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Richard Alston
In October of 2019 I was lucky enough to watch Richard Alstons Repitore including pieces like A Linha Curva.
In the performance I watched I was able to pick up on dynamics like repetition and speed changes throughout the piece.
Last term we were lucky enough to work with Hannah kid who I was able to watch teach my class. I sadly was not well enough to learn the piece however the things I picked up from just observing were the use of gravity and body weight being played with and transferred in the piece. It reminded me of a particular sequence in the repertoire I watched when I saw Alstons performance in 2019 where the dancers often used eachothers bodies as frames to lay on or support eachothers weight.

Alston is known for using sculptures, painting and literature in his pieces as inspiration and to stimulate creative ideas from the audience perspective. Alstons motifs have also played a part in my creative processes. I’ve been able to play more with  levels,dynamics and audience perspectives from reading and learning about his work.
I’ve previously mentioned a piece Serra and i created. When discussing Alstons work I drew inspiration from his visuals, in an interview Alstons speaks about how he choreographed his piece “Overdrive” and how he made space so that that even though the dance isn’t very complex the movement was guided and structured which can have a deeper and more gritty affect on the audience. Which is what he said in an interview was very likeable to him as a choreographer.

Alstons work has influenced me over the years, his carried out precisions, energetic performances and intricate fast paced repertoires have inspired me along the years .

Alstons founded the company in 1994 , Alston actually began dancing at age 22 which is quite late in the dance world. I also started at quite a late age and didn’t start contemporary dance till I was 13. He was incredibly influenced by Merce Cunningham and the rythmology that Cunningham practices.

Overdrive was a piece I found just casually scrolling on the internet a few years ago but it’s movement,music and general aura has stuck with me. Alstons described it as a “rougher” version of roughcut which is a piece he created later on.

I feel incredibly grateful to be influenced by such a key figure in my lifetime.

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I chose to focus on composition, composition was something that i felt i really connected with from the beginning. Evas view and ideas gave me a different perspective when looking at movement or ideas and opinions. It not only challenged my way of thinking but has improved my creativity as an artist.

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i played around with speed for a very long time before I felt comfortable using it in my daily practice, I was originally trained in a musical theatre background and experienced speed in different styles of dance then however my practice in contemporary struggled as I wasn’t given the creative opportunities I am given at LCDS.
I felt that when I was moving at a faster pace I paid less attention to detail and movement and more attention on keeping the pace consistent. I found myself almost displeased sometimes by my movement as it didn’t look how I wanted it too.
After my composition lessons I played around with similar moves but to a slower pace either in silence so I don’t feel the need to catch up to the music or to a slow composed piece. I found the silence that we’d been learning about with Alberto played well into me feeling comfortable and confident with the movement, I felt no rush,no haste to complete the movement but to simply enjoy it at my own pace.

In the video above I’m playing around with an improvised piece to African drum beats. The Rythm is fast paced and the footwork is precise. You can see towards the end i knock my ankles together as I panic to get feet right. I’ve reflected a lot on my practice with speed and acknowledged that it is a process and it requires patience but also being open to adjusting to your needs as a dancer, aka finding a different piece of music or slowing the  piece down. I slowed the footwork down at the end to give me more time in between my jumps which dramatically helped, however I am still getting used to it.

I will continue to play around with speed in my practice and utilise it more in other lessons.

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We explored unison whilst also using oral sounds and repeating the movement and the sound.
I sadly was not well enough to participate in these lessons as much as I would have liked however watching my classmates gave me a different point of view. I was able to give back some criticism but also commend them on what I thought went well.
The movement was fluid and it was presented well, they played with different levels and moved through the space consistently.
I could see their vision and the notion of what they were trying to do. My feedback included allocating one person to start and lead the movement as otherwise you find yourself waiting for the other person to begin.
I enjoyed the movement process how they added movements on gradually. It defeats the element of “ we know what’s coming next” as an audience watching. It has a surprising effect but also leaves us wondering will they continue to add more on to the phrase or will we see something that’s been repeated before.
It’s a great way to keep the audience engaged.

Later on in the term me and Serra Kösebay choreographed a piece where unison was a feature we played around with. It meant we have to be open with  our ideas but also be open to negotiation with each others thoughts. It was a great chance to work on my team working skills as a whole but also work together to get the best outcome .

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We explored how sounds have an effect on our choreography, how silence makes us feel as dancers but also individuals. We also explored the other end of the spectrum,how oral sounds make us feel and how our bodys react to it.

Silence is something i struggled to work with until i saw how other used it and adapted  to their own creative process.
I explored how silence made me feel, to me it felt lonely i was not used to hearing the sound of my own heartbeat and breathing. However, to me this made me think of a metronome , the steadiness and regularity of  my heart  opened up  a window to my creativity. For our form and structure project  me and my duet partner Serra Kosebay have created a piece where we have used asmr heartbeats to channel what a baby might hear in the womb. We felt inspired by our composition lessons along with our knowlege of sound from Albertos lessons we felt confident that we could embody and transfer our knowlege into a creative duet.
We created a board of inspiration that we could draw from of pictures and objects that all linked in to our idea.
I feel more confident to explore sound now in any physical process that I come across. I’m looking forward to exploring sound more in second year.

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Juxtaposition and how it affected my creative process as an individual and a dancer.
"the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect."
Oxford Languages and google

We explored how we use juxtaposition in classes and where we might see it in dance performances.
For example, we were tasked with making 2 short group pieces that juxtaposed each other.
Our first piece was a yoga themed performance,where we sat in lotus position and participated in deep breathing for the length of the song we chose. The juxtaposition lied in the song choice which was a hard metal rock cover of ACDC. by choosing this genre of song playing in the background of our yoga session it created juxtaposition.

Apon reflecting on my experience with dance and juxtaposition I am able to notice it more in the dance community and more in my practice, I feel more confident playing round with speeds,sharp or sustained movements ect.

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Reflecting on my creative processes in Compostion.
I feel incredibly grateful to have been able to work with different teachers and their styles for unit 2. Reflecting back on my mental progress as well, I’ve learnt that I can confidently work with others and give my thoughts and ideas among peers whilst listening and learning to their own thoughts and perspectives. I’ve been more able to contribute this term in group discussions as I feel my confidence has increased during composition sessions.
As a whole , I feel my creative abilities have been enhanced by taking composition classes. Compostion not only linked to my physical classes but also my theory classes with Anna Kirakowska. Learning more about how disabilities,intersectionalality and orientilism  plays into the dance community and how it affects individuals on a daily basis allowed me to have a better understanding and a different perspective of these subjects.

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https://rambert.org.uk/performance-database/people/richard-alston/
Richard Alston information page

Anna Kirowskas Disability Theory PowerPoint found on Google classroom unit 2.

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/juxtapose
Juxtaposition definition

https://www.onedanceuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Overdrive-by-Richard-Alston-Dance-Company.pdf
Overdrive by Richard Alston

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Definition of juxtapose verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.