Choreography -Dance

 

Choreography is the art of making dances, the gathering and organization of movement into order and pattern. 

The  choreographers, who have been regarded as the authors and owners of their works in a way comparable to writers, composers, and painters.

 

India has 2 major dance forms,  classical and folk dance. The major difference between Classical and Folk dance is the origin.

Classical dance Bharatanatyam  has a deep-rooted relationship with the Natya Shastra where the specific features of each of the Classical dance forms have been mentioned.

Folk dance, on the other hand, emerged from the local tradition of the respective state, ethnic or geographic regions.

 

Choreographers’ motives and methods

The method of choreographers  works depend on their interest, or their impulses or motivations for doing so vary widely.  It may be that a particular dance has a function to fulfill, such as marking a celebration, or praying for rain. 

• The choreographer is simply responding to an outside stimulus—a piece of music that has suggested a structure or movement,  or interest of the choreographer in working with a particular dancer. 
• Or the stimulus may be the choreographer’s desire to express a particular concept or emotion or a fascination with a particular choreographic idea. or  a specific purpose.  

The three-phase in choreographic process

The choreographic process may be divided into three phases:

1.     gathering together the movement material,

2.     developing movements into dance phrases,

3.     and creating the final structure of the work.

 

GATHERING THE MOVEMENT MATERIAL

The  choreographer's work  depends on the tradition in which he or she works. For example, Bharatanatyam. Bharatanatyam contains different types of  'tradition', The most studied version of the Natya Shastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters. The text, describes the theory of Tāṇḍava dance (Shiva), the theory of rasa, of bhāva, expression, gestures, acting techniques, basic steps, standing postures—all of which are part of Indian classical dances.

 lasia tandav.

siva tandav 

The same is true for many of Indian dance forms; they may not strictly follow the traditional structure and sequence of movements passed down to them, but they remain faithful to their characteristic styles, retaining the traditional quality of movement and not introducing steps or movements widely different from the original.

hybrid

      DEVELOPING MOVEMENTS INTO PHRASES

A series of movements consider as a phrase. 

A phrase, loosely speaking, is a series of movements bound together by a physical impulse or line of energy and having a discernible beginning and end. Dance phrases vary both in length and shape

dance phrase

The factors work to make the spectator perceive 

1.  The first is the recognition of some kind of logical connection between the movements. Through the one movement flows easily and naturally into another within the phrase with good transitions . 
2.  Rhythm is a significant factor, and a recognizable pattern of movements.
3. Force and duration of a movement; thus, a hard, sharp movement has a strong accent, while a soft movement, has a weak one.                                 A phrase may begin with a very forceful movement, or maximum output of energy, that gradually comes to a pause.   These factors determine the way in  effect that it produces on, the spectator. A phrase has been constructed, the simplest ways  in which the same phrase is simply repeated, and accumulation, in which the original phrase is repeated with a new phrase added on each time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4iCQw1AizY

 

CREATING THE FINAL STRUCTURE OF THE WORK

The third phase of the choreographic process, creating the overall structure of the dance. 

The music determines the structure of a dance work, too—by its length, its arrangement of fast and slow movements, and its treatment of theme.

If the work is to be a narrative piece, the plot will obviously determine the way in which the dance material is to be structured. 

It may have to follow a strict succession of events, create characters in a particular order, and bring the  climax at the proper moments. 

Similarly, if the dance forms part of a ritual, the material may have to strictly follow sanctioned form and procedure.

Finally, the structure of a dance reflects the tradition in which it is created and performed. 

 narrative dance

Modern dances are often much shorter, and a single program may include up to a half-dozen phrases.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWhA3ldZcyY

   In a performance of the Indian dance form bharata natyam, sections of dramatic and abstract dance follow one another in strict succession for a period lasting up to four and a half hours, 

    while in the kathakali dance form of Kerala, for a single performance of  dance and music may go on for 16 hours.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwuAUXIZW7Q&ab_channel=Michael41967

 

Dance cinemas

1. Senthamarai (Tamil, 1962)
2. Thillana Mohanambal (Tamil, 1968)
3. Paattum Bharathamum (Tamil, 1975)
4. Sagara Sangamam (Telugu, 1983)
5. Mayuri (Telugu, 1985)
6. Manichitrathazhu (Malayalam, 1993)
7. Sringaram (Tamil, 2007)
8. Kamaladalam (Malayalam, 1992)
9. Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal (Malayal
10. Disco Dancer. © B.Subhash Movie Unit. ..
11. Navrang. © Rajkamal Kala Mandir. ...
12. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. © Yash Raj Films. ...
13. Naache Mayuri. © BCCL. ...
14. Aaja Nachle. © Yash Raj Films. ...
15. Dil To Pagal Hai. © Yash Raj Films. ...
16. Chance Pe Dance. © UTV Motion Pictures. ...
17. Naach.