Summary of Research Findings

Dancer: Claire Coleman

Light and Movement is a choreographic research project that aimed to explore the potential relationships between light and the body. The research is specifically investigating how light can be used as a creative starting point for choreographic material.

I have been working in collaboration with lighting designer Karl Thurston Brown. The practical sessions have been exploring how light can be used to provide both a visual frame for the body and a psychological mood and environment. The generation of new choreographic material that reveals a creative dialogue between light and movement is the fundamental output of the research.

This research project has been a process of critical choreographic investigation and experimentation. Whilst there have been many questions which have arisen from the research about the relationship between light and movement, the main findings can be divided into five key areas. Each area has been discovered through the practical research that has formed the basis of this project. It is evident from the choreographic material on this online document that in many examples the relationship between light and movement encompasses several of the findings below:

1. Light can provide an architectural space for the body
2. Light can be perceived as a physical substance with magnetic qualities with which the dancer can interact
   
3. Light can highlight the internal structures of the body and enable the musculature and skeletal system to become visible
   
4. Light can section the body into smaller parts and can make the body 'disappear' - this can be used choreographically to enhance the 'value' of the movement.
   
5. Light and movement can develop a creative dialogue - it is possible for both elements to converse with one another.

The full findings of the research were presented at Middlesex University on Thursday 15th May 2008. This presentation forms the total assessment of my work undertaken for this MA research module.

What has become clear during this process is that it would now be possible to take this research further by focusing solely on one of the five findings above. The fact that the idea of narrowing the field has presented itself to me at the end of the process reflects the nature of research itself. I have learnt that research is an ongoing journey of discovery that requires constant revision and examination. It is a balance between, 'the planned and the unplanned and between the predictable and the serendipitous' (Fraleigh and Hanstein, 1999:np). What is clear is that, as Dr Anna Pake suggests it is unlikely that I would have uncovered the output of this research through traditional academic modes of enquiry (Pake, 2004: 1). Practice as research has enabled me to use my artistic experience to gain knowledge about an area of choreographic practice. So what do I do with the findings? At this stage it is not my intention to take the choreographic material produced further. However, I am certain that the knowledge I have gained about light and movement will be of huge benefit to me in every future choreographic projects. I have learnt to embrace the light, and to recognise the creative potential that this particular area of technology can bring to my choreography.

Bibliography

Books

Baugh, C. 2005 Theatre, Performance and Technology, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan

Fraleigh, S and Hanstein, P. (Eds.) 1999 Researching Dance: Evolving Modes of Enquiry, London: Dancebooks

Morgan, N. 2003 Stage Lighting for Theatre Designers, Cambridge: The Herbert Press Ltd.

Oddey, A. and White, C., 2006 The Potentials of Spaces, Bristol: Intellect Books

Articles

Hutera, D. 2002 'Bringers of Light', Dance Theatre Journal, Vol.18 No. 1

Pake, A. 2004 ‘Art as Action or Art as Object? The Embodiment of Knowledge in Practice As Research’ Retrieved 6^th Feb 2008 from URL http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes/research/papers/wpades/vol3/apfull.html

Websites

www.worldwidedanceuk.com/content.asp?CategoryID=462&ArticleID=344

www.rmcompany.co.uk

www.bristol.ac.uk/parip/

Other Sources

Television Documentary: Light and Movement A Ballet Boyz Television Production for Channel 4, 2006