Week 9 - Review of 'Solo Echo' and 'Zero Degrees'

 In this blog, I will be reviewing and comparing two pieces which have inspired our group piece about conformity. The two pieces I will be reviewing are ‘Solo Echo’ by Crystal Pite and ‘Zero Degrees’ by Akram Khan. 

 

We took inspiration from Crystal Pite’s ‘Solo Echo’ as Pite allows the dancers to move from their bodies, with one movement leading to the next and when watching it is really interesting as you don’t know what’s going to happen next or where the movement will go or develop. In the piece, they also created a lot of different shapes within the formations which makes the piece look really unique, especially when they use the choreographic device of canon with a simple movement of the head but they then develop this by the dancers going up a higher level each time they move their head, we incorporated something similar in our piece with our entrance. After researching into ‘Solo Echo’ and finding out that the piece is about love, loss as well as acceptance.(Autodance & Solo Echo | The Göteborg Opera, n.d.)I feel like Pite incorporated the use of partner and contact work, with the idea of one person trying to break free from the group, which is very similar to our piece of trying to break into our individuality. 

 

The second piece we took inspiration from is ‘Zero Degrees’ by Akram Khan, this piece is very different to anything I’ve seen before, it incorporates the use of gestures with very specific timing to one another and this was very inspiring as timing in our piece is one of our challenges in order for us to portray the idea of conformity to the audience. In this piece, I really like how spot on their timing is and even when they are doing different movements to each other it still feels like they’re in sync and that the movements are connected. I also feel like the moments of stillness have a massive impact on the audience as they will do a travelling sequence really fast after and it’s so unexpected and exciting to watch. I researched more into ‘Zero Degrees’ and found out it was about the fragility of human life, and I feel like the contrasting speeds and movements in the piece really showcase this idea well.(Eastman | Overview, n.d.)

 

Both pieces have inspired our movements yet both are so different, ‘Solo Echo’ is about enabling the body to be free and move which relates to our second piece when we are trying to break into our individuality. Whereas, ‘Zero Degrees’ relates to the first section of our piece, as the movements are very robotic and are all about the timing else it won’t portray the idea of conformity.  

 

 

Bibliography:

 

East-man.be. n.d. Eastman | Overview. [online] Available at: <http://www.east-man.be/en/14/44/> [Accessed 21 November 2020].

 

En.opera.se. n.d. Autodance & Solo Echo | The Göteborg Opera. [online] Available at: <https://en.opera.se/forestallningar/autodance-solo-echo-2019-2020/> [Accessed 21 November 2020].

 

 

The videos of both pieces are linked below: 

 

Solo Echo: https://youtu.be/6JfokSokH0M

 

Zero Degrees:https://youtu.be/0wQG9BTW5AE

Comments

  1. Mhairi Wallace23 November 2020 at 03:16

    It was very interesting to read about the practitioners you have taken inspiration from! Which practitioner do you think has inspired your group dance the most? Why?

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    Replies
    1. Megan Foster26 November 2020 at 11:30

      Thankyou Mhairi! I feel that Crystal Pite has inspired our group piece the most as we have watched a lot of her videos and especially for the second section took a lot of inspiration from her movements and how one movement leads into the next.

      Delete
  2. Eloisa Goodall23 November 2020 at 03:22

    This bog is well written and I found it really interesting learning how you developed your choreography with the help of your chosen practitioners. Do you think your piece would have the same impact of you didn't use these practitioners for inspiration?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Foster26 November 2020 at 11:32

      Thankyou for your comment! I feel like it wouldn’t have had the same impact if we didn’t use these practitioners for inspiration as we have been able to see how their story telling in the pieces are so effective and allows you to see the movement in a different way, I’m hoping our piece on the conformity will have an impact on the audience aswell.

      Delete
  3. caitlyn francisco27 November 2020 at 02:37

    I really liked seeing how you have drawn inspiration from established practitioners and works. This is a really effective way of generating choreography and its interesting to see the links in your piece. Are there any other pieces from these two practitioners that you were able to gain inspiration from?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Foster27 November 2020 at 02:45

      Thankyou Caitlyn! We have watched a few of their interviews to get inspiration on their creative process but have mainly focused on the pieces Solo Echo and Zero degrees for inspiration with out stimulus and choreography.

      Delete

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