Wayne Mcgregors Career As A Choreographer Drama Essay Wayne McGregors career as a choreographer has been experimental and Innovative. This essay is an overview of his career so far as a choreographer, looking mainly at his work as Artistic director of Random Dance, Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet and his interests in Technology and Science. The essay begins with a brief biography of McGregors career and goes on to show his collaborations and choreographic works and finally analyzes what makes him unique as a choreographer. Wayne McGregor was born in the year 1970 in Stockport, England. He studied dance at Bretton Hall College which was at The University of Leeds and he then went on to study at the José Limon School in New York. In the year 1992 McGregor was appointed choreographer in residence at The Place, London and in that same year he founded his own dance company known as Wayne McGregor | Random Dance which was invited to become the resident company at Sadlers Wells Theatre in London in the Year 2002. In 2004 Wayne McGregor was appointed Artist-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge at the Department of Experimental Psychology. (www.randomdance.com) In the year 2006, Wayne McGregor was appointed as the Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet. This was a great achievement as he was the first Modern Dance choreographer with no ballet training to be given this role at the Company. In 2009 McGregor premiered his production of the Opera, Dido and Aeneas at the Royal Opera House, London, this was his Opera debut. His newest choreographic works are Outlier, which was premiered this year by the New York City Ballet on May 14th and Yantra, premiered by Stuttgart Ballet on the 7th of July this year. (www.randomdance.com) Wayne McGregors company Random Dance premiered Xeno 1 2 3 at The Place, London in January of the year 1993, this was their debut as a company. Throughout the 1990s Wayne McGregor and Random Dance continued to develop the company with choreographic works such as AnArkos 1995, 8 legs of the Devil 1996, The Millennarium 1997 and Sulphur 16 1998. Wayne McGregors interest in technology developed and his choreographic works from the year 2000 onwards really reflected this with performances such as Aeon 2000, digit01 2001, PreSentient 2002, Polar Sequences 2003 and Qualia 2004. (www.randomdance.com) Wayne McGregor has a great interest in science which greatly influenced his choreography in 2004. During his time at the University of Cambridge where he had a fellowship for six months at their Department of Experimental Psychology, he started to research a condition called Ataxia. . (www.randomdance.com) The word ataxia means without coordination. People with ataxia have problems with coordination because parts of the nervous system that control movement and balance are affected. Ataxia may affect the fingers, hands, arms, legs, body, speech, and eye movements. The word ataxia is often used to describe a symptom of incoordination which can be associated with infections, injuries, other diseases, or degenerative changes in the central nervous system. (www.ataxia.org) At the Department of Experimental Psychology, McGregor worked with scientists who had interests in areas such as object recognition and spatial processing, movement analyses, cognitive dimensions of notation, and relationships between representation and self. ( Kupper, 2007, p.178) After his research Wayne McGregor choreographed Ataxia, the performance was designed with the help of his experiences with neuroscientists; his company of professionally trained dancers, along with the help of a person experiencing an ataxic movement disorder, her name was Sarah Seddon Jenner. ( Kupper, 2007, p.178) McGregor uses lighting effects to add to the choreography and bring it to life as he does in many of his choreographic pieces. In a review of Ataxia for The Guardian, Judith Mackrell says In Wayne McGregors latest work there is a moment, in the middle, when the stage seems to dissolve into an electric brain storm. Pulsing currents of brightly coloured light stream in disorienting patterns around the space. The music judders and strains as if several clashing scores were being played at the same time. (Mackrell, 2004) In 2005 McGregor continued to use science as a tool of exploration for his choreography for the piece Amu. He worked with heart imaging specialists for this piece, along with artistic collaborators. They wished to question both physical functions and symbolic resonances of the human heart. (www.randomdance.org) In a review of Amu in The Sunday Times, Debra Craine says If you thought about it too much it could haunt you. Each minute of every day, through a complex web of arteries, your heart is pumping the bodys lifeblood. Its a fact of nature that we take for granted but its something that the choreographer Wayne McGregor and the composer John Tavener want us to think about. Their fascinating new collaboration Amu (Arabic for of the heart) is all about the organ, seeing it through McGregors embrace of science and Taveners famous spiritualism. (Craine, 2005) McGregors concepts for choreography include technology as well as science, a good example of this would be Entity which was premiered by Wayne McGregor | Random Dance at Sadlers Wells Theatre in London on April 10th 2008. Entity incorporated technology, with the use of a soundscape which was an hour long, created by Jon Hopkins and Joby Talbot. It incorporated the use of video; the video design was created by Ravi Deepres. (www.randomdance.org) The choreography was initiated from McGregors Choreography and Cognition research project which is a collaboration with scientists of Neurology and Psychology. (www.randomdance.org) The choreography was described by Gia Kourlas of the New York Times when he said, Wayne McGregors Entity begins and ends with a video of a greyhound seeming to run in place. The reference is significant: as entities, these slim animals are at once refined and fidgety, highly flexible and, of