Simple Research
After talking to Martine at the tutorial and not having a lot of ideas until then, I have been kickstarted into thinking about the idea of dance as a representation of social and political issues.
Dance is a very universal language, which means that it is open to everyone of every background, which other means of conveying an attitude or ideology might not be. This gives everyone, young to old and educated to uneducated the chance to experience equality in this aspect.
I am very enamoured with "Pulled Away/Pulled" by Adriene Hughes (here) and the way she has edited it, and the way the dancer expresses themselves is something I feel has greatly given inspiration to my idea.
An example of a filming of my idea would maybe be a ballerina, dancing practising in the street rather than the studio as perhaps she cannot afford lessons. Or perhaps a mixed race or ethnic ballerina performing in an abandoned warehouse. The idea of beauty juxtaposed with somewhere that it is hard to find it, a political commentary on how many people are looked over simply because they do not have the opportunities and privilege others have to make it further.
Adriene Hughes makes a lot of experimental dance films, which I think are a very rich source of content for my idea and she has a lot of different editing styles, some beautiful and some showing the raw power of dance as an expressional tool. She has a blog here where her works can be viewed for free.
Dance is also an expression of culture and values, in countries such as South Africa it is a staple part of their culture and expression of beliefs that can be clearly interpreted by anyone - there is no language barrier. Dance in South Africa is woven into their social-political, even religious everyday lives(1) and therefore is an important part of not only an individuals everyday life, but their entire culture and country. It is very influential in ways perhaps the western world cannot comprehend, but can admire.
Treatment
I think shooting in colour would be the most effective way to get points across with colours of costume and location. Movement in the work will represent the way that issues are never at a standstill, always moving forward, and also the essence of dancing is to move. A static camera for some pieces and perhaps handheld for a more close up shot would be a good way of getting the audience to interpret the frame with more precision, their eye will be drawn to what the camera is showing in the centre of the frame. The dancer would probably not always be the centre of the film, as the location is also part of the social commentary that I would be trying to communicate to the audience, and also if we can use natural light through say a window as apposed to artificial it would give it a more realistic edge. But thats juxtaposed with whether bright lights would make the dancer look like the location was their 'stage' which may be more poignant.
I don't believe that there will be a narrative to the piece as dance is fairly abstract. Still imagery will probably not be something we include, but found footage would be a good way of linking the dance in to what the issue is (perhaps projected on the wall that the dancer is dancing on?)
As far as sound goes, I think a mix between sounds of dancing with no music, and composed music would be a realistic mix, as audience is meant to interpret the background of the dancer and think about why it is that she isn't dancing in a school or in a class. It shouldn't be too fast paced but I don't think that excessively slow would be good either as it may make the audience rather bored as opposed to captivated- and they are meant to feel an empathy with the dancer.
(1) Glasser, S. (1991). Is Dance Political Movement?. Journal for the Anthropological Study of Human Movement. 6.3 (1), 112-123.
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