Definition
"A semi-improvisational form of choreography in which set movements were rearranged for each performance in terms of the sequence, location, and dancers involved." -Harriet Lihs
Merce's technique
Merce used techniques such as dice rolling, coin flipping, and improvisation to create his dances. He also would sometimes pick the music the night of the show and have the dancers perform with out practicing to it. He believed that dance and music were separate things that happened at the same time but should never dependent on each other. These techniques went against all traditional dance making and intrigued the audiences. He never liked repeating and doing something he's already done so this theory of chance kept him and his dancer on their toes to what would be created next.
My study
Like stated earlier, my project was to mimic Cunningham's choreographic techniques to create my own chance dance. The following is my step by step process...
1. I wrote 40 various dance movements on little pieces of paper and put them in a bag
2. I made a chart to record the movements I picked, how many counts I had to complete the movements, if I had to repeat the movement, and how many times if repeated
3. I picked a paper out of the bag and wrote that movement in the coordinating column on my paper
4. I then rolled the dice to see how many counts I had to take to do the movement and wrote it down
5. I then flipped a coin to see I would repeat the movement (heads) or not (tails)
6. If I got a heads then I would roll the dice again to see how many times I had to repeat it
7. I then repeated the steps 3-6 until I had enough movement to make a dance
8. After I had everything on my sheet I interpreted the movement and counts and added transitions to make a complete dance
9. I then did the dance to different songs to see how that influenced my movement
10. I will perform my chance dance to my class and hit shuffle on my songs so that I don't know what music I will have (directly mimicking Cunningham's technique).
1. I wrote 40 various dance movements on little pieces of paper and put them in a bag
2. I made a chart to record the movements I picked, how many counts I had to complete the movements, if I had to repeat the movement, and how many times if repeated
3. I picked a paper out of the bag and wrote that movement in the coordinating column on my paper
4. I then rolled the dice to see how many counts I had to take to do the movement and wrote it down
5. I then flipped a coin to see I would repeat the movement (heads) or not (tails)
6. If I got a heads then I would roll the dice again to see how many times I had to repeat it
7. I then repeated the steps 3-6 until I had enough movement to make a dance
8. After I had everything on my sheet I interpreted the movement and counts and added transitions to make a complete dance
9. I then did the dance to different songs to see how that influenced my movement
10. I will perform my chance dance to my class and hit shuffle on my songs so that I don't know what music I will have (directly mimicking Cunningham's technique).
Reflection
This project was quite a challenge for me since I have never made a chance dance before and wasn't familiar technique to me. I almost disagree with Cunningham's philosophy in the sense that I normally choreograph to music and feel that the two should be connected as one. It was difficult for me to go against my own ideas and take on someone else's when choreographing. Although challenging it was a good growing experience for me and made me think differently and out of the box. I learned that chance can sometime create new and interesting movement that would have never been thought of other wise. It forces you to do things you normally never would and pull you out of your comfort zone. Overall, I enjoyed studying about Merce Cunningham and his legacy and getting to try many of his famous choreographing techniques that have so greatly impacted the dance world.