Summary of Research Findings

Dancer: Claire Coleman

Light and Movement is a choreographic research project that aimed to explore the potential relationships between light and the body. The research is specifically investigating how light can be used as a creative starting point for choreographic material.

I have been working in collaboration with lighting designer Karl Thurston Brown. The practical sessions have been exploring how light can be used to provide both a visual frame for the body and a psychological mood and environment. The generation of new choreographic material that reveals a creative dialogue between light and movement is the fundamental output of the research.

This research project has been a process of critical choreographic investigation and experimentation. Whilst there have been many questions which have arisen from the research about the relationship between light and movement, the main findings can be divided into five key areas. Each area has been discovered through the practical research that has formed the basis of this project. It is evident from the choreographic material on this online document that in many examples the relationship between light and movement encompasses several of the findings below:

1. Light can provide an architectural space for the body
2. Light can be perceived as a physical substance with magnetic qualities with which the dancer can interact
   
3. Light can highlight the internal structures of the body and enable the musculature and skeletal system to become visible
   
4. Light can section the body into smaller parts and can make the body 'disappear' - this can be used choreographically to enhance the 'value' of the movement.
   
5. Light and movement can develop a creative dialogue - it is possible for both elements to converse with one another.

The full findings of the research were presented at Middlesex University on Thursday 15th May 2008. This presentation forms the total assessment of my work undertaken for this MA research module.

What has become clear during this process is that it would now be possible to take this research further by focusing solely on one of the five findings above. The fact that the idea of narrowing the field has presented itself to me at the end of the process reflects the nature of research itself. I have learnt that research is an ongoing journey of discovery that requires constant revision and examination. It is a balance between, 'the planned and the unplanned and between the predictable and the serendipitous' (Fraleigh and Hanstein, 1999:np). What is clear is that, as Dr Anna Pake suggests it is unlikely that I would have uncovered the output of this research through traditional academic modes of enquiry (Pake, 2004: 1). Practice as research has enabled me to use my artistic experience to gain knowledge about an area of choreographic practice. So what do I do with the findings? At this stage it is not my intention to take the choreographic material produced further. However, I am certain that the knowledge I have gained about light and movement will be of huge benefit to me in every future choreographic projects. I have learnt to embrace the light, and to recognise the creative potential that this particular area of technology can bring to my choreography.

Bibliography

Books

Baugh, C. 2005 Theatre, Performance and Technology, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan

Fraleigh, S and Hanstein, P. (Eds.) 1999 Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Enquiry, London: Dancebooks

Morgan, N. 2003 Stage Lighting for Theatre Designers, Cambridge: The Herbert Press Ltd.

Oddey, A. and White, C., 2006 The Potentials of Spaces, Bristol: Intellect Books

Articles

Hutera, D. 2002 'Bringers of Light', Dance Theatre Journal, Vol.18 No. 1

Pake, A. 2004 ‘Art as Action or Art as Object? The Embodiment of Knowledge in Practice As Research’ Retrieved 6^th Feb 2008 from URL http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes/research/papers/wpades/vol3/apfull.html

Websites

www.worldwidedanceuk.com/content.asp?CategoryID=462&ArticleID=344

www.rmcompany.co.uk

www.bristol.ac.uk/parip/

Other Sources

Television Documentary: Light and Movement A Ballet Boyz Television Production for Channel 4, 2006

Rehearsal 11 Take Three - Battery Power

The early research completed with the OHP in rehearsals one and two had made me interested in exploring non-theatrical light sources. I purchased some torches and some small hand held battery powered lights and used these in a series of different experiments. The video footage below shows some of the material which resulted from the session.

The battery lights did not provide as much coverage as I had envisaged and it was almost impossible to see anything except the light source itself. The lights were also very temperamental and did not always operate when turned on (the begin of the footage helps to explain the title take 3)

Out of all the light sources I have examined I feel that this area is the one which needs further investigation in order to make creative process. There is a brief moment which I feel works well during which the dancers all turn out the lights and when they turn them back on they have changed their location and are now hovering above the light. However, I feel the rest of the material is limited in its creative potential - it would be necessary to use more powerful battery powered lights in future sessions.

Rehearsal 10 Broken Cross

Dancers: Alice Moran and Vicci Viles


A broken cross of light projected onto the floor, created by shuttering off a gobo in a parcan lamp, provided the starting point for this session. The half cross fell onto the floor, and consisted of hard edges at the front and corners and a blurred edge to the rear.

To start with we examined the size and shape of the light and then, diverging from previous rehearsals, we removed the light source and tried to choreography from memory. I wanted to see whether it was possible to respond choreographically to a light source which had been seen but which was not present during the creative process.

We developed a series of short movements which reflected the angular form of lines and corners of the light, and gradually accumulated the material in order to create a longer phrase. We then returned to the light source and attempted to place the material within the cross. We immediately ran into problems because what we had not predicted was that the body would not be fully lit. The parcan was rigged at such an angle that only the downstage part of the cross and the lower half of the body were visible - in other areas the dancers were in a near blackout (see footage below). This quickly taught me that it is not always possible to predict how light will fall in the body. So as a safeguard to this it is vital to ensure that you are fully aware of the parameters of the source you are using.

The video footage below shows the phrase created in two ways. On the first ocassion it is performed in the cross of light and in the second it has been placed inside two parallel lines of light.

Rehearsal 9 Metamorphic

Metamorphose v. change in form or character

Dancers: Alice Moran and Vicci Viles

In rehearsal 6 the research process had thrown up a lot of different questions. The following question needed further investigation:

Does movement have more value when we can see less of it?

Karl created two very thin beams of light which at their narrowest measured no more than 1cm across. The light source was so slim that when human movement passed through its beams it was difficult to discern which part of the body was being seen. It was possible to develop sequences of movement which created the effect that the actual light was moving as opposed to body in it. In the video footage above it is difficult to identify which parts of the body are being used but at several key moments the dancers' form becomes suddenly recognisable - a hand, the shoulder, the side of a dancer's face. At these moments the movement appears to have greater value.

The result of this rehearsal was called Metamorphic because at times the movement seems to change into light and vice versa. This helps to create a genuine dialogue between light and movement.

Music: Mes by Murcof Martes

Rehearsal 8 Binary

Dancer: Claire Coleman


The starting point for this rehearsal was a beam of light from an angled parcan which created a 50 cm pool of light on the floor. There were two distinct research outcomes to this rehearsal.

Firstly I was able to discover how I can use light to highlight the skeletal system of the body. In the photographs and video clips attached it is possible to see Claire's clavicle, scapula and tibia with clarity in a way which would not be possible without the light source. The musculature of the body is also able to be exposed and explored through this dialogue.

I also began to understand how the ability to highlight the anatomical structures of the body can help to contribute towards a psychological mood. By revealing the flesh and blood mechanisms of the body we are able to sense not only the dancer's physical strength, but also their mortality.

I decided to call the final phrase Binary because the tone of the material could be divided into two clear parts. Firstly, the image of the dancer restricted to such a small area of light seemed to create a sense of vulnerability - this is most clearly seen in the first two still shots at the beginning of the video footage. But the attention brought to the physical capabilities of the body through the highlighting of anatomical structures also signified the strength and control of the dancer. These two contrasting visual statements created an unusual environment in which to work from.