Assessment 2

Pedestrian movement began in the early 1960’s by New York’s Judson Dance Theatre “whether walking or getting dressed, hauling mattresses or throwing pitches, Judson artists found in the familiar gesture a neat alternative to the theatricality of dance.” (M. J. Thompson 2008) In dance theatre, Small pedestrian movements can be as expressive, or more so than extreme physical movements. Pedestrian movements are very easy to read as they are used everyday by everyone. Such movements like a handshake, the stroke of a cheek, a wink can be much more affective and readable then movements that are of high physicality.

In Fractal there is a high use of pedestrian movements such as; eating a sandwich, a pat on the bum or a nod. It is not only simple gestures that are used. Meetings and rituals take place which are ideas taken from what people do everyday only they are distorted, fragmented or exaggerated by using expressive communication techniques through the body.

Observing everyday movements leads us to believe that we will see movements and gestures that are predetermined. But while this may seem innocent enough it is very easy to take a simple, innocent gesture and turn it into something more shocking. In dance theatre it is so effortless to take a gesture and turn it upside down to, for example, break stereotypes, “performance styles, and identities shatter the same old, same old of the dancing body” (M. J. Thompson 2008). This is what Fractal aims to do. This performance is about a community and where would it be without straightforward gestures or messages that can be recognised by anyone?

However the performance is not just about naturalism and pedestrian movements, it’s about communication and expressiveness via connections of emotion as well as movement. There are many movements, which aren’t everyday but convey the emotion or meaning of which they are intended.

From watching Fractal develop it has been fascinating to see just how effective the use of pedestrian movements are and just how expressive the body can be. Using the body in such a way helps to communicate “familiar actions that are fragmented, as if broken apart and reattached in the way a mime might, but to a lesser extreme.” (M. J. Thompson 2008) By doing so a performance can still be readable but much more interesting and meaningful which is what the dance theatre genre strives to do.

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