Practitioner Study 2

 In this blog, I will be critically reviewing Alexandra Whitley’s piece ‘Pattern Recognition’ which is about exploring the interaction of human movement in the digital world, which dives in to Whitley’s interests in philosophy, technology and design  which challenges the difference between art and other art forms as well as opens up questions and conversations about learning as well as memory in relation to artificial intelligence. (Pattern Recognition — Alexander Whitley, n.d.)

Previously, I critically reviewed Whitley’s piece ‘The Measures Taken’ which again incorporated the use of technology and digital work in the art form of dance, which made both pieces very similar however the movements, formations and number of dancers were very different in both pieces.

 

In ‘Pattern Recognition’ the piece is a duet between a male and female dancer, incorporating the use of solos as well. The dancers perform many lifts and the partner work as well as connection between the two dancers helps get the message across to the audience. The use of strobe lights is essential throughout this piece and the lighting changes throughout which makes the shadows and silhouettes of the dancers really interesting and makes the movements more exciting to watch as well.

 

In the piece there is a lot of choreographic devices including: repetition, accumulation, cannon, unison, mirroring and the use of different levels, so there is always something going on in the piece which matches the dynamics of the music really well throughout the work.

 

Whitley uses the same creative process with all his pieces, where he likes to create much more material than needed and then he refines this with the help of his dancer’s collaboration as well. I feel ‘Pattern Recognition’ has made an impact on the dance industry as it brings together the art form of dance as well digital technology and the use of the technology in this piece is just as important as the movements else it wouldn’t work or make sense.

 

Overall, I really enjoyed watching this piece and researching more into the meaning and why Whitley wanted to create this work. I would like to take the use of dynamics and the fluidity throughout the piece into my own choreography so there is a difference between the section and so it is much more interesting for the audience to watch.

 

  (Pattern Recognition — Alexander Whitley, n.d.)

 

 

 

The link to watch the trailer for a ‘Pattern Recognition’ is: https://youtu.be/_HTHgT0YEz4

 

References 

 

Alexander Whitley. n.d. Pattern Recognition — Alexander Whitley. [online] Available at: <https://www.alexanderwhitley.com/pattern-recognition> [Accessed 15 January 2022].

 

Saddler’s Wells, 2016. Alexander Whitley Dance Company - Pattern Recognition (Sadler's Soundbites). [video] Available at: <https://youtu.be/_HTHgT0YEz4> [Accessed 15 January 2022].

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

 

Alexander Whitley. n.d. Pattern Recognition — Alexander Whitley. [online] Available at: <https://www.alexanderwhitley.com/pattern-recognition> [Accessed 15 January 2022

 

Birmingham Hippodrome. n.d. DanceXchange - presents Pattern Recognition by Alexander Whitley Dance Company - Birmingham Hippodrome. [online] Available at: <https://www.birminghamhippodrome.com/calendar/dancexchange-presents-pattern-recognition-alexander-whitley-dance-company/> [Accessed 15 January 2022].

 

Saddler’s Wells, 2016. Alexander Whitley Dance Company - Pattern Recognition (Sadler's Soundbites). [video] Available at: <https://youtu.be/_HTHgT0YEz4> [Accessed 15 January 2022].