SWANSONG
CHOREOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER BRUCE
COSTUME
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What constitutes as costume (List)
Costume:
• realistic, abstract
• features: colour, texture, flow, shape, weight, decoration, line
• accessories, footwear, masks and make-up
• the relationship between costume and dance content.
Describe the costume seen in Swansong:
The victim is dressed in stretch, blue jeans and a red T shirt. Originally, the T
shirt was a faded red but it has subsequently become considerably brighter and,
with justification, has been described as ‘tomato red’. The interrogators are in
khaki- coloured trousers with pockets on the legs and have khaki shirts with open
necks, breast pockets and short sleeves, but without any identifiable military
insignia. All three dancers wear split-sole jazz shoes but those for the
interrogators have rubbers on their soles to enable the tap dance sequences to
be heard. For the section the interrogators also wear baseball caps and the
victim, a clown’s red nose. After the section the first interrogator returns with a
cigarette and a Zippo lighter, while for the sixth section the two interrogators
carry canes. The dancers do not have taps on their shoes but hidden on the
stage floor near the chair microphones are placed to amplify the sound of the tap
steps.
How does the choreographer use this costume? - Explain how the costume is
used to enhance the choreography or theme:
The blue stretch jeans could be used to show that it could be anyone being
interrogated as if someone was just picked from the street. The jean-like trousers
worn by the prisoner are made from a lycra-type of material to allow the dancer
to move with ease and the fitted look enhances the bodyline when he performs
balletic leg gestures. The red colour of the T shirt helps to add contrast to the
interrogators and highlights him (separating his character). The fact that the
interrogators do not have any identifiable insignia on their costume means that
the audience do not take a specific rank or military division, this helps the
audience to take their own views away with them. The interrogator’s costumes
give a sense of them being in charge. This is also reinforced by the neat hair
cuts. The two interrogators are wearing identical costumes to give a sense of
power in numbers over the prisoner. Their costumes help with their powerful
characters. The soft shoes are used with rubber soles to enhance the
choreography so that the question answer interrogation sequences can be heard.
SWANSONG
CHOREOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER BRUCE
PHYSICAL SETTING
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What constitutes as physical setting (List)
Physical setting:
• staging, for example: proscenium, in-the-round, site-specific, naturalistic, symbolic,
abstract
• set design, lighting, props, projection
• features: colour, material, texture, decoration, shape, size, levels, placement
• the relationship between the physical setting and dance content.
Describe the physical setting of this professional dance work that you have
studied.
Christopher Bruce designed Swansong’s setting on a bare proscenium stage.
Apart from the lighting, the only visual clue is one sturdy wooden chair set
downstage right as the work opens, and it is returned to that position at frequent
intervals. Overhead lighting focuses on the area of the chair during interrogation
and when the victim is alone. The only exit elsewhere is the victim’s symbolic
departure at the end, having been on stage throughout the production in the
direction of the shaft of light.
Choose one of the professional dance works that you have studied and
explain how effective you think the use of physical setting is.
Christopher Bruce designed Swansong’s setting on a bare proscenium stage to
allow the audience to imagine where it takes place. Bruce also leaves the stage
to allow the audience to focus more on the dancers’ movements. There is an
emphatic diagonal shaft of light suggesting that natural light only enters the
enclosed space from a single source. The prisoner’s pathways are highlighted
by this shaft of light and his movement towards it helps to reinforce the idea of
him wanting freedom. This only comes at the end when his exit moves towards
the light as if he is dead and his spirit is free. Although the stage is essentially an
empty space the interrogators always enter and exit from the same wing, stage
right suggesting a single door. The dull lighting and lack of colour help to give a
cold feel to the piece helping to set a somber mood.
SWANSONG
CHOREOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER BRUCE
AURAL SETTING
What constitutes as accompaniment/aural setting (List)
Aural setting:
• silence and accompaniment, for example, song, spoken word, natural/found sound,
music from different times and places orchestral, electronic,
• features such as: tone, texture, rhythm, dynamics, style, structure, orchestration,
leitmotif
• the relationship between music and dance content.
What type of accompaniment is used in Swansong?
An electro-acoustic score of original, sound-sampled, digitally reproduced
sounds, ranging from grating metal (created using kitchen pans) to soft vocalizing
and including the rhythms of popular dance forms. The recorded score uses a
sequencer, emulator and Chambon’s voice. The interludes between the seven
sections and the victim’s second solo (section 5) are performed unaccompanied
in silence. The dancers’ own movements can be heard tapping out sequences of
movement.
Explain how the accompaniment is used to enhance the choreography or
theme:
The interludes between the seven sections and the victim’s second solo (section
5) are performed unaccompanied in silence, which both increases the tension of
the work and allows the audience to hear the footfalls of the tapped-out
interrogation. The score for the more lyrical solos by the victim includes the
sound of a reed-pipe which suggests a link with Bruce’s well-known South
American based work Ghost Dances. The mood of the music helps to create a
mood in the dance e.g. in the ‘tea for two’ section the music is quite upbeat and
comical which adds to the atmosphere and mood in the choreography which
showed the interrogators mimicking and intimidating the prisoner in a humorous
way. Some of the vocal sounds give a sense of the prisoner crying out for help.
The contemporary musical style helps to reflect a more modern piece of dance
work and links well with the contemporary style of dance.
SWANSONG
CHOREOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER BRUCE
STAGING AND FILMING
This piece of dance work was produced for a proscenium theatre (a normal
theatre where the audience sit in rows away from the stage and the actual stage
has a picture frame around it e.g. the curtains) to be seen live. Christopher
Bruce never used to give programme notes out with this performance, as he
wanted each member of the audience to relate to the dance in which, ever way
they felt suitable for themselves.
Think about all the positives that you would get from seeing a live performance
of Swansong:
Audience perspective
Get to watch in amongst the atmosphere of having an audience.
Dynamics are clear to see
You as an audience member can choose where you want to focus – which
dancer do you like the best, what piece is more interesting to you.
Dancers’ perspective
You get to feel the audience’s response/immediate feedback – applause
Excitement of performing live.
Negatives
Audience perspective
If you miss something exciting that’s it you will never see it again
Performers can be quite a distance away from you, especially if you are high up
at the back
Dancers’ perspective If you go wrong there’s no going back
If you get injured there’s no going back
It can be exhausting performing on tour at different venues
REMEMBER that Swansong was made for live performances but has been
put onto DVD for many reasons. Although you watch on film via the DVD it
is still filmed on a proscenium stage whereas Rosas Danst Rosas has been
performed on stage but has been made for film using locations. This is a
very good difference.
Now try to list all the advantages and disadvantages of watching dance on
film.
Disadvantages:
 Film loses the dynamic qualities
 Expensive – need to book location, employ a director for the film, need to
pay for dancers and staff in hotels, need to keep to a tight schedule,
daylight can cause a problem if relying on it.
Advantages of using film
 Get to see more detail by using close ups
 Can add in special effects to give the effect of more dancers as seen in
Rosas Danst Rosas
 If there are any mistakes then they can be edited out and performed again
 Cheaper to watch on DVD rather than at the theatre
 Film can be viewed over and over again
 More audiences can see the work without going to the theatre
 Works can be used in GCSE and A level dance specification meaning that
the companies get more profit from people seeing more of their work
 Can give an audience a taster and make them want to see it live.