Dance as Ritual

 I

 

Warm Up

 

II 

 

Sacred Humanism

 The Vitruvian man by L. da Vinci,  represented the return to mankind as the center of the universe. The circle represented the divine and the square the earth. The belly button at the center of the circle and the genital area at the center of the square represent the integration of the divine and matter. This is what I come to define as sacred humanism.

 

Question 1

Why would this ideas be important for the kind of performance aimed to transcend the ordinary world of showbiz?

 

III

 

 Sacred Geometry and Sacred Movement

Improvisation TEchnologies: Laban's Model

https://vimeo.com/2912642

The references used by Laban to describe movement withing the cube and the kinesphere, probably based on the concepts of sacred geometry, represented an attempt to bring dance and movement back to the realm of the divine. This was a transcendentalist attempt at finding the sacred roots of dance using a secular research process through which movement was seen as the means to an end, the integration of the human and the divine.

 

Question 2

 

Why would the performer be interested in integrating the human aspect of body movement?

 

IV

Dance as Ritual

Choreographer Ana Halprin once said that a dance ritual is a dance that has a purpose. Dancing or moving or performing without a purpose means that the dance is empty.

 Victor Turner, based on Van Gennep's identification of the 3 stages of a ritual, further explained the ritual process as having three parts: separation, transition and return. It is in the transition or liminal phase where trance or ecstasy may take place. 

Performance artist Leandro Soto explains the possibility of experience a conscious trance during performance. This trance makes possible a creative flow that is registered at a conscious level, but felt almost unconsciously. 

Jade R. McCutsheon thinks that one can create a sacred energy withing the story one is telling. I feel this allows the actor to transcend the ordinary world of the character and become one with it.

 

Question 3

 

In which way could all this elements mentioned above make sense for a performer interested in turning the performance moment into a transcendental experience?

V

 

Mary Wigman made the emotion expressed through the movement more important than the movement itself. Similarly, Isadora Duncan thought that the emotion should precede movement. They both were interested in experiencing ecstasy through dance. 

Question 4

How would these ideas influence your approach in building your character?

VI

Movement added to the voice can be a powerful way to achieve transcendence. The different resonators in the body produce vibrations that when produced in movement can be a powerful expressive experience. This statement may also be accompanied by a conscious trance that in turn links the story to a ritualized dance.

 

Question 5

 

Which areas of your own story could you identify as part of a ritualized dance/performance?

VII

Activity

 

Voice work using the circle. Adding movement to voice proposition. Manipulating intensity and speed of movement to experience a conscious trance.

Using voice and movement to illustrate how the voice can add to what students already have choreographed.

Students determine what the purpose of their dance is.

Students add a expressionist style to their movements.

Students add emotion to their delivery.