Genevieve Murphy

Panto Child:
Method 1

Graduation work, performed on 24th and 25th May 2013 at Melkweg Theatre, Amsterdam. Composer, choreographer, director and concept: Genevieve Murphy
A work for 9 dancers and 1 musician.

In this work the causality of dance, music, and light is inextricably linked, in that the movement of the dancers is directly responsible for the sound and light which is created.
Under my direction, the dancers gradually build their own stage set, bringing sound and light to the audience directly through their own movements, while they continuously respond to the sound and light they themselves are making. By directly generating analogue light and sound themselves, the dancers have an ownership towards the onstage light and sound environment and as a consequence it is possible as a viewer to connect to what is happening onstage. For example the performers, although choreographed by me, inevitably are able to some degree to respond and communicate emotionally with the audience in the ways they choose to illuminate themselves, or generate sound etc. This is different from those compositions where the dancers are responding to sounds and lights controlled by somebody offstage, with the consequent separation and distancing that the audience then feels towards
the dancer and his or her surroundings. Attempts have been made to overcome this separation by the use of electronic sensors connected to prerecorded sound. However in this work, analogue generation by the performers themselves is central to the performance.
Three ways that the dancers create sound are from instruments attached to their bodies which sound as a consequence of their movements, feedback between one another and sounds being produced from their clothes (Enhanced by microphones within the clothes).
The stage is a grid for the dancers to follow as they place light bulbs in specific places during the performance: This is partly to emphasis the ‘On stage/Off stage’ concept influenced by Martin Creed in his work ‘Work 1020’, and also to clarify to the audience the thought process which guides the dancers in where to go and where to place the bulbs. This is important as throughout the performance the dancers are showing the audience how everything works, emphasising the appearance that they have control over the performance and its surroundings.
This work looks at the concept of staged performance, with interest in developing aspects of the works of Martin creed, Lucinda Childs and Kristina de Chattel.