Art creates illusions and presents perceptions that relate to sentience. The images created by the process of abstraction can be either easily identifiable or not. When they are not, the result is identified as abstruse or nonrepresentational. In other words, abstraction can be further abstract or literal. Such abstraction can be used as a starting point for an improvisation or choreographic task and can produce movement that challenges perception from an observer’s point of view. This is generally due to the exaggeration of movements, changing their perception from life experiences to create art. An example of a choreographic study based on the five degrees of abstraction is as follows:
Five degrees of abstraction
Take any image and manipulate it five times so that you have five very short movement versions of the image. Try and make each movement more abstract than the last, each further away from the original, but make sure you keep the essence of the image. When finished you will have five degrees of abstraction. The first will be quite representational and will be quite close to the original image. The last will be highly abstract and removed from the original. It may not be easy to recognise the roots of the last abstraction however, the spirit will still be there and at some level of perception a connection can be made to the original image, no matter how small. Once all five abstractions have been created, create a phrase. Start with the fifth stage and work backwards to the original.
Abstraction in dance
Different degrees of abstraction can often be found in a single dance. For example, in Swan Lake both extremes are used: pantomime emphasis the dramatic line while abstract, pure dance can be seen in the solo, pas de deux and some of the corps de ballet where the dance has little or no relation to the story. Other dances have characters but lack a plot or narrative. In such dances, the choreographer can be classed as a poet and not a storyteller.
Pure Dance
It is often the case that dances are devoid of any outside reference. Such dances are identified as simply pure dance, consisting of abstract movement. This is dance for its own sake, its own intrinsic flow, excitement and satisfaction. These types of dances can be seen as celebration, the classic opening numbers to shows, the classic ‘Cunningham’ dances. People just love to dance and others like watching people just dance. Sometimes when people speak of abstract dance they are referring to ‘pure dance’, dance that is identified as design and that is geometric. In such pieces the interest is in the lines, designs, shapes and movement of the bodies, and not in the emotional content or dramatic intention.
Source
- Blom, Lynne, Anne (1982) The Intimate Act of Choreography, University of Pittsburgh Press: USA
- Adshead-Lansdale, Janet (1994) Dance Analysis, Theory and Practice, Dance Books: London
- Preston-Dunlop, Valerie (1998) Looking at Dances: Choreological Perspective on Choreography, Verve Publishing, Penzance
Amy Watson - Amy-Louise is Artistic Director of the dance theatre company 90 Degree Rotations and has a PGCE in Dance Teaching.
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