Week 11: Critical Review of Dance Piece #3








In this week’s blog, I am going to be reviewing and critiquing Wayne McGregor’s piece ‘Genus’, this piece was first performed in 2007 with the company of Paris Opera Ballet and altogether is a 45-minute piece but I will be reviewing and critiquing the solo section in the piece. The piece Genus is about DNA and how the body is a living archive. 

I really enjoyed watching this piece and especially liked how it was a solo, as it allowed us as the audience to focus on the individual dancer. I found the choreography to be really interesting and liked how there were a range of dynamics, for example some of the movements would be very quick and sharp and this would then lead into a much more soft and relaxed movement. 

As well as, I liked how you could see how the ballet moves had been adapted to make the piece more engaging. I also liked the use of body throughout the piece, as I feel this was very unique and allowed each movement to link into the next. Nevertheless, I found the arm movements to differ as some of the arm movements were really sharp whereas, some were balletic and well placed, I really liked this within the piece as when watching you never knew what dynamic or movement was going to happen next and this was really intriguing to watch. 

Both the lighting and costume was very simple yet very effective. The lighting was dark with a spotlight following the dancer around, which again allowed the audience to focus on the one dancer throughout the piece as there wasn’t anything else going on around him. The costume was effective, as you were able to focus on the dances arm and leg lines, as well as the body movements. I also found the music to be very interesting, as it built up throughout the piece and this worked really well with the piece and the movements the dancer was portraying.

After reviewing and critiquing the three Wayne McGregor pieces of: Infra, Woolf Works and Genus I have been able to see how different and unique each piece he has created are. I have enjoyed being able to watch three completely different sections as I watched a duet for Infra, a group piece for Wolf Works and a solo for Genus. In all of McGregor’s he is able to change the audience’s view on ballet and wants the audience’s eye to widen. 

McGregor’s creative processes for each piece are based on science and how the body can move in different ways, this challenges the idea of classical ballet as well as challenging the way the body moves. As his piece Genus, is based on DNA a lot of the movements portrayed are instigated by the body rippling through and isn’t just followed by an arm or leg movement, showing there is meaning and purpose behind the dance and this is clear to the audience when they are watching the piece.  

The link for the video I reviewed is:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NmGWCzBdcqY&t=18s

Comments

  1. SadieMedcalf27 November 2019 at 11:54

    This is a very clear and detailed post about the work. I like how you show the similarities and differences of the three works you have reviewed. To go further into detail into this how do the costumes differ in each work?

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    Replies
    1. Megan Foster29 November 2019 at 12:47

      Thankyou! In all three pieces the costumes are very simple, this enables the audience to see the dancers lines and focus on the movements.

      Delete
  2. Daisy Stonier27 November 2019 at 11:54

    Well done Megan, this is an interesting review and you have explained the creative elements of the piece, such as lighting and sound, really well. Could you go into more detail about the difference in movement style between this piece and McGregor's other works that you have reviewed? In what ways are they unique from one another?

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    Replies
    1. Megan Foster29 November 2019 at 12:49

      Thankyou Daisy! I like how all the pieces varied with movements for example Infra used pas de deux and lots of interesting lifts, whereas Wolf Works has much more jumps as well as choreographic devices.

      Delete
  3. Rachel Donald28 November 2019 at 11:04

    This blog has a really clear layout. I like how you have given your own opinion towards this dance piece. You have also gone into great detail about the lighting and costumes used. You have compared the three dance pieces. Although maybe you could go into more detail about how the movement vocabulary differentiates in all the dance pieces?

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    Replies
    1. Megan Foster29 November 2019 at 12:50

      Thankyou Rachel! I found the movement vocabulary varied in all three pieces, in Infra McGregor used pas de deux and very unique lifts whereas, Wolf Works had much more jumps as well as choreographic devices.

      Delete
  4. LouisaBratby3 December 2019 at 08:05

    This is a very well developed analysis of one of your chosen choreographers pieces. Well done.
    You have included great detail and have expressed your own opinions very well.
    After doing this task, has it influenced or inspired you for your own performance? If so, what was it that made you so drawn to this piece?

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    Replies
    1. Megan Foster3 December 2019 at 08:40

      Thankyou! I found this piece to be very inspiring as the movements were coming from within and had meaning behind it, I also liked how it had elements of classical ballet as well as contemporary.

      Delete
  5. Miss Norman3 December 2019 at 16:12

    Good work! For further development, please further discuss 'Genus'. In your view, what do you think the piece trying to communicate or say to its audience? What was the purpose behind the movement, costume and music and how did this have an effect on the piece? In your opinion, do you think the piece was successful - were there any parts you liked/disliked? Reflecting back at all three pieces, which piece did you like best and why? Please can you further discuss the similarities and differences between each piece?

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    Replies
    1. Megan Foster4 December 2019 at 09:13

      Thankyou! I found the movement in this piece to be very powerful and that the movements the dancer was portray to be coming from within and have meaning. The costume and music in the piece worked really well with the movements as it allowed the audience to focus on the dancer with out a lot going on around them. Overall I really liked this piece and found it to be very successful, personally my favourite piece I have reviewed out of the three would have to be ‘Infra’ because I really like how the use of pas de deux was constantly used throughout the piece.

      Delete

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