The preparations for the shooting of the movie are slowly getting finalised. Currently, I have enough choreographic material to work with which is a huge relief (I always worry about getting stuck and not having enough to work with). Now I’m in the process of evaluating what I’ve. I’m taking a close look at every movement and trying out alternative ways of doing it. That will help me to be confident about the movement I end up choosing in the end. Then I will take an even closer look on the chosen material and spend some even more time on refining it and looking at it from many different perspectives. The transitions between movements and connective parts between segments of the choreography are also being analysed closely. This final stage of creating a choreogrpahy: observing the movement in detail and refining every edge of it for me is simultaneously the most interesting and enjoyable.
One of the main things I was deciding on before I even started to physically create the piece was how much of it will be choreographed and how much will be improvised. In my pre-covid practice I was focusing mainly on real time improvisation with live music – specifically working in duo setting with a musician. It’s something I’m very passionate about and I meant to focus on that further for the rest of 2020. However circumstances decided otherwise and overnight the opportunities to dance to live music has become sparse. Thanks to Covid I started focusing more on making choreographies to assimilate my practice to what it has become now. In the terms of this project it also made the most sense to create a choreography. It not only felt like it would be the easiest way to communicate with the videographer about capturing the movement but also seemed the most efficient way to connect certain moods and feelings with particular movements. Sometimes when improvising I take myself on a journey which can go pretty much any direction. Meanwhile, for this project I wanted to have an almost clear vision. There’s still loads of fog but it should clear out by the time the film is finished.
On the film I will be working with a Galway based filmmaker Andrew Thomas. I decided to contact Andrew after seeing his movies ‘Adieu to love‘ and ‘Cultúr‘. I find his work very unique and thought provoking. I wanted to work with someone who will be willing to bring a piece of themselves into the project. Andrew has definitely been fulfilling this criteria and I’m curious about how his artistic expression will influence the movie.
I’m getting excited about the shooting and the editing process. However my worry is the weather. Shooting outside in Ireland is quite challenging. I’m hoping we’ll get lucky and manage to get a decent day for it.
Meanwhile I’m going to have to bottle up the excitement I’m feeling while writing this to save it for later so I can feed off it when working on the project. Looking forward to sharing the movie with you!
January
The spaces I work in are my friend’s garage and the living room in the house I live in.
The reflection in the window and the screen on my phone and laptop are my mirror.
The size of the space influences the size of the movement. Rehearsals happen anytime but mainly past midnight.
I wonder how taking these movements out of these buildings is going to change them. I have a videographer chosen now. I wonder how his eyes and his camera is going to change them.
My phone is a journal of my dance practice. I try to take video of my dancing every day. Just to check on myself, where I’m at. Sometimes I happen to make something I like. I keep that for later to work with and expand it later or toss it. On the video you can see what I kept from January.
December
STEPS
I’m thinking about the steps we make when we walk, run, dance, move.. The steps which move me, you and everyone else. There’s a rhythm in the steps. “If you can walk you can dance”, I heard somewhere. The steps don’t only move us from one place to another, they move our body. When we make a step we’re making it happen with our whole body. Think about all the muscles which you need to engage to make it happen. Each step resonates into the rest of the body and echoes on the inside and outside. Arms swing in opposing directions. Opposing forces help us balance. How often do you think about how you walk? How do you execute each movement and how does it feel? Where does the series of movements start? An impulse starting in our brain, travelling through the nervous system giving impulse to the muscles. It’s like a wave in the body, creating the movement of walk.
I’m thinking about the steps I do when I’m moving my feet and making sounds with them. My feet in the shoes, the shoes as an instrument making different sounds depending on the material it’s being touched, brushed or hit onto. Step dancing. I wonder how many steps I’ve done in my life, how many hops, jumps, shuffles, trebles,...
When we walk on sand, our steps leave a temporary trace. Suddenly there’s a visual representation of a temporary audio visual phenomenon. Movement and sound exist only in the present moment unless recorded on a device - camera, microphone. Our movement cutting through the particles of space leaving trace not visible to a human eye suddenly leaves a definite trace. Then gets washed away. A wave comes and makes it vanish. Movement leads into movement leads into movement. The never stopping flow of energy.
November
This video is purely for research purposes for the final piece for this project. The audio is not in sync with the video. I bought the gimbal camera recently. I was determined to use it for this month’s journal entry without having any experiences with video shooting and editing. While trying to fix this editing problem (and not being successful in doing so) I was actually contemplating whether I’m going to use it or not. However it’s a work in progress so I decided to show the otherwise ‘faulty product’ anyways. I want to thank James Burns for being very kind and helping me out with shooting this.
About the idea:
I wanted to test out the the potential of step dancing on sand. I’m interested in the quality of the sound it produces and also what impression does it leave on me visually. Me and James spent one of the very very few November sunny days cycling along the coast towards Barna. Initially I wanted to shoot this on the SIlverstrand beach. On the way there we found this place and make the video there. James had the idea about the walk in the sand and the seaweed making the fabulous crunchy noises. I thought it’s wonderful so we decided to add that before the step dancing part.I’m really content with both the sound of steps on the sand and the visual side of it. Despite the video not being ‘’perfect’’ I consider this a successful part of my research.
October
Hi!
My name is Aneta Dortová and this is my first post for the Leitrim Dance Project - Dance on Film. I’d like tell you a little bit about what I do and how I’ve been progressing with the development of my work for this project.
My dance style is a fusion of various percussive dance styles from all around the world including Ireland, Scotland, England, Canada, US, Spain.. I’ve been very lucky to learn from many amazing percussive, contemporary, street dance and afro dance teachers in my life. These days I focus mainly on contemporary dance. That has been quite influential on my practice and it changed the ways I move and think about movement in general. So what is that I actually do? Well, I don’t like putting myself into a box but I usually call myself a percussive dancer. I move my body and I use movement to communicate and connect. I’m a dancer, dance artist and a mover.
In the past I would have mainly danced to music. I started out as busker the same week I arrived to Galway city. I bumped into a few trad players playing amazing music in the streets and I teamed up with them and started dancing to their music. It was on the street where I started improvising and making up new steps and combinations on the go. I feed off of live music. If the musicians are open and attentive they react to that. Dance and music becomes a conversation.
However for this particular project I will be in conversation with the sound of the place and with the place itself. I will be choosing a space/spaces in or around Galway city where I feel comfortable and I like going to to relax and reconnect with nature (and they’re in walkable or cycle-able distance :) ). Even though I was born in a city and I moved to another city, I find peace being surrounded by nature. I like to spend time around trees and water.
So far I’m in a very early stage of developing my idea. In the next few months I will be spending time in places which I’ve connected the most since moving to Ireland and recording the sound of the places, taking photos and videos and writing down my thoughts. I will be using these for writing my upcoming journal entries.
I’m looking forward to taking you on this exciting journey and sharing more with you next month!
Aneta