Contemporary Choreographers Written Response Coursework

Name: Zhiheng Zhao
Instructor
Course
Date
Contemporary Choreographers - Written Response
Choreographers are artists and their choices need to support the unity of movements and when there is lack of interconnectedness even the message may appear disjointed. Ideally, the audiences ought to understand the message as they are more likely to be engaged in the choreography. If the choreography focuses on different movements that do not flow together this will likely distract that the audience who will be inattentive. The choices made will also strengthen the message when there is progression when the audience can follow and the transition is seamless. The art of choreography utilizes haptics, kinesics and use of proxemics to create dances that convey messages.
In the “Black Grace- From Cannon's Creek to Jacob's Pillow”, an all male troupe consisting of indigenous Maori and Pacific Islanders in New Zealand perform a contemporary dance fused with traditional dance moves. They are all connected as they come from Cannon’s Creek and then become recognized more at Pillow. The dance moves are well synchronized indicating that the dancers went through proper preparation in the choreography routine and this creates unity while dancing. In the dance, the six male dancers use traditional and contemporary dances, where the choice of the dressing represents weaved costumes and chants indicate that they are inspired by the traditional music. As such, the dance communicates about cultural values going beyond the idea that dancing is mostly for females
The dance was approximately three minutes and besides the chants and dance moves there was no music acc...