Rooster

Question 1

when was Rooster created for bellet du grand theatre de geneve?

Answer 1

1991

Question 2

when was Rooster performed by London Contemporary dance Theatre?

Answer 2

1992

Question 3

when was Rooster performed on Rambert?

Answer 3

1994

Question 4

what is Rooster about?

Answer 4

represents the sexual relationships between men and women in the 1960s

Question 5

what are the order of sections in Rooster?

Answer 5

1. little red rooster
2. lady jane
3. not fade away
4. as tears go by
5. paint it black
6. ruby tuesday
7. play with fire
8. sympathy for the devil

Question 6

Describe the rooster strut in detail

Answer 6

a stylized walk for the men, in which toes of one foot slide along the floor and the head and neck juts forward. male performs grooming and slicking back hair gestures.

Question 7

how are sexual relationships shown in section 1 through movement?

Answer 7

women enters upstage and approaches two me who one by one reject her - removes the womens arm off his leg and she falls on the floor. he dusts himself off fixes his tie and struts off as if he is unworthy of being touched by a female.

Question 8

how is disrespectful behavior shown in section 2?

Answer 8

lead male dancer kneels behind female dancer and thrusts his crotch forwards and licks his lips seeming to want to take advantage of her.

Question 9

how does section 3 show social dance styles and what is a feature of choreography is 3?

Answer 9

dancers perform ballroom hold, movements relaxed and light - the girl only shows minimum energy whilst the males showing off. - call and response

Question 10

how do they use the red scarfs in section 5?

Answer 10

3 women wave them triumphantly when they exit and use them to whip their male victim then place them over their shoulder.

Question 11

in section 6 how can we see the female has a carefree spirit and a sense of female empowerment?

Answer 11

twirling of hair, leaps turns and circular movement

Question 12

how is male dominance shown in section sympathy for the devil?

Answer 12

rule the stage, perform chorus movement in unison, female dancers as backing dancers, uses accumulation

Question 13

what is the transition between section 1 little red rooster and section 2 lady jane?

Answer 13

all 5 males strut around stage in different directions, 2 female enter stage and walk to face the back, men strut to the front of the stage adjust their ties, spotlight on main female and she hugs herself with both arms and wraps her left leg around her right until next music starts. women and men walk towards each other (men facing the back) and male kisses ‘janes’ hand.

Question 14

who in the lyrics, are the three different ladies in lady jane section 2?

Answer 14

lady jane
lady ann
sweet marie

Question 15

how does section 2 lady jane transition into section 3?

Answer 15

dancers link hand in a circle (full company - 10 dancers), man turns back to jane who he lifts into the centre of the group with her hands raised ready to give the introductory claps for the next section, dancers disperse of stage and duet between man and women begins.

Question 16

how does section 3 not fade away transition into section 4?

Answer 16

male is carried off upstage left by 4 male dancers and women traces a vertical wave of air with her hand as she crouches down and the lighting fades.

Question 17

give 2 movement examples from section 4 (8 dancers, 4 male 4 female) as tears go by that represent childish behaviour.

Answer 17

1. female soloist runs to join the group of 3 females linked in a circle with their arms but is kicked to the stomach and falls on the floor.
2. she enters stage right and skips towards the group but gets rejected again.

Question 18

In which section does the isolated female slap the male?

Answer 18

section 4 - as tears go by. as man goes over to support the rejected child-like female she slaps him.

Question 19

how does section 4 as tears go by transition into section 5 paint it black?

Answer 19

female lead is left crouching on the group and waves her hand - male pull her up and carries her off over his shoulder stage right and different male enters to the new song stage right

Question 20

describe section 5 paint it black, what is the theme?

Answer 20

3 female dancers dance in unison, male dancer has an energetic solo - about depression, lots of floor work e.g. falls onto his knees, reaches out and rolls three times to the right, one arm stretched and one arm underneath so he rolls over his left shoulder.

Question 21

how does section 5 paint it black transition into section 6 ruby Tuesday?

Answer 21

male reaches out to 3 women lying down, they exit off stage right and he falls to the ground, when music stops he gets up adjusts his tie sorts his hair, when he sees female soloist for ruby Tuesday who enters stage left he runs off stage right and female walks downstage when the song begins.

Question 22

how is section 6 ruby Tuesday typical of Bruce’s choreography?

Answer 22

low centre of gravity, emphasis on yearning arabesques and off-balance turning movements which people the dance along.

Question 23

how does section 6 ruby Tuesday transition into section 7 play with fire?

Answer 23

female throws herself into the 4 men entered and they twist her, performs contact movement with all until they all exit off stage. female twists to face the front 3 times and put hands together in a bowl shape by her head that looks upwards and twists them down until her hands come apart and are almost touching the ground with her upper body fully lent over. - in time with the music she stands up straight, twiddles with her hair and exits stage left and female with feather boa walks on from upper stage.

Question 24

how is the feather boa used in section 7 play with fire?

Answer 24

used to flirt and capture each other.

Question 25

what does the male dancer do when the lyrics sing “but don’t play with me cos you’re playing with fire?”

Answer 25

male dancer turns 180 degrees to face upstage and points his right hand towards his torso and looks into the eyes of the female dancer stage left of him. takes both arms and hand together in a circular movement and turns 180 degrees to face downstage. performs strong man position flexing his biceps and tuns his head fast and points to the female dancer when the lyrics sing “fire”

Question 26

what is the transition from section 7 play with fire and section 8 sympathy for the devil?

Answer 26

male performs play with fire motif but when male points to female she mimics the actions of hitting his finger away twice and walks off stage left. the male acts as if his finger hurts by shaking it ands facial expression and sucking the finger until he goes into the rooster strut.

Question 27

describe section 8 sympathy for the devil.

Answer 27

fast and energetic with repeated entrances and exits (accumulation) from all the company, but focus is still on men. it is a quick reprise of all 8 sections e.g. contains the rooster strut from section 1, the face slap from section 4, the women’s leap into the four men in section 6 and ends with the rooster strut.

Question 28

what movement is performed in section 8 when the lyrics sing “please to meet you”

Answer 28

the males in unison most of the time, perform a courteous bow e.g. the twist there left hand and with their left left bent leaning the to left side. their right hand and arm are fully stretched out to the right with their right leg straight.

Question 29

how does the aural setting help create climax in section 8 sympathy for the devil?

Answer 29

in rondo form, slight change in the lyrics of the chorus and long ending builds to create climax. as the track fades out the movement slows which is also music visualisation.