I decided to develop and build on different ways I could represent mother nature/ the tree for the end of my nature section. From this I discovered the yoga pose "The Tree Pose". I played with having the pose build up from the foot, then the leg and eventually the arms, just as a tree would grow from the ground up.

I then continued to develop this concept as you can see in Motif Idea 4, making the same movement sharper (which I have decided to use in my urbanised section) as a repeating motif to help represent nature through both sections and represent nature attempting to "fight back". As stated by D,G, Mouton (2006), using a motif can be a way of non-verbal communication to get a message across, which is what I am aiming to do here.

I also showed the full life cycle of the tree in my peice by finishing in the same position which I started, creating a cyclical structure.

Climax 1:

The full growth of the tree. As the song ultimately reaches the chorus after the build up from the verse (which I mirrored with the growth of the tree) there is a drop. Instead of hitting the drop directly I paused and waited for the second beat before jumping into big movement. This was to represent how nature reacts to its surroundings.

Climax 2:

The change in music. As I aimed to create a direct contrast between natural and artifical, when the climax and beat drop of the second song of the peice hits there was an immediate change in style/movement and pace. Furthermore, to create another difference between the two I hit all of the first beats in the music, just as everything in an artificial environment is almost premeditated/ planned and immediate. Unlike the gradual reaction/change of a natural environment.

I began this process by listening to different tracks which I felt had a urbanised feel. I then attempted to develop this by creating different movement and shapes that may seem unnatural or uncomfortable to visually compliment this sound.

You can see part of my development process below.

I ultimately decided on the track "First Light" by Hozier. This song has a calm tone allowing me to use lighter, softer movements and a tempo with suites dance styles such as contemporary and waving (which were styles I discussed in my brief), reflecting the relaxing connotations of a natural environment. Additionally, many of the lyrics of this song also relate to nature which I believe would aid me to present the theme of nature clearly to the audience - “The sun coming up...some bright morning...I’ve lived my whole life before the first light”.

I began this development by jotting down the initial thoughts I had about the ways trees are affected by the urbanisation process which you can see below. From this I layered related sound affects to my mix such as chainsaws, cars, sirens and construction. To aid my transition from one section to another and more eloquently show the message to my audience (as shown above).

One way I further looked into this was using this emotions chart.

The emotions we decided on were:

Elation/Surprise

Self loathing/Disgust

Fear into trust

Anger/Annoyance

Grief/Sadness

The corresponding colours we decided were:

Yellow - Elation/Surprise

Purple - Fear/Trust

Red - Anger/Annoyance

Blue - Grief/Sadness

Green - Content

Additionally, when doing this research and having a conversation with the group we decided to change the layout of our piece slightly.

We decided that in order to have our cyclical structure we were aiming for then the piece needed to end with an alternative emotion to grief. Therefore, we decided to use content. As our piece was based around having 5 emotions, this meant that we would have to remove a different emotion. After a discussion we decided to remove self loathing and disgust. This was mainly due to the fact that it is fairly similar to anger and annoyance meaning it may not be as distinct as the other emotions (in music, movement and intention) and therefore may not add another element or contrasting feel to our piece like we aimed for all the emotions too.

Then to develop this into a cyclical structure we researched songs which had the same sampled music and discovered "Erykah Badu Didn't Cha Know" which was the same sample but slower tempo so we chose to use this as our opening track.

From this I decided to look into more detail specifically on how these messages and responses are sent around the brain and body. As stated by C, Flanagan et al (2015), 'there are 10 billion neurons in the human nervous system, 80% of which are located in the brain. By transmitting signals electronically and chemically, these neurons provide the nervous system with its primary source of communication'. After reading more into neurons and synaptic transmission and bringing this information to the group we decided to use this concept as a reoccurring motif in our piece. Representing how emotions and messages are constantly being communicated around the brain in the background.

We further developed this motif by using it in a cannon to represent how the message is communicated between each neuron, as shown in our picture stimuli above.

Additionally, we further developed this section by implementing another choreographic device, cannon adding another layer and intricacy to the previously static and basic choreography as shown in the previous clip.

Furthermore, we developed the choreography to further represent trust by using the light in a symbolic and literal sense in a duet section rather than solo. To represent one person "shining a light" on another's fears.