How can the works of J R R Tolkien and the media adaptations act as a stimulus for solo dance?

I decided to choose this as the question for my extended project because I have always loved the way Tolkien can make you imagine another world and how the media adaptations do the same; I wanted to have a chance to create this for people as well, but through the medium of dance. Also I have always treasured the soundtrack for the ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and the new ‘Hobbit’ films coming renewed my passion to create movement for the pieces of music used.

So how could the works of Tolkien and the media adaptations be used as a stimulus? I decided that I would use Cate Blanchett’s famous monologue from the beginning of the first film to set the scene and also the narrative to give the general background information needed to understand the piece. This involved trying to tell the story through movement this took some time to get the right gestures and precisely the right number of them, as there was also a video playing in the background so I didn’t want to give the audience to much to concentrate on.

Another way I have used it as a stimulus is from the characters and their settings, for example all of the Dwarfs settings are geometrical and they themselves are small so the movement for their music is all sharp straight lines and in a confined space so that it is small. Whereas Elves are tall, beautiful mysterious beings so the movement which portrays them has curved pathways and crossed gestures and I use most of the stage.

I also looked at Tolkien’s alphabet which he created for his language that he created for these stories and used them as a stimulus for gestural shapes but also floor patterns. For example I use the letter ‘H’ as a floor pattern in the Hobbit section, this was not only for the obvious reason but also because I wanted hectic floor patterns for that section because Hobbits are quite all over the place kind of people. I also looked at the letter ‘R’ as a floor pattern, this time for the Rohan section of the dance. I really liked the shape of this letter and I think its curved lines went well with the soundtrack for this section. But it also reminded me of some of the interior work of the Great Hall from the films. I also used the shape of letters to create movement. For example I love the shape of the letter ‘L’ so I created movement that would be a horizontal line that went into a curve. I did the same for the letter ‘F’ I did right angular movement with circular motifs added. And sometimes I just looked at certain body parts making the letter, for example I used the letter ‘Y’ as a path for my foot coming up to my knee and then round.

It was not only Tolkien’s alphabet that inspired me but also his descriptions of the characters, for example “There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along” this is from a description of a Hobbit, I love this line as it allows me to picture a Hobbit perfectly and their way of life: peaceful, jolly and at the comfort of the Shire.    

As well as these methods I’ve also used clips from the films as a stimulus. I decided that just one dancer would get tedious for an audience for any great length so using clips from the film gave the illusion of more people being on stage. But as well as this I could also do some action and reaction with the footage to add another choreographic device. The video at the beginning of the piece is a major feature of the story telling, it helps to give the general background story and helps to introduce the style of the dance and also themes.

 

Evaluation

What I think went well?

·         Focus

·         The films playing in the background

·         Projection

·         Most sections had good musicality

·         Appearance

·         Response from audience

 

What I think could have gone better…

·         Strength on balances and stillness

·         Musicality on ‘Battle’ section

 

If I were able to develop this project I would like to do it again as a group dance and with more costumes and make up to involve even more aspects of a performance.  Doing it as a group would mean I could also make it longer as different groups of people could be the different characters meaning each group could have an around 3 minuet dance and then there could be a joining of all the groups for the start and end of the piece.

If I had more time I would also like to involve more videos and possibly some set to add more levels to the piece as I think this would add dynamics and a change that would keep the audience engaged. I would also like to do some more dance to the narratives of the films as I really enjoyed that aspect of choreography and it also challenged my skills well.

 

Conclusion

To conclude I would say I’ve learnt a lot about my own choreography skills as I didn’t think I would find as many ways as I did to create movement. For example the narrative section telling a story with the voice of a character playing and also the other section with a video section as I like how the action and reaction worked. I also learnt a lot more about the stories and Tolkien as I knew before as I did so much research before creating the choreography. I have really enjoyed this task and would love to do it again for another of my favourite stories or films such as ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Blood Diamond’ or ‘Stardust’.

I am now writting my evaluation ready for the presentation, a few of the things I am writting about are the positives and negatives and why I chose to do what I did.

Final Performance

On Tuesday the 25th of March I performed my final piece, I got lots of lovely feedback and I also think it went relly well here it is...

Yesterday I finished my choreography of the battle and the finale which shows how the stories and the music makes me feel. I showed it to my group and the feedback was good, they liked the dramatic pauses, use of space, how I conveyed different characters and the range of movement I used.

I have not managed to complete my choreography this week but I have done some more, I have done the 'battle' sequence so I now only have a little more to choreograph which I aim to finish by next week. I would also like to do a first draft of an introduction for my essay too.

This afternoon I have been in the dance studio, I have managed to alter the dwarf section which is now a lot better and I have finished the 'Edge of Night' section which is influenced by the video which will play behind me.  So I only have about 2 and a half minuets left to choreograph.

By next Monday my target is to have finished all the choreography so that I can start producing the slide show and written side of the project!

My aim for this week was to re-choreograph the dwarf section and choreograph the 'Edge of Night' section ineracting with the video I plan to use as a backdrop.

The feedback I have had so far has mainly been from my dance teacher, she suggested that I shortened my dance from my original length so I could create more indepth movement rather than a little movement that would have been slack. She also said to make the beginning much smaller, space and gestural wise. I took this on and it also helped with my stamina. She suggested I changed some of my hobbit movement as the genre was just too different and didn't fit in with the rest of the dance, which I agreed with and changed which people think is a lot better. I also need to change my dwarf movement I don't think it is as good as the rest of the dance but I am finding the music harder to work with than some of the other pieces.

But other than those critisms and changes most people have enjoyed watching the piece and said it was an interesting way to view the famous stories.

The only thing I majorly need to consider now is the slideshow I don't know whether it is going to improve the piece or not but I think I will give it ago even if it is only involved in part of the dance.

Looking at the Appendices will also help with my essay which I need to start, I plan on talking about Tolkien and how I have used his work for a stimulus such as discriptions in the books and the language he created. I also will look at the films and how they helped, the scenery and movement of characters. I'll also try to find a different dance with an odd stimulus to compare it and talk about. I may also look at literatures adapted into film to see how that helped me.

Over christmas I have been going over my dance so far making improvements but have not choreographed anymore as I needed more space. I have also been looking at the 'Lord of the Rings Appendices' finding out more information about the films and getting more ideas for movement.