Practitioner Study

 Researching into 'The Living Idol' a choreographic piece by Rudolf Laban (1921) - my chosen practitioner - I have been able examine how Laban uses his choreographic processes in practice. Throughout the piece you can clearly see his 8 efforts and how he adapts them throughout the scene to fit within a group of dancers. For example, at 0:42 - when the male dancer enters- you can see how the dancer uses float and glide as a way to increase the body ripples making the overall movement more expressive and dynamic. In correlation, Body ripples with dynamic arm-lines are repeated throughout by the men and women... in addition, this creates and huge juxtaposition and creates a sense of surprise to the audience increasing their participation. 

The Living Idol Final Scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h30TZREaiio

Having viewed 'The Living Idol' I have identified similar qualities between this piece and my choreography so far... using glide, float and press as a way to resemble this, however -much like Laban- during my next productive session I would like to experiment with body ripples. This is something that stood out to me, seeing the way the dancers body developed, from the core and continued with such strength. In addition, I loved the sudden drop of levels, consistently changing to the knee or the floor, I found this added sharp changes within the routine. So far in my choreography, I have not experimented with floor work or middle ground as much due to the use of pointe shoes and the uncomfortable feeling of unstableness. 

In addition, I viewed a recreation of Rudolf Laban's piece 'Crystal', this piece only being danced my two dancers in comparison to a group. This allowed the movements to shown clearer, and I really enjoyed being able to experience the use if ballet technique i.e., arabesque and develops. This is something I have already included within my piece however the long holds and extensions is something I would like to develop throughout my 10 minutes. In addition, I loved how he used unmusical crystal chimes but was able to create such effortless and musical movements, I am looking to use unmusical high-pitched notes to show the countdown, inspired by this piece. 

Crystal: https://youtu.be/6QgKU4kKPnc

References: 

B,. Mettler Studios, The Living Idol final scene Rudolf Laban, [online], available at: https://youtu.be/h30TZREaiio , accessed on 27 October 2021

E,. Jankovic, Rudolf Laban's Crystal, [Online], available at: https://youtu.be/6QgKU4kKPnc , accessed on 27 October 2021