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 11th 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 4th 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.
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