Comments on: Space Chase

By: Allison Lewis

Allison Lewis — Tue, 20 May 2008 07:50:10 +0000

I thought the Space Chase project revealed much more than I originally anticipated. The space that my group worked with (the outside front steps) seemed fairly boring and plain, but after we incorporated it’s design and architecture into our project, it became much more interesting. Our dance/movement would have been uninteresting if we performed it on stage without any of the architecture from the area, so in a sense, our movement complimented the space, and the space complimented our movement.

The project somewhat influenced the way I perceive dance; I now look at the surrounding environment more closely now, thanks to the project. Sometimes a dance will seem much more interesting if you relate it to it’s surroundings and where exactly it is taking place. Relating that to my study of visual and performing arts, I look more at the whole picture rather than just the movement and angles. So this project was overall a beneficial assignment, even if the parapros were itching to yell at us every time.

By: Madeleine Shaw

Madeleine Shaw — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:54:05 +0000

The space chase project was a very intersesting project it required us to get out of the normal stage dance floor and use differnt spaces with in the school. It was very important in our group to utalize the space around us. We were in the photo hall way so we decided to make our project with pictures and we wanted it to appear like a flip book for some of our pictures so that it looked like we were moving. I never really thought of how many differnt places you can preform dance and this project changed my views because before i didnt think that dance could be preformed anywhere but after seeing all of the other groups in our class i was impressed how they used there spaces. Lots of choreography was based off the spaces the groups were in. I really enjoyed this project and hope we can do something like this next year. I think that doing dance projects allow us to get out of the studio and think out of the box.

By: Hilary Murray

Hilary Murray — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:39:01 +0000

I think it was good to get out of the studio and stretch our ideas about performance spaces. I know personally, as soon as we were in a different space our whole group came up with new creative ideas that we never would have if we hadn’t changed our environment. When we had previously choreographed in the studio, the idea scared me. I didn’t trust myself to come up with something interesting, but the repetition and line of the senior locker bank offered a new stimulus to respond to. Also, it helped break down our functional fixedness of how a performance should be and what can be a set. For instance, we climbed all over the lockers and used them as an integral part of our piece, whereas normally we would walk by the locker bank and not expect to see people scooting along the top of the lockers.

By: Caroline McNulty

Caroline McNulty — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:03:32 +0000

This project was one of my favorite things I have done all year in dance class. I loved thinking outside the box choreographically to incorporate the space we worked in. My group did a really cool photo powerpoint of cool illusions to represent the photo hallway with all the pretty windows. We made a lot of cool photos using shadow and imitating art work on the walls. If we were to do this project again I would incorporate video and music into our piece. I would also incorporate costume, like wearing all black so our clothes wouldn’t be distracting. I think it would be really cool to incorporate sounds and echoes in our piece because the hallway is so long and wide, but it would be distracting to classrooms. We definately should do this project next year with some new creative boundries. I would be interesting in using stairs and railings to create movement. It was really nice to step out of our usual dance studio class. I like doing choreography projects because we see a lot of really cool creativity.

By: Julie Huck

Julie Huck — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:57:06 +0000

This assigment was amazing! It really made us think of how to incorporate dance into everyday objects and places. Our theme consisted more of taking child games and turning them into shapes and movements. It was really neat working with the shapes of the building too! We were able to roll down some of the hallways and match ourselves to the light fixtures. We also were able to take advantage of the curves in the locker banks, and swerve our bodies around them. It was really interesting to see the other peices as well because everyone took the project in a different perspective and you can see everyones personalities in it!

By: Katherine Kokosinski (3rd)

Katherine Kokosinski (3rd) — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:09:18 +0000

Doing the space chase activity really made me think about what is considered “dance.” It’s much like the arguement about what is “art.” Just because you say something is art or dance, is it really that? I think the most important factor in considering whether an art form such as visual art or dance is really art or just, for example, people flailing their arms randomly or someone sticking a piece of paper on the wall and saying it’s a masterpiece is the thought/motive behind it. Someome might go up to that piece of paper on a wall and see something deep in it, but others might say, “That’s not art- that’s something my 4 year old sister can do.” So really, what made our space chase pieces art- what made them a dance piece- was our motive behind them. We brought dance out of context (outside of an auditorium or studio) and placed it where people now have to consider what we’re really doing. The creation process is what made it a dance.

By: andi argianas

andi argianas — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:47:48 +0000

i liked doing this activity becuase you had the freedom and space to move how you wanted. i think this was a good lesson for dancers and people that want to be choreographers, it teaches one how to move in little or big movement in little space or big space. i thought it was cool how everyone had there own space and how some people did movies, music, no music or sounds with there voices every group that i saw was so unique and different.

By: Paulina Caner

Paulina Caner — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:33:03 +0000

I believe that the space chase was a wonderful way for everyone to experience something new. My group worked with the elevator, and we displayed the different levels on the elevator and showed what kind of students, as well as faculty travel each day on the elevator. We showed the different space that one can fill inside the elevator, and made a picture slide show of each step one takes onto the elevator, only we made each step be a different person. That way it looked a lot better. We also took pictures of different poses inside the elevator. But over all it was nice to see how everyone used their space.

By: Stefany Fischer

Stefany Fischer — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:41:22 +0000

I loved this project because there are so many places around the school with so much space that everyone got to express themselves in. Although my group was familiar with “the attic” most people didn’t know it existed. Our group got to use all the costumes in the basement that majority of people don’t know about either. It was really a good chance to see all the spaces in the school that go unnoticed. Our group made our piece really theatrical and fun. Alot of times when we choreograph pieces we don’t realize how much space we really have to work with. This was such a fun project to explore and really be creative with it. I also enjoyed watching everyone else’s pieces at the end, because other people might’ve tried something you would not have though of.

By: Ashley Pietrzak

Ashley Pietrzak — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:19:51 +0000

I thought the space chase project was really interesting because it forced us to expand our choreography, and in some cases, even led us to try out different art forms. My group, rather than creating locomotive movement like we are used to doing, focused on creating shapes and put them together in a slide show. I really enjoyed looking at movement in a differerent way, focusing on what effects can be created simply by intermingling the dancer’s bodies. we had a lot of fun playing around with levels and layering and creating illusions through the use of these. The techniques I learned during this project helped me in my choreography for my other pieces.