Assessment 2

“Pedestrian” movement first flared on the radar in the 1960s in the dances of Judson Dance Theatre. Judson artists found in the familiar gesture a neat alternative to the theatricality of dance.” The use naturalistic pedestrian movement can visually be as expressive and emotive within Dance theatre as highly physical movement. If a movement is executed with purpose the smallest gesture can have the greatest impact. Pedestrian movement due to its nature is very relatable to an audience, so when it is used within the context of art it can be highly affective.

The use of pedestrian movement is highly relevant to the development of Fractal. Naturalistic situations have been developed and exaggerated to create physical environments for the performance. Within these environments elements of human behaviour have been explored through the use of pedestrian movements.
Simple everyday scenarios have been stripped down to their distinguishing elements and then these elements have been explored. The predatory behaviour of men in a pub when a woman enters their space has been uprooted from its preconceptions and has developed in a manner that has explored social stereotypes and turned them on their heads.

The freedom of using pedestrian movement is that they rely on preconceived ideas for them to be instantly recognisable. “Ordinary movement seems readily legible, counting almost for the words assigned to the actions themselves”. Working with these preconceptions means there is the potential to go against what is socially recognised and encourage alternative interpretations. Society tells us that men are the dominating sex and that women are more vulnerable than men. When these roles have been reversed and the women have taken on the masculine social role these preconceptions have been thrown out of the window. This exploration of premeditated social behaviour has been a really interesting element of the devising process and has opened my eyes to the stereotypes we all place on ourselves and others around us.

“The place of the pedestrian in theatre and dance theatre reminds us of the felt intimacy between everyday movement in dance and language.” The examples of pedestrian movement shown within Fractal are so affective because they are used to express meaning in the simplest form. The slightest touch of a hand or the way in which a sandwich is eaten can portray so much meaning to an audience. Sometimes being heavily reliant on theatrical movement can, due to the nature of the genre, actually hinder the expressive process. As with a play, things can become over acted, the same can be said of dance-theatre. A well intended piece of pedestrian movement can carry as much meaning to an audience as a highly physical action.

Having worked mainly using pedestrian movement throughout the process of forming Fractal I feel that I have developed a good understanding about the effectiveness of using this type of movement. The physicality of I and Ruth's first section of the piece is so minimal, sticking entirely to pedestrian movement. The work that we have produced however is so poignant and entirely relevant to our characters. Had we gone down a different route and tried harder to incorporate more physical movement, I feel that the work would have become forced and as such would have gone against the organic process we have been a part of. When using everyday movement in an artistic manner, through physical means the body is able to emulate naturalism on stage, and art imitates life.


http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/03/dance/who-plays-pedestrian-movement-neumann-style

Ross Gibson