emotion outwardly. He wanted to create a theatre where he could express himself un-restricted – words and a backdrop were not enough. He took inspiration from Japanese Kabuki and Noh theatre when they toured in Moscow. These were perfect for his physical and spiritual expression. He also took techniques from film.

He was a student of Stanislavski’s and therefore was revolutionising theatre at the same time as Stanislavski’s acting ‘system’. The difference between the two was that Meyerhold thought that people felt physically before they felt emotionally. 

Meyerhold wanted his set to be a part of the story telling and progression and to create unity between the actor and set.

He didn’t want it to stand alone and represent a one dimensional scene from the play. Just as Artaud used gesture, voice, lighting etc equally alongside dialogue to communicate more fully, Meyerhold’s set made the audience use their imaginations by using a code of scenic language which he called ‘grotesque’

Watching ballet dancers and drawing them as they move from move to move before enlarging a section of the page of scrawled dance motions and tilting it on an angle.

Playing with the body of a dancer. What I find particularly beautiful about dance as an art form is that it uses the physical body to an extreme not needed today, for instance we no longer hunt for our food or walk miles for water thanks to technology and Asda. Watching a show by Cirque du Soleil’s will blow your mind at the sheer strength and stamina of the performers - they can shape, stretch and hold their body in abnormal positions with balance, elegance and perfection. They were amazing to watch because they show us things that we never imagine our bodies could do – and in most of our cases never will do. Performing to these levels requires a fit body but also a lot of skill. I watched a Break Dancing show in Le Monde, a club in Edinburgh, and was blown away by the absolute electricity of the boys performing – it was pure skill and I was affected by it the same way I was when I watched Cirque du Soleil or Alex Cane Pole Dance for the first time because they could do things with their bodies that I had never seen before. 

Those that suffer from depression have something in their head that is broken and just like a broken leg or arm you must attempt to heal it. When the mind is broken you need mental medication - anti depressants - but sometimes the pain and sorrow is so real that taking medication feels as if you are numbing yourself to who you really are. When a heart breaks so too you’d think that you should heal it like the head however there is no medication for a broken heart and again you can run the risk of holding onto the pain because it is so potent. Unfortunately sad sorrows are a burning fuel for artists and so help little in medicating a broken head or heart but what can help is other people.

“Plenty of couples, they start off loving each other, then get tired of each other, end up hating each other. Sometimes though it goes the other way” (P30). Ishiguro, Kazou.2010. Nocturnes. Faber and Faber: London

“What did I know? But for another few minutes at least, we were safe, and we kept dancing under the starlit sky” (p86).

“That’s why, Mr Gardner, that’s why these songs you’ve been singing all these years, they make sense for people everywhere. And what do all these songs say? If two people fall out of love and they have to part, then that’s sad. But if they go on loving each other, they should stay together forever. That’s what these songs are saying. I understand what you're saying, friend. And it might sound hard to you, I know. But that’s the way it is” (p31). Ishiguro, Kazou.2010. Nocturnes. Faber and Faber: London