Blog eight - Similarities and Differences

Reflecting on my own creative process over the last few weeks of creating the solo, I am able to draw connections and find the similarities and differences between my own journey, and the journey of practitioners such as Wayne McGregor and Crystal Pite. When choosing my stimulus and deciding on the overall idea for the piece I feel as though it focuses on things which are relevant in as a ‘bigger picture’ and can apply to anyone making it inclusive. This is similar to the way Crystal Pite is known for creating work: addressing problems relevant in today’s society. (Company – Kidd Pivot, 2022) 

When it came to creating choreography, I feel like I went down a similar route to Crystal Pite in that I already had an idea of what kind of movements I wanted to include. This is different in contrast to Wayne McGregor, who uses his dancers as inspiration for his choreography, by choosing pieces from their improvisation. I feel like many of McGregor’s works are more abstract and lack a clear message compared to the likes of Pite, who focuses on delivering a message in her pieces. However, during my process of piecing together the solo, I found other people’s contribution to be helpful when I became stuck or just to see how they interpret something different to me, making it more unique. From this, there are a few collaborative sections in the solo, drawing motifs from each of our individual ideas within the group, to help create the bigger image.  

In terms of movement style, I feel like I find comfort in more fluid, slow movements as that’s what I’m more used to. From researching different practitioners and how they go about their work, I feel like by using different methods they use to generate movement, this would help me come up with more original ideas and challenge myself as a choreographer and dancer. When it came to choosing a practitioner to focus on, I chose Crystal Pite because I feel like my style is most similar to hers. In contrast, I found that Wayne McGregor’s style was more abstract and different to what I am used to, so I was more reluctant to focus on him as I knew I wouldn’t be able to reflect his style in my work.  

( Kenton, 2017)

Bibliography

 Kenton, T. (2017) Flight Pattern , Royal Ballet triple bill review – five stars for Crystal Pite. Luke Jennings. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/mar/19/crystal-pite-flight-pattern-royal-ballet-review-triple-bill-dawson-wheeldon (Accessed: December 7, 2022).

Kiddpivot.org. 2022. Company – Kidd Pivot. [online] Available at: <https://kiddpivot.org/company-info/> [Accessed 12 October 2022].