course, able to devour space at great speed. For Mr. McGregor, those are key physical ingredients that his dancers, also entities, must possess to have a solid grasp of his movement. In this world of glossy distortion, there isnt a place for hazy shapes. (Kourlas, 2010) After the success of his choreography for Chroma performed The Royal Ballet in 2006, Wayne McGregor was given the job as Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet. In 2008 audiences saw another great choreographic piece by McGregor which showed his innovative use of technology and lighting to make his choreography unique, this performance was called Infra and premiered at The Royal Opera House, London March 13th 2008. (www.randomdance.org) McGregor collaborated with many people while developing and choreographing Infra. Wayne worked with Monica Mason, Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet. He commissioned a British artist called Julian Opie to collaborate with him and create a visual set to add to the piece. For the music Wayne collaborated with cult composer Max Richter to create a unique soundscape to accompany the choreography. The choreologist for Infra was Darren Parish who recorded Waynes choreography in rehearsals with the use of Bensch Notatation. (BBC Documentary) The producer was Will Harding, the lighting designer that worked closely with Wayne McGregor was Lucy Carter and the costume designer was Moritz Junge. The artist Julian Opie that worked on the set design had never designed for the theatre before. Opie had created screen lights, which showed the silhouettes of a male stick figure and a female stick figure in light, these are in Dublin on OConnells Street. While researching for his set design for Infra Opie observed people walking along the streets and how they moved like choreography. (BBC Documentary) The music created by Max Richter was created on a synthesiser and Waynes choreography was created before the music as this is the way McGregor worked on this particular choreography. The performance was twenty five minutes long and cast included twelve dancers plus a cast of fifty extras that were included in the choreography. The process of creating Infra from the very beginning to the premier performance on opening night was filmed by the BBC for a documentary. The documentary gave great publicity for Wayne McGregor and Infra and he won South Bank Show award for Infra in 2009. . (BBC Documentary) (www.randomdance.org) In an interview by Sarah Crompton for The Telegraph, Wayne McGregor talks to her about the process of his collaboration for Infra with Julian Opie, McGregor explains: We both feel that the body can never really be abstract but he feels that there is a difference between a functional action he jumps up to demonstrate raising an arm, tying a shoe and a pose. A pose for him is something that cant be connected to meaning in a really exact way and I found that really interesting. So what we have done is worked with this absolute physicality and, at the other end, a kind of language which is oppositional to that. (McGregor Wayne, citied in Crompton 2008) In a review of Infra by Debra Craine for The Times, she gives her opinion on what strikes her about the performance, she says: The first thing that strikes you about Infra is Julian Opies set. His evocative figures, drawn in outline on a giant LED screen, move back and forth high across the stage, like busy London commuters. Underneath are the live dancers, the inner manifestation of the outer world above. Their memories, fears, dreams and desires are being lived out in the intimacy of their own heads. McGregors movement may still be a full-body workout (undulating torsos, limbs constantly in motion, muscles yearning to exceed their limits) but it speaks as strongly of compassion and anger, of happiness and anxiety, tenderness and tears. (Craine, 2008) Wayne McGregors appointment as resident choreographer for The Royal Ballet, was a great achievement, he continues creating choreographic pieces for his company Random Dance, while choreographing for The Royal Ballet. But does he work in a different way with the dancers in his company than he does with the Royal Ballet. During the rehearsals for Limen in 2009, Emma Crichton-Miller talked to Wayne McGregor about his creative approach and the development of his new work. She asks him: Do you work in a different way with your own company Wayne McGregor | Random Dance than you do with The Royal Ballet? To which Wayne Explains: In every new piece I create the process is different as the individuals in the studio (whatever the company) have their own direct effect on the choreography. That is one of the great motivators of working deeply with both companies; the individuals within them are incredibly inspiring. Equally, there are differences in the circumstances of making. At Random I have the dancers all day for many weeks at a time, exclusively. Their priority is dancing only my work and our collaborative journey together reflects this singular commitment. At The Royal Ballet I cant have the dancers exclusively, and theyre doing lots of other repertory simultaneously, so the demands they place on their bodies in a day are different and how I use their precious time is tempered accordingly. Both circumstances, each with their own innate challenges, nurture me in distinctive but highly complementary ways.
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12/12/2019 0 Comments The once called beautiful Canadian Geese is now nicknamed the monster in CanadaThe once called beautiful Canadian Geese is now nicknamed the monster in Canada. They are now the most widespread species of its kind in North America. They are turning into a continent- wide problem, which are causing people to be frustrated. The increase in their population is causing drastic measures. Their droppings are contaminating the environment. They are destroying plants and crops, and causing disturbances in the neighborhood. If no possible solution can be found to solve this problem, it can be a disaster.
