the still point of the turning world; Jessica Langford

This piece inspired me to try out sand animation if only to find out how it was done.....Jessica has done with dance...from an animation background...what I am trying to do with animation...from a dance background.
I know Norman Douglas's work too...and like it..so this was a double treat for me to find this film. It is good to see someone else exploring...it is a lovely piece of dance/ theatre/ animation. I especially love the way the film and performance are totally integrated. I watched a dance performance two weeks ago which had film and dance, and did not really feel that they were integrated as well as this...it is something to think about.

at my external, Henry Lutman suggested that to have performance and film was asking a lot of myself and that perhaps I should just make the film and add performance in some showings....in other words the film should satnd alone. I guess this would make some elements of the work less complicated!! langford has presented both as a  film...performance and animation...I have to really question what I want to do.

Nomansland

What is this strange thing ????????
.....one of the things animation can do is to ask you to look at something you know well  ( In this case dancer/ choreographer Michael Popper!)from  a new perspective...to make you really engage with a subject on a new level. I also like , increasingly, work which uses the camera to capture real action but to interpret it in a new way. Somehow it is more satisfying to have to work things out...to participate more deeply...as an audience.

It makes me think of a piece I once did where I set myself the task of moving so slowly that nobody noticed I was moving till I reached a new place.......Animation allows you to dictate the pace...speed up ...slow down...achieve movement that would otherwise be impossible!!

spatial awareness...timing....music

Thinking about the links between animation and dance again......having looked recently at Martha Graham' Appalachian Spring....has me pondering on McLaren's various use of movement timing space and music.

Cannon, above is like an exercise in choreography!!! again I maintain he really had all the right skills.....and how I would love to have discussed dance with him...
 the last section...all the choreographed moves now with a different meaning...is perfectly charming.. Surprise, humour but all with a great sense of space. McLaren also completely understands how to use the music.
To gain its best effect. He was a musician...he played piano at home most nights along with violin played by his long term partner Guy.  Antone who plays music will also have an inner sense of timing.

He was one of the few animators of his time to really examine the question of how to use music. Would you follow the structure of the music exactly?..so that the animation should repeat itself with the repeated phrases of music...This is a question I as a choreographer automatically consider when I begin with the music.
Like McLaren I do not always...sometimes I have a strong sense of a sequence I want to create and look for the music afterwards.

                              'The experiments of Norman Mclaren point to the problems (of using music) should the animation repeat in the way music does for the sake of form?'    ( Film Music; from violin to video     Limbacher   Scarecrow press Methuen, N.J. 1974)
                                                                                               

atmosphere, simplicity, music

Thank you Kaye for introducing me to this wonderful film. I have watched it again in the light of your detailed analysis of it. The music ...funny that I was so entranced by the film that I did not remember that it was an accordion..the father of european folk instruments!( Actually my musical son tells me it might be a French musette...that is also the name of this type of tune...)This of course immediately sets the film as a kind of folk tale I think. Certainly it takes place in the countryside..perhaps there is an inherant supposition of country values too.
The visual of the film was so beautiful. the simplicity of sepia tones and black/ brown and cream. Line drawings..not too much detail to distract you from the message but always enough to trigger your emotional response.Again I am reassured that my love of simplicity in visual art is grounded. I found this film very moving, totally gripping and very satisfying. Less is more!!

Dance and film possibilities

This Australian company have some unique exploration into dance and film.
This one particularily highlights a possible linking of dance and the pattern in space.
I used to imagine what a dancer and a pot of paint could create on a huge white floor.
I guess this is something like I dreamed? How is it done I ask

Interesting paths/ visualisation of ideas/emotions

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

Dance Artist  Tricia Anderson

Photographer Marysia Lacowicz

Earlier this year I collaborated with photographer Marysia Lachowicz. Our piece entitled' The Road Not Taken' was inspired by Robert Frost's poem sharing this title. I have always been tempted by the less obvious path. I am not a rebel, just curious. I always asked 'Why?' as a child...and I think I still do!!! The film 'Pocohauntis' makes my neck tingle..especially when she opts for the dive off the cliff as a route home rather than the slow walk!!.I see myself as an explorer...left to my own devices I would stray for days...months...years ..to discover the meaning of everything!!I am always tempted by what might lie 'just around the river bend' !! So this photo was an exploration of that side road and what may lie there! It was part of an exhibition at The Birnham Arts Centre in Dunkeld .             http://www.pvaf.org.uk/                                                                          

The wheels of emotion (PLUTCHECK 1980 ) from Kevin's blog

This diagram seems to me to be the perfect tool for a costume or set design department!! As a choreographer I will certainly refer to it from now on. To know what colours (supposedly) represent which emotions seems like great information to have. Though maybe I will not always agree-there must be many situations where you can say more than one feeling is present? In the chackra diagram, these colours seem to be representing something different...maybe we need to chat about this Kevin?

In fact, during my research I came across this little drawing sent by norman to his two nephews...

This is a fascinating take on 'process' and the animator.If the artist has taken himself through a particular experience on the artistic journey the internalising of this will show in the final work. I love the way Kentbridge expresses this in his own words when talking about the film.It is the key to the integrity of the artist's process.
The film also confirms for me the power of simplicity.
To leave space for the audience to have an emotional response and thoughts about the work is important.
A very powerful piece of work.

Creativity matters

Having just heard an interview with Sir Ken on radio yesterday i am prompted to add this to my blog. Apparently he had polio as a child and attended a special school! only the chance intervention of an inspector allowed him to go forward for his 11+.He was the first from this school to pass. Now he is the most inspirational speaker on creativity.Every time I hear him I scream YES!!!!!
If you have not looked at this you must!





Another similar film, (i am sure itis the same artist!!! same arm...must be!!)this time about where ideas come from and what might be the best environment for creativity!! It is so similar in style to the Ken Robinson one that I find myself choosing.....but I love the style....of visualisation of ideas.