In a previous article, we discussed lighting design, projection and multimedia, and music and sound, as some of the key production elements used in dance. These are the most obvious of the production elements. However, use of stage design, performance space, costumes, makeup and hairstyling and props are equally important in highlight movement, choreographic intent, and context in dance works.
Stage Design
Where dance is viewed will affect the stage design as a part of how the choreographer interacts with the space. Backdrops and sets have been replaced in some cases by technology where the framing and editing of movement that is not bound by time or space.
However, the live performance is not dead and in fact stage design is increasingly part of the choreographic process. Many sets are designed to provide dancers and choreographers with an opportunity to explore movement in new ways.
For example,
- the rotating box stage in Replacement (2006) by Meg Stuart, that requires the dancers to follow the set around as the six different surfaces move through the performance.
- Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Babel (2010) created framework that the dancers interact with throughout the performance.
- Melissa Lanham, Poetical Inhabitants (2023), in collaboration with architect, Samantha Taylor, created sets that can be used inside a theatre and outside in a natural environment. The set was integral to the intention of the choreographer exploring the spaces in which we live and building a connection between the audience, the dancers, and the immediate environment.
Performance space
The developments in technology have changed how and where we view dance. Site specific, screen based, and virtual spaces have joined the more stereotypical expectations of dance viewed through a proscenium arch in a theatre.
Dance can happen anywhere.
In theatres, art galleries, urban spaces, at festivals, and in nature. Often in site specific dance works the movement is shaped by the environment.
I’m interested in becoming a part of the design and rhythm of the site and amplifying that. This kind of work is not necessarily about big extensions and triple turns, but what is most appropriate for the site. The virtuosic movements might simply be everyone raising their arms together. Stephan Koplowitz (in Hunter 2015) in Choreography : the basics (2022) by Jenny Roche and Stephanie Burridge
The size, shape, and layout of the performance space can affect how the audience understands the dance. With your students try changing these aspects of the space with their own dances and discuss how it changes the movement and the meaning of the steps.
Costumes, Makeup and Hairstyling
The costumes, makeup and hair styles worn by dancers can convey the mood, theme, character or even the era of the dance. In this way costumes play an important role in building the atmosphere of the dance work.
In addition, they can help the audience to define the characters and the relationship between the characters. Learning about costuming in dance can also help children to understand different cultural groups and cultural practices.
Costumes
Maguy Marin’s Cinderella, originally choreographed for the Lyon Opera Ballet, dolls house version of the traditional ballet is a clear example of how costumes can be central to a dance work.
With doll like padding and masks, these costumes influence the movement of the dancers and how the audience understands the movements. Because the audience can’t see the dancers’ expressions, the gestures and dance movements, costumes and settings are particularly influential in the how the audience interprets the choreographer intent.
It moves beyond the traditional narrative and explores new ideas about the Cinderella story, the stereotyped ‘ballet body’ and feminine beauty. In this dance work the costumes covered the shape of the dancer’s body with padding around the collarbone and the chest. The audience experience of the character then changes from viewing a dancer as just an object of beauty on display.
In addition, this is supported by the three-story dolls house set and the music score which includes gurgling baby sounds. Different production elements seldom work in isolation but blend to make meaning, create mood or emotion and influence the dance movements themselves.
These costumes change the line of the dancer transforming traditional alignment into something new and strange. The movement of Cinderella’s head becomes central to our interpretation of her emotions. As she tilts her masked face to the side, she is often perceived as being intrigued rather than submissive.
Her babydoll prince is in blue -even his hair is blue – and Cinderella is in pink. ”It’s always like that,” the choreographer says, sighing. ”It’s never yellow or green for babies. And the usual ending for these fairy tales is ‘They lived happily ever after and had many children.” That is exactly what Miss Marin provides as a witty twist, when her live doll couple pull a row of 20 real dolls on wheels at the close. Anna Kinselgoff, New York Times
Hair and Makeup
Imagine West Side Story without the hairstyles and what information they give the audience about the era in which it is set and the contrasting characters. For example, the simple style of Maria’s hair in contrast to the slick back looks of the boys in the gangs.
As a Brown person, as a Black man, I know how our cultures are represented and how my culture has been represented. It’s very important to really understand clothing choices known to be worn by Black and Brown people, working to fit not just into American culture, but largely Caucasian-American culture. I wanted to be respectful of the migrating Latinx community and how they were working to fit in at that time. Paul Tazewell, Creative Director, West Side Story
Dancers often wear makeup and specific hairstyles to ensure visibility on stage and to enhance facial expressions. This helps convey emotions and adds to the overall aesthetic appeal.
Props
Props are objects or accessories used by dancers to enhance the narrative or theme of the dance. They can add depth to the performance and provide visual interest.
The use of props is important, not only to how the audience interprets the movements of the dancer, but also can affect how the dancers move. Props can be restrictive and in contrast, provide a new freedom of experimentation for the dancer.
Israel Galvan in his performance of Arena (2004) uses a rocking chair as a kind of duet between himself and the chair. This performance is a fantastic example of how the prop can affect the dancer’s movement. Galvan, using flamenco style steps, creates the movements of a toreador while moving through, around, and on the prop.
In musical theatre, props can be integral to the choreography. An example of this is Good Mornin’, in Singing’ in the Rain. They help bring forward the narrative while providing a wide range of highly entertaining movement experimentation.
An example dance activity for learning about Production Elements for Year 5 -6
Watch both the Glee version of Make Em Laugh and the Singin’ in the Rain (1952) version.
Discussion starter
What do you think the choreographers of both these dances were trying to get the audience to feel? Why?
What were the different props used in this dance?
Do you think the props assisted in getting the choreographer’s intent across to the audience? How?
How does the setting affect the movements used in this dance?
What are some of the ways the dancer interacts with the sets?
With a partner discuss which version of the dance you enjoy the most and why? What was your reaction to seeing the dance the first time? Did it change when you saw the second version?
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References
Mandradjieff, M, (2017) Maguy Marin’s Posthuman Cinderella: Thingness, Grotesquerie, and Cyborgs, DANCE CHRONICLE 2017, VOL. 40, NO. 3, 374–392
Roche, J and Burridge, S (2022), Choreography: the basics, New York: Routledge.