Blog 4 - My chosen practitioner

I personally had a very difficult time choosing between the three choreographic practitioners we were given to look into. I find that it’s very easy for me to connect to people, and now with this task, I connected with work from all three choreographers. I understood that it would come down to who’s style matched mine, and who’s work could eventually help inspire my own choreographic piece.

In the end, I chose to focus on Crystal Pite, and how she thinks and processes life, to eventually create the magnificent works of art she is so famously known for.

Watching her interview with Denise Donlon, gave me the opportunity to see dance and life from a different, yet still similar, approach than usual. She emphasised on the impermanence of dance, and how, even though it has many ‘real’ elements, like the body, bones, muscles, energy etc., it also has the more almost non-existent side of it, as it doesn’t last forever. A choreographic piece is only alive in the minds of the dancers and the creators, unless performed on stage.

She also stated that nature is a piece of inspiration that remains consistent within her works. She always tries to apply different elements of the natural world, because of her upbringing in the West Coast. I related to this statement very much, as I come from an island, and was always surrounded by sea and beautiful mountains. Nature is extremely versatile, and exquisite, so it only makes sense that it can factor in the choreographic processes of many people.

'Body and Soul' - Crystal Pite (Opera national de Paris 2016)

What moved me most about her process is the fact that she starts by choosing a piece of music, and she finds a way to match the dynamic and aura of it with her choreography. She uses it as a lead, and then she uses all these elements (nature, music, and the feelings that they evoke), to articulate a story through the human body.

Her choreographies are very deep and soulful, and she manages to make spiritually charged ideas into something you can visualise.

Word Count: 342

Bibliography:

Crystal Pite's Legacy Interview, 2022, GGAwards-PricGG, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiNylgYe-i0 (Accessed: October 2022).

"The seasons canon" ballet triumphs in Paris, 2018, France 24 English, Available at: https://youtu.be/f6x2r7fWZbY (Accessed: October 2022).

'Body and Soul' by Crystal Pite- Teaser, 2020, Opera National de Paris, Available at: https://youtu.be/6L16YOXFRCo (Accessed: October 2022).

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