Perfect by Motionhouse

Question 1

Who is the choreographer?

Answer 1

Kevin Finnan

Question 2

How many performers are there?

Answer 2

5 (3 female, 2 male)

Question 3

Who is the set designer?

Answer 3

Simon Dorman

Question 4

Who is the lighting designer?

Answer 4

Mark Parry

Question 5

Who did the accompaniment?

Answer 5

Sophy Smith and Tim Dickinson

Question 6

Who designed the costumes?

Answer 6

Claire Armitage

Question 7

Who made the film?

Answer 7

Caroline Bridges

Question 8

What date did Perfect premier?

Answer 8

28th January 2005

Question 9

How many sections are there?

Answer 9

13

Question 10

What is the dance style?

Answer 10

Combines dance theatre and aerial work
Strong physicality and contact work
Contemporary
Uses and defies gravity

Question 11

What is the choreographic style?

Answer 11

Collaborative (Finnan and dancers)

Physically adventurous and filmic

Question 12

Give a summary of Perfect

Answer 12

About time-the way we witness it, how it shapes us and affects relationships
Waiting, nurturing and growing
Fear of ageing and our race against time

Question 13

Describe the accompaniment

Answer 13

Important role in the emotional language of the production
Combination of ‘found’ sound and newly composed scores
Reflects the dynamic of the piece

Question 14

Describe the costumes

Answer 14

Women- short black dresses
Men-black trousers, white shirts
Simple, gender-specific, everyday clothes with clean lines and shapes
Adaptations to allow the harnesses to be used

Question 15

What contribution do the costumes have?

Answer 15

Allows the dancers to move easily
Looks like everyday clothes that don’t make a statement
To compliment the work and not detract from the theme

Question 16

Describe the lighting

Answer 16

Yellow and purple

Sometimes bright other times dim-some sections of the stage highlighted more than others at times

Question 17

What contribution does the lighting have?

Answer 17

Draws the focus around the space
Shows the passing of time
To compliment the movement

Question 18

What contribution does the accompaniment?

Answer 18

Creates a mood/atmosphere

Sometimes build tension

Question 19

What is the structure of the dance?

Answer 19

Episodic

Question 20

Describe the set

Answer 20

Box frame set
Sand filled
A sheer gauze starts as backdrop and bought forwards
A paper screen

Question 21

What props are used?

Answer 21

Sand
Rakes
Watering cans
Slings
Paper
Benches
Ladders

Question 22

What happens in section 1 -Spirits of time?

Answer 22

A snapshot of daily life (Sunrise-sunset)
Starts with Helen lying down stage left
Junior and Vanessa enter wearing white to contrast Helens black and blend into the background/film
Sense of spirituality

Question 23

Describe the movement in section 1 and what it represents

Answer 23

Isolated hand movements/gestures to show the manipulation of time/playing with the sands of time

Question 24

Describe the visual setting in section 1

Answer 24

Restricted area at the front
Sand coated floor
Screen/film with purple image

Question 25

What happens in section 2 -Shadows?

Answer 25

Helen moves and a shadow mirrors her behind the screen (Unison)
Stuart enters, the shadow goes to him, Helen stays away (showing rejection)
Stuart performs anguished solo
Shadow goes back to consoling
Is it a memory?

Question 26

Describe a section where lighting is used for effect

Answer 26

In section 2 lighting is used to create shadows to represent our memories
Stuart is made large to create a sense of intimidation

Question 27

Describe the movement used in section 2 (and what it shows)

Answer 27

Arms wrapped around torso (consoling)
Sinking away from Stuart (rejection)
Stuart’s anguished solo (negative relationship)

Question 28

Describe a section using unison

Answer 28

In section 3, we see the legs of the dancers moving in unison to add humour and liveliness to the piece
Hopping, shuffling, turning and jumping are common movements

Question 29

What happens in section 3 -Legs?

Answer 29

(Can only see legs due to paper)
Females are dancing together but bought to a halt when male legs are seen and two females leave, male pair suddenly disappear, leaving the female pair dithering
The section is about assumptions

Question 30

Explain how music is used to contribute to the mood of a certain section

Answer 30

In section 3 -legs music is used to create an upbeat and rhythmical atmosphere with a humorous mood
In section 4 -faces music is used to make the atmosphere more frantic as you the ageing process become more clear

Question 31

What happens in section 4 -faces?

Answer 31

Screen projects ageing faces, small area below the screen for dancers
Lots of floor work- commonly dominant in contemporary dance
Impression of an hour glass with scooping sand and gradually releasing
Screen gradually disintegrates

Question 32

Describe section 5 -time flies

include details of movement

Answer 32

Male dancers appear to fall from the sky
High energy movements-jumps, leaps, rolls
High energy partner work
Dive with total abandonment
Benches add another level
Hand gestures repeated from section 1
Demonstrates jealousy in relationships and conflict (using 3 women 2 men)

Question 33

What happens in section 6 -garden?

Answer 33

First time that you see the full stage
Theme is nurturing, relaxed
Rows of flowers from front to back
Raking the ground and watering plants-reinforcing time use
Movements become more complex finishing in jealousy from Wendy towards Vanessa and Junior

Question 34

What happens in section 7 -loops?

Answer 34

Slings are released-aerial imagery
Sense of waiting and longing for the garden to grow
As the music changes to be more upbeat dancers cross and intersect
Boys Vs. Girls- Wendy is excluded
Uniformity of flowers eventually lost

Question 35

What happens in section 8 -Wendy’s solo?

Answer 35

Wendy does an anguished solo
She realises what is happening between Junior and Vanessa, is it emotional fallout or her imagination?
A reprise of an earlier duet with Junior but now danced as a solo

Question 36

Describe how the gauze is used in Wendy’s solo in section 8

Answer 36

Adds emotional atmosphere

It is moved from upstage to downstage to represent the drift between her and Junior

Question 37

What happens in section 9 -Hands of time?

Answer 37

Film of a huge hand which appears to push, squash, scoop and pick off the dancers one by one (leaps off benches, falls flat to floor)
Section is lit from the sides so film and dancers are lit

Question 38

What happens in section 10 -pregnant pause?

movement

Answer 38

Ladders against backdrop for men to climb
Girls pile sand on their stomachs to represent the foetus
One relationship is nurturing and the other seems more complex
How the women wait is different to the men- males watch the event from above, women are shown to be low and earthy

Question 39

What happens in section 11 -Rakes?

Props and relationships

Answer 39

Opens with 2 duets
Male dancers use rakes to show their role in nurturing for their families
Props used as physical support
Starts with duets in unison and then the fragility of Stuart and Helen’s relationship becomes clear as a contrast to Junior and Vanessa’s supportive relationship
Stuart leaves Helen and Wendy engages with him

Question 40

What happens in section 12 -Suspension in time?

Answer 40

Slings are released
Wendy is suspended first (in time) as other slings are released
Aerial image to suggest suspension in time/in limbo
Dancers get ready for finale

Question 41

What happens in section 13 -Slings

Answer 41

Climax
Purple background, yellow floor
Tension builds
Accumulation, swings get bigger
Eventually gets into unison in swings
Mimicking pendulum
Ticking music