This is an article about choreography. It contains some notes on choreographing a particular piece of music.
You can wonder perhaps if choreography is the only way of creating a background for a performance. Is it the only way of giving vibrancy, life to a song or piece of music. Is the word ‘background’ above suitable? Maybe you shouldn’t look on choreography as a background. What is choreography? Choreography involves ‘position’ as well as ‘body movement’. It involves dance and there are many types of dance. There are specific avant-garde kinds of dance such as natural dance as well as specific dance which relates directly to the music. This choreography goes in sync perhaps with the music. But it is all performance.
Performance is what matters and that is at the heart of choreography. Stillness, complete stillness. Is this choreography. Complete stillness in suitable theatrical costumes. Is this choreography? Is a form of marching or body movement in the one place..is this choreography? All is related to performance in a way but maybe choreography isn’t about performance. Theatre is associated with looking at something and there is the proscenium arch which is associated with theatre so you are looking at something. Then you might say you are looking at a performance so that choreography and music are part of this performance. What then, if choreography takes centre stage so that choreography which is supposed to complement music then is the main area of performance and music is guided by the choreography. This is a kind of performance where the human body moves, positions himself/herself, poses etc in a picture which the audience may look at through the proscenium arch perhaps.
Now here are some ideas for choreographing the Never Ending Story. It was sung by Limahl in the eighties.:
The dancers stand in white and maybe the audience feels a wind blowing. The dancers are together with the wind blowing. They begin the performance: Limahl sings: The words 'the mirror of your dreams' implies performers being opposite each other perhaps. The performers can step back and again face forward ; The dancers are in white and costume shouldn't be central when the music is so ambient and thoughtful and the individual performer is important as Limahl in the original or the main singer.
Then the dancers perform for themselves. Direction is important as the dancers go in different directions and swaying in position is important ; upper body swaying and then being still as a next phase begins. Costume has a role: it can be a pure virginal white look. Could you say that the performers are all in white as in zentai costume. Maybe not a full zentai but a white costume with perhaps a suitable mask maybe of black colour. Maybe a suitable bodice with pants or bodice and short dress. Maybe too a flary short dress with tights and here there is a costume - white with black mask...
You think of the Neverending Story as something eighties with a place for the fantastic, the mystical, the innocent, the virginal, the childish too. It is a film for children about children and the innocence and the mystery it presents is for adults too. The music is interesting as a soft and moving background and the music is more than a background too as it blends into choreography and choreography is as the face of the performance. Thus the song ’The Neverending Story’ becomes a performance where in a film videos/computer cinematography is important but for the theatre and performance centres, choreography may be important. An important question is whether there is something else besides choreography which could enhance a theatrical performance.
