https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro Lucy Bennett en-us 2018-01-09 10:22:02 UTC 2018-01-09 10:51:53 UTC hello@padlet.com s_andrews1 https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219659888
Choreographer
Lucy Bennett

Company
Stopgap Dance Company

UK premier date
5th February 2014

Style
INCLUSIVE contemporary dance

Number of Dancers
4 dancers (2 male/2 female)

Performance enviroment
Proscenium Arch

Duration
20 minutes]]> 2018-01-09 10:23:29 UTC https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219659888 s_andrews1 https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219661090 Consists of 3 sections (WE ARE ONLY STUDYING SCENE 3)

Scene 1-  Depicts the underlying tension between the characters

Scene 2-  Exciting but violent; where the characters seek liberation from the suffering austerity, leading to tradegy

Scene 3-  Aftermath, where the characters are reflecting on deep thoughts.


]]> 2018-01-09 10:28:28 UTC https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219661090 s_andrews1 https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219662871 Opens with two duets; the first is ground-based contact work involving a dismantled wheelchair. The second duet was influenced by the dancers improvising around the idea of inviting touch, and leading and following.

The group then unites and use ground-based contact work to stay connected whilst manipulating the dismantled wheelchair. 

The trio of Amy, David Willdridge and Laura begins to find harmony whilst dancing with one another and Laura’s wheelchair. Following Laura’s lead they explore the movement of the chair, and each dancer takes responsibility for the wheelchair. 

The trio eventually gathers around David Toole, who has been watching from the vitrine (glass display cabinet), and they re-enact portraits of past family photos influenced by the paintings of Djurovic. They find stillness as if frozen in the snow globe. 

David Toole leaves the group as the music ‘The Sunshine of Your Smile’ begins and finds a lonely spotlight. He dances a simple solo focusing on facial expression and physical storytelling to the song that his father used to sing when he was young This solo is a tribute to his father. 

David returns to the group and is frozen in time with the other characters as the scene comes to a close.]]> 2018-01-09 10:36:43 UTC https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219662871 s_andrews1 https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219663462 Created by Andy Higgs

For scene three, Higgs wanted to create a futuristic atmosphere acknowledging that time had passed and that the old ways had broken down.

He used the whole of the piano both inside and out to create a cold, ambient sound. 

He also used the sound of the paper snow and incorporated other sound effects such as a distant rumble, wind and footsteps through snow. 

Elements of the song ‘The Sunshine of Your Smile’ were mixed into the atmosphere often sounding distorted or as if drifting in on the wind and in the final section uses the full version of the song.  ]]> 2018-01-09 10:39:18 UTC https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219663462 s_andrews1 https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219664164 Designed by Anna Jones

The costumes are a wash of blue and green, merging with the backdrop. It looks as if paint is running from the garments, which is a reference to being stuck in one of the paintings by Djurovic. 

Outer garments worn in previous scenes, such as jackets and jumpers, are removed in this scene to depict that time has moved on. ]]> 2018-01-09 10:42:11 UTC https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219664164 s_andrews1 https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219664536 Designed by Chahine Yavrovan

For much of the piece the lighting focuses in on one or two spots. It opens out in the middle, with a blue wash and warm and cool side lighting before closing down to another spot for the final solo. ]]> 2018-01-09 10:43:52 UTC https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219664536 s_andrews1 https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219664877  Designed by Anna Jones 

The set is influenced by several paintings from the ‘Unknown Secrets’ collection by Goran Djurovic. 

It consists of a crudely painted heavy backdrop in which paint looks as if it is running down the canvas. 

In scenes one and two this is painted with brightly coloured strips, which are removed for scene three to create calmer visuals. This scene change signifies the change of mood. 

The vitrine is on its side with a snowdrift inside the cabinet. 

Paper snow is scattered on the ground in a diagonal from the vitrine to Laura who is downstage right. 

In front of the vitrine there are two stools and a headless suit on mannequin legs perched on a third stool. 

The dance floor is a light grey and around the edge is a wooden frame reflecting the colour, shape and restriction of the vitrine. This emphasises the fact that the audience is looking into the snow globe of artificial things. ]]> 2018-01-09 10:45:33 UTC https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219664877 s_andrews1 https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219665398 The embryonic image for Artificial Things as a whole was a snow covered urban landscape with an isolated figure perched on a collapsed wheelchair. This figure is being observed from afar as if through a snow globe. 

The mysterious paintings by the Serbian artist Goran Djurovic also influenced the design, costume and choreographic images within all the scenes. 

The dancers' personal experiences provided inspiration for the choreographic tasks. ]]> 2018-01-09 10:47:44 UTC https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219665398 s_andrews1 https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219665599 Scene three is the final scene of Artificial Things; the undertone of the scene is about the characters coming to terms with life’s limitations - we all live within certain confinements, and we are subject to the gaze of ‘the other’. 

The characters acting out this sorrowful but peaceful scene are still constricted within a snow globe that signifies these ideas. 

Within the scene however, the characters find a resolution by coming together, and as the scene comes to a close, they surrender to the fact that we all have to live with individual regrets. ]]> 2018-01-09 10:48:32 UTC https://padlet.com/s_andrews1/g0yse7n7nzro/wish/219665599