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Blog 5 - Wayne McGregors' Choreographic Techniques


Wayne McGregor is one of the most accomplished choreographers of our day. He showed some of his choreographic techniques on a TED talk in September 2012, with two dancers, and he really gave everyone some insight on how his brain works, and how he takes a certain concept that might be very random and through a process of physical thinking, he turns it into his stimulus. He basically proved that you could make anything out of anything, if you used your imagination.








Wayne McGregor on the TEDGlobal stage in September 2019 - 'A Choreographers creative process in real time'.





In the video of his TED talk, he took the word “TED” and explained how he imagined the word as a 3D object, that he could rotate, turn and manipulate, so he could see different angles. From there, he started improvising, and the two dancers behind him started taking elements from it to build upon. Towards theend he started giving them certain instructions and ideas to work towards. An example of this could be imagining a letter flat just above the ground and working around it. His process is very fast and almost chaotic, so I would imagine that it takes a certain type of dancers to be able to absorb all that information so quickly and efficiently. It was truly mesmerising to see the whole process, and how it just came together in the end.






Wayne McGregor and dancers on the TEDGlobal stage in September 2019 - 'A Choreographers creative process in real time'.



Wayne McGregor’s phrase was very fast paced and mostly included straight lines in the arms and legs to replicate the letters ‘T’ and ‘E’. The curved movements that were inspired by the letter ‘D’ seemed to have a more suspended feel to them, and they were like a small breath amongst the more out-of-control parts of the choreography.


 We were asked to follow a similar process and experimenting with our own word, to see where it takes us. I found that having a mental image as a guide can help with creating, as you basically try to replicate different shapes, and try to create a certain dynamic that suits them.

I took the word “OWN” and played around with more curved and circular movements to represent the first two letters and transitioned to more linear and sharp gestures when it came to the letter “N”. It was quite thrilling to work in this way, and I feel like it gave me a sense of security, as I had the guide of my word. I always feel like improvisation can get a bit repetitive sometimes, but this time I felt like I could let loose and explore two opposite dynamics, while still being led by instructions.







Word Count: 423




Bibliography:

A Choreographer's Creative Process in Real Time, 2012, TEDGlobal Available at: A Choreographer's Creative Process in Real Time | Wayne McGregor | TED Talks - YouTube (Accessed: October 2022). 

Music for personal improvisation video: 
Dearly Flawless by Brand X Music (Album Name: Neoclassical 2)


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