Practitioner Study

 Alexandra Whitley is my chosen practitioner for my independent solo choreography, I have found him a great inspiration with my creative processes as well as the choreography itself. In this blog, I will be critically reviewing his piece ‘The Measures Taken’ which is named after the way the tracking devices around the stage interact with the shapes made by the dancers. (Jevons, 2015)

The piece varies in dynamics, levels and dancers, which allows the audience to keep engaged, as well as not know what to expect next in the piece. The use of formations was also very intriguing as the dancers could be very close together and doing completely different movements or the opposite where the formation was very spread out and they are all dancing in unison. I also like how he utilised duets, trios, solos and group choreography even when there were multiple people dancing on the stage, as an audience member it makes the piece very exciting to watch especially when some dancers were performing a very fast floorwork motif and I found that the use of spirals were very effective in this piece especially when performed in unison. 

Despite the movements being very dynamic, I 

found that the music was very one line the whole way through the piece but felt this went well with the theme of the piece as it reflected on the technology and digital side of the piece so it complimented and allowed the audience to focus on the choreography Whitley created. Personally for my piece, I will be using a different range of   music to showcase the dynamics in my solo as well as make certain movements stand out on the beat.

                                                                                                                             (Jevons, 2015)

    

Whitley’s creative process always comes from getting his dancers to improvise, do different tasks and ask questions he then uses this to create movement and motifs, which then gets moved around in different orders until Whitley is happy with how it comes across from the outside. I find this creative process really exciting and interesting and think it comes across really well with the final product as the choreography differs throughout. Due to this creative process being so interactive with his dancers, I feel it makes the connection and meaning behind the movements and motifs a lot more believable as it is a very collaborative process between Whitley and his dancers, this is clearly portrayed through their bodies as well as storytelling. 

 

Overall, I found this piece to be so intriguing and captivating, I felt the dancers covered all the space and the movement varied from travelling to the use of stillness. I found Whitley’s choreography and creative process to be very exciting especially with the use of levels and choreographic devices. I also felt as an audience member the intention and meaning of how technology and the digital world has taken over normal life and also found the geometric shapes showcased in the piece was also very effective and unique.

 

The video link to ‘The Measures Taken’ is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0-TNLE0tAw&t=152s

 

 References 

 

DanceEast, Jerwood DanceHouse, Ipswich, 2014. Alexander Whitley Dance Company - The Measures Taken [Promo Video]. [video] Available at: <https://youtu.be/U0-TNLE0tAw> [Accessed 24 October 2021].

 

Jevons, R., 2015. Alexander Whitley Dance Company: The Measures Taken | the CULTURE VULTURE. [online] the CULTURE VULTURE. Available at: <https://theculturevulture.co.uk/miscellaneous/alexander-whitley-dance-company-the-measures-taken/> [Accessed 24 October 2021].