Infra Flashcards
Company
The Royal Ballet
Dance style
Contemporary Ballet
Choreographic approach
Show/Make/Task - structured into sentences and paragraphs
Stimulus
‘Infra’ is Latin for below. Life below a city
The Wasteland poem
London 7/7 bombings
Choreographic Intention
Seeing below the surface
Dancers
12
6 x M
6 x F
Structure
Semi-narrative
Choreographer
Wayne McGregor
Infra link staging/set to stimulus
Below surface of city: LED figures symbolise people walking above surface in street while dancers are below
Waste Land = blackness of set supports depressing nature of poem - LED figures could symbolise crowd walking over London Bridge
London Bombings = blackness of set suggests underground location where bombs were placed - LED figures symbolise people represent people above ground in London unaware of what was happening below
Infra link staging/set to lighting
Emptiness of set allows for the dramatic washes to be seen clearly - when light is white (beginning + rectangles) it matches the monochrome set well
Infra link staging/set to location
Underground - London bombings as LED screen is above of people walking unknowingly
Infra link staging/set to mood
Monochrome black/white sets an intense and sombre mood
Infra link staging/set to costume
Costume colours are black/white/grey match the monochrome set
Infra link staging/set to aural setting
Muffled sounds and train whistles heard at start support underground location created by set
Infra link staging/set to era
Modern day due to technology and urban feel
Infra link staging/set to movement
Empty set creates vast open space for the dancers to move in
Infra link costume to set
Monochrome colours support monochrome set
Infra link costume to highlight dancers
Most dancers costumes based on same design but all different - 2 dancers costumed very differently (girl with skirt + man with long trousers and bare chest)
Infra link costume to movement
Tight fitting to sculpt body allowing all movement to be seen clearly - pointe shoes and short shorts enhance leg lines
Infra link costume to gender
2 different dancers are gender specific. Shoes are gender specific. Remaining costumes are similar and more gender neutral in design
Infra link costume to genre
Pointe shoes support contemporary ballet genre
Infra link lighting to stimulus
- below the surface of city - washes thrown onto floor suggesting they are coming from above ground
- white rectangles - zebra crossing/daylight from drains above
- London bombings - white rectangles suggest windows in tube train carriage
- washes have blurred ‘foggy’ edges link to The Waste Land
Infra link costume to structure
There is a different lighting design for each section of dance
Infra link costume to restricts space
Rectangles of light trap duets within them
Upstage is often not lit bringing action further downstage