http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOo2kotucyE
Last semester I was interested in studying dance as a way to understand the movements of the body. As a starting point, I chose to select a ballet video and analyzed the movements of the dancer. The diagrams above, are static moments of the movements. I was interested in the joints and their range of motion, pattern, direction, positive space and negative space. Each movement type defines a space with the lines created with motion.
The two-dimensional dance diagrams are read from left to right with different views from top to bottom (front elevation, side elevation, top view). The orange color describes the movement of the arms and the grey, the movement of the legs. During this exercise, I also became interested in the contraction and stretching of the muscles.
Terms:
Bend, lift, point, drag, cross, parallel, follow, turn, extend, contract and together.
The next step is to take some of the diagrams and translate them in three-dimensional forms, keeping in mind the terms above. Perhaps, also, translating the muscles into a material.
Below are some three-dimensional static diagrams that came from the diagrams above. I chose to work with wire in order to be able to “draw” the lines of the movement of the dancer in space. The lines are like the “bones” of the space held within.
These are the kinetic movement diagrams that correspond to the static ones above. I wanted to literally apply the movement so that I could better understand and begin to construct the direction of the different positions.
Joint Details: hindge, knot, rivet, bend, slide, cross.
My question now is, how can I use these diagrams and move on? What I do know is dance is was a way to learn about the body, its movement, the joints and space. I think what I would like to do next is begin to apply different materials with different joints to the isolated movements.
