I would like to use the theme of dance to encorporate the other half of my degree course....
And the theories I would be interested in relating to and exploring are how dance is interpreted by others, sexuality, masculinity and femininity and race....
Gender has always been of importance in dance and so I would like to create a piece that is less serious, so more lighthearted and possibly even comical whilist looking at how others percieve the act of dancing and what it can mean to people...
I shall begin by looking at some recent dance works and examples of race and masculinity....
This photograph is from Matthew Bourne's ballet adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel, published in 1891. Richard Winsor plays the role of Dorian Gray in Bourne's production and is featured here with Jason Piper. This image relates to my own work because it features both a white and black male dancer, therefore addressing theories and thoughts about queerness, masculinity and race which all are ideas I would like to have elements of and possibly question within my piece.
Rize is a documentary film demonstrating a dance form which appears aggressive but at the same time is visually stunning and incorporates indigenous to African tribal rituals and features mind-blowing, athletic movement sped up to immense speeds and bursts of energy.
The above video features a predominantly male cast and explores the themes of sexuality, gender and race to a high level. I have been to see this dance piece live at Saddlers wells back over the summer of 2009 and it was incredible... Pieces such as this inspire me as they push boundaries and challange stereotypes.
I noticed that this dance also contains humour and comical elements, this idea is quite new to me within dance because normally dance is taken so seriously and styles such as ballet can be very strict. Dorian Gray takes a newer more fresh approach to how it conveys its message... This is an idea I would be interested on working with if I can work out how to encorporate it...
