Dance : 3 Day Workshop Activities

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To get an idea of how to direct dancers, Rachel got us to perform several different exercises in relation to movement. We began by doing individual activities - we were allowed to move within the room but at some points had include specific tasks such as walking, sitting and standing (still). It was amazing seeing how different people interpreted this and included these tasks in various ways and how being able to interact with others could affect the outcome of performance. 

Another involved us pairing up, with someone becoming limp and only allowed to move when the other directed them through touch to do so. It meant that the person not allowed to move of their own free will was giving total control to their partner. This created some interesting movement between everyone and the result was quite amusing as we could manipulate each other into funny shapes and situations. After the person being manipulated was told to occasionally resist the control of their partner. This provided us with more of a variety of positions and gave off more of a tense mood. 


One person being manipulated by a partner

One found us splitting into two groups which were against each other, having two main leaders. We would have to move around each other, gradually getting closer. If we bumped into someone we would have to exaggerate a reaction such as being annoyed. Eventually we all got so close that we couldn't avoid bumping into each other and therefore our reactions became more often and faster paced, until we could barely move. At this point the leaders would push against each other and the rest of us would help our respective leader from behind. We developed this more by adding actions such as attack and defence. 

We also learnt how to carry out bigger performance moves such as lifts, which looked scary but was actually a lot of fun!  


We were also give the opportunity to look through a camera at various body parts moving. This allowed us to see that certain body parts are better seen through different framing. For example hands look better in close up shots as they can show a lot of intricate detail and fine movements which make them interesting to watch. This gave me a better understanding of the possibilities of how to film the dance in the future. 

Feet filmed from relatively close up

On the last day, actual dancers came in which gave us practise in directing them and translating our creative visions to them in order to perform what we want to achieve. My group based our idea around trying to stand out from the crowd. The idea was that there would be a group of dancers in sync, when another comes in and tries to copy their movement in order to fit in. However they fail to do so and can't keep sync with everyone else, getting lost in the movement of others. After the initial idea, Rachel asked us to develop it more, give it some background and maybe a setting. Our idea kind of reminded us of a scene from the musical The Producers (2005) in which the lead character wants to break out of his boring lifestyle of an accountant in order to become what he dreams of -  a producer.


From about 0.15 - 2.55 in the video provided us for a basis of inspiration. The way that Matthew Broderick walks in, synchronises with the other accountants, yet starts to do things slightly differently/ more laid back. At around 2.30 in the video, the other accountants begin typing in synch whereas he stares dreamily into distance while singing about his desire to be a producer.

Our final idea that we asked the dancers to perform was set in an office, in which a group of dancers would be carrying out the synchronised movements - based on activities done by workers such as filing, drinking coffee and typing. These movements would almost seem robotic. The different one would then walk in, sit down at the desk and try and join in with the rest, however failing to do so. She would get in sync but then mess this up and fall out with the rest of the workers, causing her frustration. At the end all would get up in order to go to a meeting, however the different one, who at the end of the line, stumbles causing a domino effect on the rest to fall as well. While actually working with the dancers to do this we played around with the domino effect, even when they were sitting at the desk having the odd one out's misplaced actions mess up the entire synchronisation of the rest of the more robotic characters. I found it intriguing how new ideas can pop up and change things from just playing around with the order and actions. 

Overall I really enjoyed the entire three days. The exercises brought back some fond memories of being in drama school as we would carry out similar activities and I felt in my element. I am also very happy about the fact I pushed myself a bit more to be more outspoken as for once I was generally the main spokesperson for our group at times such as explaining what to do to the dancers and our idea to Rachel. This is something I'm usually very bad at being quite a quiet person, but for some reason I was very calm about doing so, even when addressing the entire class. Hopefully this is the start of me developing a bit more confidence and not being so worried! :) 


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Lauren Fox
Third year at UCA studying Digital Film and Screen Arts
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