Babel (2010) Flashcards
What year was this work first performed?
2010
Who did Larbi collaborate with on this dance?
-choreographically = Damien Jalet = had very similar dance training and approach to choreographing as Larbi
-set design = Antony Gormley
What is the physical setting?
-set is 5 metal framed cuboids which are very interactive and are used to create towers and barriers. They also are representative of a nameless intersection and the boarders to an imaginary city
What is the subject matter to the dance?
-explored language and its relationship with nationhood, identity and religion. To some the Tower of Babel represents the gates to enlightment, to others, chaos, confusion and conflict
Who were the dancers used in this piece?
-Larbi used a widespread of dancers made up of different ages, gender, religion, culture and appearance, using their language and culture and maximising the skills and attributes the dancers had in his work.
Give a movement example from this work that shows animalistic movement and give the interpretation
-1 male dancer is stood centre stage and shoots his arms out to the side, then 2 dancers at a time extend their outside arm along from the central dancer until 2 chains are made. The central dancer is supported and lifted up by another dancer from behind. The 2 lines ripple up and down in sync.
-this looks like a bird flying, and could show that animals communicate through sound and gesture, highlighting key theme of communication and identity.
Give an acrobatic movement example and the interpretation
-in a duet between 2 males, one taps the flexed feet of the dancer sat down and causes him to quickly roll backwards stopping in a headstand with his feet just lifted off the floor. The other dancer then pretends to wind his hips up causing his legs to lift up into a straight headstand
-there is lots of core strength and balance needed to perform this move, and because it’s quite a humorous move could show the interaction between people and how the second guy allowed the first guy to reach full potential through communication etc
Give a hip hop movement example and the interpretation
-2 dancers are opposite one another and 1 taps the others chest like he’s putting in a passcode. The dancer starts isolating his arm moving it in a robotic way, then hinges forwards turning to face downstage with both arms in angular positions.
-this very isolated movements and robotic look shows hip hop influence from popular culture and also shows one person needed to communicate and put in the password in order for the other person to ‘work’ showing communication
