Another Insight Into Researching My Chosen Practitioner
Once again, I have researched into Crystal
Pite’s choreographic works for a broader and more detailed understanding of her
choreographic style. This time I chose to look at ‘Spring’ from ‘The Seasons
Canon’.
A large group of dancers start onstage already
intertwined unlike the previous excerpt I looked at from ‘Body and Soul’.
Gradually individuals pop up from the structure and begin to almost twitch but
only with the head as peaceful classical music plays. The structure then
ripples, taking the title literally and becoming the epitome of ‘canon’, just
like the dancers in ‘Body and Soul’ did by becoming the ‘Body’. Throughout the
piece there is contrasting moments that focus on the individual compared to the
group, emphasizing that ‘The individual depends on the collective’, (Smith, n.d).
They collectively manipulate the music with a
harsh dynamic, seeming almost inhumane and more like nature or bugs compared to
people. Continuing to move in unison for most of the piece, they create a sense
of interdependence and reiterate the need for unity in all aspects of life.
This juxtaposes Pite’s methods in her other work of ‘Body and Soul’ but carries
the same intention towards the audience that we should all be peaceful towards
each other and should desire unison. Whilst Pite’s upmost intentions were at
first inspired by ‘natural phenomena’, (Cappelle, 2016), it is also clear how
the piece explores the human condition through the stark contrast in behaviour and movement to expose ‘human
vulnerability’. (Fjord Review, n.d)
By the halfway mark the structure has separated
but each dancer is moving fluidly and in in unison. After looking into ‘The
Seasons Canon’ for the inspirations and audience perspectives, I came across an
intersection theory that ‘Pite might have been influenced by transcendentalism.’,
(Fjord Review, n.d). Transcendentalism means: ‘a system developed by Immanuel
Kant, based on the idea that, in order to understand the nature of reality, one
must first examine and analyse the reasoning process which governs the nature
of experience.’, (Oxford Languages, 2023). This supports my idea that Pite was
trying to explore the human condition through juxtaposing nature with human behaviour.
Darcey and I have created a piece similar to Pite’s style of work by being fluid but also attempting to use isolation and
exaggerate the small changes of dynamic in the music into our choreography.
Bibliography:
Cappelle, L. (2016). Crystal Pite premiere,
Paris Opera Ballet — review. Financial Times. [online] 27 Sep. Available at:
https://www.ft.com/content/637bc5be-8499-11e6-8897-2359a58ac7a5 [Accessed 14
Nov. 2023].
Fjord Review. (n.d.). Enigmatic Ode to Nature.
[online] Available at:
https://fjordreview.com/blogs/all/crystal-pite-seasons-canon-paris-opera-ballet#:~:text=A%20British%20Columbia%20native%2C%20born%20and%20bred%20in
[Accessed 14 Nov. 2023].
Oxford Languages (2023). Oxford
Dictionaries. [online] Oxford Dictionaries. Available at:
https://languages.oup.com/.
Smith, R. (n.d.). The Seasons’ Canon Took My
Head Off. [online] The Stranger. Available at:
https://www.thestranger.com/dance/2022/11/08/78711156/the-seasons-canon-took-my-head-off.
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