Canadian Geese were supposed to be an endangered species in the early 1900's due to the hunting of geese by hunters. (Shilts) There were hardly any geese left in the late 1970's until suddenly some were discovered again. Scientists were so overjoyed that they raised the geese in captivity and then let them go where they once lived. (Herbert) However this was a huge mistake. Their population had increased over the years. Not by a few geese more each year but 11, 000 to 70,000 estimated which was a noticeable dramatic increase. When the geese population stopped migrating, they began to double every five years. As a result, from 70,000 geese at the beginning, it has now increased to 3.5 million and more. (Herbert) The geese population had increased over the years because of a steady and large food supply and safely protected from the hunters. Another reason was due to decrease in predator numbers. The predators such as coyotes, cougars and smaller predators in cities and suburbs didn't usually attack Canada geese because of their large sizes. Secondly, hunting was also not allowed anymore in cities and suburbs so the geese could live for a long time and grow many healthy goslings. People also love feeding them and geese are not scared of humans anymore as they used to. (Herbert) As their populations increases, problems start to occur. They are contaminating our water supply with their filthy slimy green droppings. One goose poops 5-9 times a day, and imagine 80,000 geese contaminating the water supply, it could get pretty gross. Other problem with increased population is that geese love short grass near water. If the grass runs out, they go tearing up other people's lawns. Problems with the geese seem to get worse each year. The geese no longer fly in a V- formation, which is a sentimental symbol of the passing season. They now live as if they have adapted to life in our cities. They even forget how to migrate in winter. They have enjoyed their lives in the environment over the years, that they want to continue having a peaceful life, but would people allow it? The answer is probably not. That's what a lot of angry people are saying now. Farmers are mad at the geese for destroying their crops. Some countries have lost over 300,000 dollars in crops because of the Canada Geese. They eat all sorts of crops and in fact, they could wipe out a field in no time. (Herbert) People with nice lawns and yards definitely want the geese to move away. They pull grass out of the lawn leaving hideous holes on the ground, which do not please the homeowners. Angry drivers are not happy with geese causing traffic jams in the highways. When drivers honk the geese, they just ignore the drivers and even honk them back. Annoyed walkers are not thrilled to have droppings stuck to their footwear whenever they take a walk. A large number of citizens are not pleased with the geese. There are a lot of them around the cities and suburbs. People can't even have picnics without stepping on any geese droppings just like the joggers. School's sport teams sometimes have to cancel games since the field is too messy. People who love going to beaches can't go to them since the beaches are closed because of the droppings of the geese. (Herbert) In fact, if humans do not cut the numbers of geese, our water will one day be too sickening for humans to drink. Geese are now posing a health threat because they can carry germs like salmonella and giardia. (Springston) However, they don't pose as much threat as other wildlife animals. According to the rate for Canada geese, they are not measurable which means they aren't really dangerous. Nevertheless, they do make water dirty, which will still be a huge problem to humans. Lots of solutions are thought of to get rid of the geese without hurting them in any way. People try to make loud noises, spray the grass with some chemicals, and even make plastic owls to scare them. On the market, there are lots of deterrents to work against the geese. They make plastic alligators, chemicals, metallic, iridescent streamers and try to use swans. However, nothing lasted for long. Some thought of “shipping the geese off to a distant, remote the new home, clean up the dropping on the lawn and problem would be solved†(Bond). They even try to ship them elsewhere but it doesn't work at all. So now a broad, long-term strategy is being developed. However, there will have to be many more polluted lawns before geese and humans settle into peaceful co-existence. (Bond) Federal wildlife agencies, the companies who reintroduce Canada geese back to wildlife, want to trim the population which is 3.5 million and is still increasing by 1.16 million geese in the coming years. They will start at places where they allow permit lethal means, which means trapping, nest destruction and roundups. (Herbert) Some other companies want to increase hunting geese, which may be a solution but will need lots of money to do so. However, this creates lots of other problems because there are limits to killing geese. The geese are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1916, which limits hunting seasons and the number of geese an individual hunter may kill. (Herbert) Companies who are trying to prevent harming the geese are now trying to train dogs to chase them away. “In fact they are the hottest thing in goose management,†says an urban biologist John George. Using dogs to chase the geese away will be a good temporary solution. However it won't work for long because geese are smart birds. They will eventually find a solution to not get scared just like humans try to find a solution to eliminate them. (Miller) So after all, reintroducing geese back into the society may be a regret to a lot of people. Yet it is also the humans' fault for not watching them closely and carefully enough. Their droppings are infecting the environment, and are destroying crops, and causing disturbances in the neighborhood. They are part of a human problem that has gone wrong but one day, a solution will overcome the geese problem, making both the geese and humans satisfied. |