Half Term: Critical Review of Dance Piece #1

This is an image from the duet section of Infra by Wayne McGregor,
performed by The Royal Ballet in 2008.






In my blog today, I am going to be reviewing Wayne McGregor’s piece Infra, this piece was first performed in 2008 with the company of The Royal Ballet, a piece about a moving mediation on human interactions. As the full piece is thirty minutes, there are many different sections so I am going to be reviewing the duet section, performed by a male and female dancer.

After watching the piece, the first time, you can see how the classical ballet movements had been adapted to challenge the dancers physically as well challenging the idea of classical ballet and how it should be performed in a production. I really like the elements of pas de deux in the piece but again how it has been adapted so it’s not placed and technical like classical ballet, it uses a lot of body movements and they stay connected throughout.

I also like how the female dancer is on pointe because it is contrasting the idea of ballet and contemporary, and how she makes all the lifts and transitions look effortless and easy. Between them there is a lot of trust and partner work going on, this allows us as an audience to enjoy the piece more as it is fluid and flows throughout. 

The costumes the dancers are wearing are very basic and don’t have a lot going on, the male dancer is wearing a long grey shirt with black shorts, and the female dancer is wearing a nude vest with black shorts. The costumes allow us to see the leg and arm lines clear and enables us to focus on the movements, instead of the costumes distracting the audience and getting in the way of the performance. Also, because this piece is about moving mediation on human interactions, the costumes reflect on being human and natural, so there isn’t a lot going on.

The music used is again very natural and only has one tone throughout. Personally, I don’t like the music used for this piece as there isn’t much to it and there is no highlights or dynamics in it however, I understand that the piece is about being human and the music goes with the story but personally I would like it if the music had more highlights to it.

 When watching the dancers, they are really emotive with their facial expressions and they are able to tell a story with each other and to the audience whilst dancing. There are many different emotions shown in this piece including: happiness, anger, sadness and anxiety and the dancers present this well to the audience.

I think the transitions in and out of the lifts are really interesting and executed really well by the dancers, I like how in some of the lifts the dancers use body ripples into the next movement or the next lift, it makes the piece flow and when performing it comes across as fluid and natural.

Overall, I really enjoyed watching this section of Infra and has lead me to watch different sections of the whole piece because I enjoyed the duet section so much, I especially like the lifts as it was a twist on classical ballet pas de deux, and it made the piece really interesting to watch as it was so unique and different to anything I have ever watched or seen before. I really liked how it was just the two dancers, as you were able to focus on their story telling and the movements in the piece. 

The link for the piece is: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bjERnGQiJfg

Comments

  1. Lucy Athorns choreography31 October 2019 at 09:20

    Your layout of this blog is excellent, and I like how you have put a picture on as it shows the audience what you are trying to illustrate. You mentioned that you liked how the female was on pointe. What decision do you think led McGregor to do this?

    Why do you find the lifts interesting? Do you think it helps the audience picture the story?

    In conclusion, this blog is very descriptive, and you have mentioned every aspect of the choreography from lighting to costumes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Foster5 November 2019 at 12:25

      Thankyou! I think McGregor incorporates pointe work to challenge the idea of ballet with contemporary and lifts as well as partner work which aren’t balletic. I found the lifts really interesting because it wasn’t like a pas de deuce it was very contemporary and something I’d never seen before, this allowed the audience to see the trust between the dancers.

      Delete
  2. Abigail Dowse31 October 2019 at 14:46

    I really like the layout of this blog and how you have reviewed the piece in great detail. The us of a picture is really good as it shows what you are trying to explain and gives the audience a better understanding. I love the fact you have explored the music element of the piece as it shows how much you have studied the piece.
    What was your favourite part of the piece?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Foster5 November 2019 at 12:42

      Thankyou! My personal favourite part of the piece was when the female dancer was lifted up like she was sat down and did a back bend, I found this so interesting and creative.

      Delete
  3. Mhairi Wallace2 November 2019 at 08:58

    You've gone into a lot of detail on Wayne McGregor's 'Infra' and i particularly liked reading about your likes and dislikes about the piece. You mentioned there is a lot of trust between the dancers due to the lifts and partner work, what other interpretations could be made about their relationship?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Foster5 November 2019 at 12:43

      Thankyou! When watching the piece it’s clear the dancers have a lot of trust with each other and this comes across to the audience. It’s like they’re portraying a story with lots of emotions, so their relationship in this piece could be that they’re possibly in love.

      Delete
  4. Rachel Donald2 November 2019 at 10:43

    I agree with the previous comments, you have given a lot of detail about this choreography piece. I also really like that you have given your own opinions about the choreography. Do you think you'll include any on the movements used in this duet in your own solo?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Foster5 November 2019 at 12:44

      Thankyou Rachel! I would like to incorporate some of the upper body movements and arm lines in my piece.

      Delete
  5. caitlynfrancisco3 November 2019 at 06:47

    You points and ideas are very good, you have conveyed them clearly through this blog.
    You mentioned how you didn't particularly like the music, why do you think that the choice of music can affect how a performance can come across to an audience?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Foster5 November 2019 at 12:45

      Thankyou! I think the music is so important as this can portray the story even better and allows the audience to understand the piece better.

      Delete
  6. Miss Norman14 November 2019 at 05:19

    This is an excellent first individual review! You have given a clear structure to your post, going into detail when discussing your opinion as well as the music and the movement shown in the piece. For development, further discuss what the piece is trying to communicate to its audience. Think about why the choreographer may have included these certain movements/ choreographic devices/ emotions. Using other resources, can you consider what other ideas may have been discussed (please reference). Please link the video within the post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Megan Foster20 November 2019 at 06:33

      Thankyou! I think McGregor wanted to portray the idea of trust and the idea of being human as well as how we react with each other and feelings towards each other. I feel these emotions were portrayed to challenge people’s opinions as well as question the piece as it is a classical piece but with contemporary elements to make the piece much more interesting and unique to any other piece.

      Delete

Post a Comment