Soda Lake

Question 1

Soda Lake ->

Answer 1

-Choreography = Richard Alston
-Dancer = Mark Baldwin
-Designer = Nigel Hall
-Composer = no composer, silence

Question 2

What is Soda Lake based on?

Answer 2

-Based on a dry lake in Nevada whereby a sculpterer visited in 1967 and made drawings of various landscapes including soda lake
-It was originally created for a BBC TV program, but when this didn’t happen, Alston made it as a performance for the dancer Michael Clark
-The exploration of space in the landscape of the Mojave dessert

Question 3

What is the physical setting?

Answer 3

-Simple and abstract - its a tall black pole suspended from the ceiling and another pole on a diagnol alignment with an oval shape ring at the top

Question 4

How many dancers are there?

Answer 4

-1 - soloist

Question 5

What is the structure of the dance?

Answer 5

1-The awakening
2-Tracing the shapes
3-Major section
4-Epilogue

Question 6

What is the movement example based on the sentinel position?

Answer 6

-This position is repeated several times
-The dancer supports himself in a prone position on one hand and flexed knees, creating a diaganol line across the body
-The gesture arm is raised in front and the dancer looks off the hand into the horizon
-Represents the diaganol line in the sculpture and an animal looking off into the distance surveying its prey

Question 7

What is the pitched attitude movement example?

Answer 7

-Arms in a horizontal plane, body facing DS, the leg in a high attitude at the back

Question 8

What is the spatial design and the relationship of the dancer to the sculpturer movement example?

Answer 8

-The dancer stands facing the pole in a parallel fourth position with one arm in a horizontal curve around the vertical pole
-As he performs a slow full plie he maintains the relationship of the arm to the pole clearly highlighting the dense rigidity of the metal and the vertical pull of the sculpture in space