Examples of How Set Can Communicate the Dances Ideal Concept :: Dance Drama Still Life at the Penguin Cafe Essays

Examples of How Set Can Communicate the Dance's Ideal Concept When a dance piece is created, it is not just the choreography of the steps that needs to be considered. To make a successful piece, firstly a starting point needs to be found, this can be anything ranging from an emotion, an animal, or even someone's journey to work or school. When this has been decided upon, there are five main areas that need to be concentrated on. These are; costume, music, set, lighting and choreography. These different fields of the dance cannot be considered separate, nor is there a rank of importance; all five areas need to be created together. They compliment each other, and grow together to form the piece. In this essay I am going to focus on the importance of just one of these factors, the set. Using examples from professional dance works I am going to discuss how the set successfully communicates the dance's ideal concept. The first dance work I am going to use as an example, is from "Still Life at the Penguin Cafà ©" choreographed by David Bintley and designed by Hayden Griffin. I have chosen to discuss the set in the first scene of the performance, "The Great Auk". There are two sections to this scene, the first section being a representation of the Great Auk's habitat, the second being a busy cafà ©, run by penguins as waiters and sophisticated women as customers. The set for the first section is simple but effective. The stage has a black backdrop, covering the whole stage wall, and a smaller screen on wheels centre stage. This screen is roughly 7ft tall and a vertical rectangle. On it an icy landscape is painted. It shows ice and sea, using white and icy blue colours. It shows an image of the penguin's habitat. It lets the audience know a bit about the penguin's background and what it has to deal with in life. This is very effective as it communicates the meaning of the piece, showing that life for this creature is hard. This piece of se is also very useful within the piece, as the dancers use it as an added entrance. They hide behind the screen and appear at the sides, this give added interest to the piece, and it is also practical as it is on wheels, therefore easy to move on and off the stage. The rest of the stage is left empty for this section, providing space for the dance. For the second part of this scene, the icescape is moved off stage and the backdrop is lifted to reveal a cafà ©.