Compositional Study 3
- Avey Jespersen
- Apr 26
- 3 min read
The third study I explored was a Music Study, and the title of my completed version was Shrug It Off. From a provided playlist I chose a song that would challenge my listening and perception of layering when the compositional creation process began. The first step to this study was to map out the song; writing/drawing out the layers being heard from tempos, meters, changes in instrumentals, shifts in melodies, etc. working in ABA form. For music, I chose Eon by Meridith Monk and mapped it in A, A’, B, and B’ form as you can see in the below photo. Moving into lab time in the studio, I wanted to make this composition truly literal and intact with the music. I started playing around with isolating body parts to the instruments and when their melodies became present. There was lots of trial and error to discovering what movement fit into the world, what felt new and exciting, what felt not as comfortable but could work, and what was surprising that I could keep and expand upon. Prior to the first sharing of the first half of the study, there was exploration of effort qualities and factors that were encouraged to incorporate into the study; Weight (strong, light), Time (quick/sudden, sustained), Space (direct, indirect), and Flow (bound, free). As the baseline of this score, other adjectives came forward as a part of the study for me to fully embody and find what could potentially fit into my world that I was making. Two things that stuck with me to consider were “the power of the pause” and the question of “what do you want your audience to notice?” After the first sharing, the feedback for me to consider was highly constructive and apparent to filling in what gaps needed to be filled. My relationship to the music with my body correlated with development of spacing and levels, as well as with a clear geographic center from where my composition began. Considering that for the next part of the study, how I could include my whole dancing self into the choreography and compositional processes and not feeling obligated to be ultra-specific. Several questions arose before the second showing of the study, and I want to share those because to me they are important to recognize and acknowledge. A few of them come from the documentary viewing of Musical Offering by Trisha Brown: How can gesture become recognizable? What ways can you work with the physical music score as the “red light” or “green light” of composing? Can a choreographic piece remain unfinished? What is your interpretation of Simplicity -> Complexity <- Chaos? By the time of the second showing, there was more on my end that came through as what probably wasn’t needed for the world, however, there was more suggestions from my peers that came through as good information as to what I could change and adapt. From what they observed, there was symmetry in the structure of my body to the music, accents of continuity and limits to them, and curiosities of repackaging and scrambling, and exploring more density in the movement. With the last editing and refining of the composition, I stuck with isolations and recognizable gesture, and confining myself to one area of the room in those gestures and recalled the A, A’, B, B’ form I mapped prior to starting the study. I am not afraid to admit that I had a difficult time accepting this final study as it was. I think there was more that I could have explored deeper and more layering I could have played with to help me feel strong and confident in the choices I made. Overall, my completed Music Study of Shrug It Off was a wonderful challenge for me as someone whose movement is influenced heavily by the music I am hearing, and finding a different world for my body to discover.
Comments