Programme and Information

AQA GCSE Dance Unit 4b – Solo or Group Choreography

Name: Matilda Bui                       

Candidate Number: 2141

Centre Number: 74720

Stimulus: An event – the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.

My Dance Idea: I have taken the events from the attacks and come up with an episodic piece, one that portrays the happenings on the day of the attacks. There are two people who work in the World Trade Centre, and everything begins as a normal day as they saunter into the office, amongst the hustle and bustle of New York City.  However, after the attack, the two dancers evolve to illustrate the devastation and panicked nature one would expect from the people who were trapped in the buildings.  As a result, a common theme would be the support that was provided from everyone during the rescue efforts, as well as the pure destruction and damage as a result of the 9/11 attacks.

Title of Dance: God Bless America

Choice of ACTIONS and significance to my dance idea

What actions/motifs have you chosen to use in your dance and why?

Common motifs that are seen in my dance include the stretching out of arms to the side to represent how the attack on the World Trade Centre was carried out by the hijacking of 2 planes. There are also many times where the dancers are covering their faces, as I thought this accurately portrayed the first instincts that many people in the building at that time would have had – to cover their heads in protection from falling debris. Another common action that is seen through my dance is a developed idea where the dancers would either fall from a high position, or lean off balance. In my opinion, this is how most people will imagine the events from the 9/11 – from the point of view of a bystander outside the buildings as the World Trade Centre was one of the most prominent buildings in New York and in the few minutes managed to collapse from its great height into pure debris and dust.

Choice of DYNAMICS and significance to my dance idea

Which dynamics are used mostly in your piece and why?

I think there are quite a wide range of dynamics in my piece, ranging from slow and gentle to fast and harsh. In my case it is quite difficult to use only a set kind of dynamics as the piece is episodic. Before the attacks took place, everyone would have regarded the 11^th of September as a normal day thus a more relaxed and slow paced sort of dynamics. However, I would imagine that after the first plane had crashed into a building, there would be more panic and fast movements. On the other hand, as one is able to realise from my dance piece, there would also be slow movements after the attack as people in the building may have been trapped and unable to run around.

Choice of SPACE and significance to my dance idea

What space/directions/levels do you use and why?

Once again there are quite a wide range of space, directions and levels used in my dance. To summarise, there are moments in my where the two dancers run around taking a big space to symbolise the panic, where everyone’s first reaction would probably have been to find safety. As this is the case, many of the directions are random and are not set. On the other hand, there are also points in time where the dancers perform in a small space to represent the people in the buildings who may have been trapped under the debris and unable to escape. There are also many levels used – mainly quite high levels to show represent the tall buildings but there are also low movements to show how trapped people were.

Choice of RELATIONSHIPS and significance to my dance idea

Solo or group piece? Why?

I decided to do a group piece because I thought having two people in the piece would reflect on the fact that there were two planes that crashed into two buildings. Also, it was easier to work with two people as this enabled me to choreograph a wider range of movements including more lifts, contact work and I could also do actions in canon etc. These would not have been possible if I had chosen to do a solo piece.

Structure

See page 60 in text book (binary/ternary/rondo/fugue/theme and variation/narrative or episodic)

My dance is episodic and reflects the order of events on the day of the 9/11 attacks. It starts off with a flash to the events of the day, before going into detail and running through the events of the day in order. First, two dancers walk in as if they were going to work in the busy streets of New York. There is a loud crash before the dancers run off stage and the day begins. Once again, Dancer 1 and 2 enter onto the stage as if going to work. After the first crash, both dancers are on the floor and the motifs of fear and panic are introduced. Then there is a second crash, where Dancer 2 lies on the floor and can be assumed to be one of the victims killed in the attack. Dancer 1 at this point in time runs in a panic in a desperate attempt to save Dancer 2. Then, Dancer 1 comes to the centre of the stage and breaks the 4^th wall, addressing the audience as the accompaniment goes ‘Thank you, goodnight and god bless America’, and the Dancer salutes the audience, as the President addressed the people of the world after the attacks.

Aural Accompaniment

What music have you chosen and why? (dynamics/structure/instruments etc)

I have chosen the instrumental version of ‘Mad World’ by Gary Jules as well as combined it with some news reports from the day of the attack. To end everything off, there is a monologue by the President of America at that time. I really liked the melody of the song because it was very reflective and quite deep, and really makes the audience think back to the events from the day. The melody of ‘Mad World’ is genuinely rather sad and there is a lack of percussion. The instruments that make up the song are mainly string instruments including the violin as well as the piano. The continuous melody makes it difficult to distinctly separate and divide the song into sections, so there is no obvious structure to it. However, the loud booms and crashes in the song can separate the dance into sections – before the first plane crashed, after the first plane crashed.

Costume/props/set

Dancer 1 is wearing a white tank top and Dancer 2 is wearing a black tank top. Both dancers are wearing black leggings and a red tie. I thought the contrast between black and white could symbolise the two effects of the 9/11 attacks – the black shirts representing the obvious devastation and injustice of the attacks but the white shirt also shows how the attacks brought about realisation for the people and also highlighted how the community and the world had come together during this time. The red tie represents two things – the working class who were mainly the victims and also the red represents the bloodshed in the attack.

There are no props in my dance.