13. Choreographic Devices

Question 1

What are choreographic devices?

Answer 1

Choreographic devices are tools that a choreographer uses to invent and manipulate movement to create phrases and sections and restate or progress an intention. See below for types of choreographic devices.

Question 2

Describe a motif

Answer 2

An action which helps communicate the artistic intention and is therefore repeated or developed through variations in time, space and/or energy.

Question 3

Describe augmentation

Answer 3

Making the movement larger in size or extent

Question 4

Describe abstraction

Answer 4

Focusing on pure movement or design, rather than plot emotion or character or altering the realistic appearance while maintaining the essence of the topic.

Question 5

Describe repitition

Answer 5

A repetition of one or more components of a composition (movement/phrases) so that they appear again and again for effect and help set the theme in the viewer’s mind.

Question 6

Describe accumulation

Answer 6

Gathering and collecting starting with a single action and adding on another action while keeping the original action, this is done successively

Question 7

Describe inversion

Answer 7

Taking an action or phrase and inverting it (flipping it upside-down) to flip it on its axis, either upside - down or laterally

Question 8

Describe distortion

Answer 8

Twisting out of shape, deforming; taking a movement or a whole phrase and changing it from its original format, this might include using different movement qualities.

Question 9

Describe retrograde

Answer 9

Performed backwards or rewinding the movement phrase

Question 10

Describe fragmentation

Answer 10

Using only a fraction of the movement such as, only part of a motif.

Question 11

Example of a motif

Answer 11

the swan-wing gesture in Swan Lake is repeated with variations of speed and accent; it is also performed slowly and with fluent undulations to indicate flight; quickly and smaller dimension and with irregular vibratory and percussive accents to indicate fragility.

Question 12

Example of augmentation

Answer 12

adding outstretched arms, small kick then a large leg circle.

Question 13

Example of abstraction

Answer 13

1. reality = normal walk
2. abstraction = bent on knees, on toes (you can still see the everyday action of walking, but it is altered)

Question 14

Example of accumulation

Answer 14

1. step
2. step, kick
3. step, kick, turn.
4. step, kick, turn, jump

Question 15

Example of inversion

Answer 15

performing a leg action with the arms, physically turning the movement upside-down, or executing a phrase or action from the right side to the left side of the body.

Question 16

Example of retrograde

Answer 16

hop, step, jump becomes a jump, step hop.