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.