1. Go to Drumming tutorial
Drumming (1971), is a 90-minute piece for a 9-piece percussion ensemble composed by Steve Reich.
Jiri Kylian uses the first section of Drumming as accompaniment for his work Falling Angels. Reich’s work is influenced by a trip to Ghana.
Based on a short, simple, repetitive rhythmic pattern, the music ventures through various “shifts” as the musicians move in and out of time with each other. These syncopated and phase-shifting rhythms are considered innovative even today.
References:
Wikipedia
Amazon reviews
SYLLABUS
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2. Drumming Falling Angels
This tutorial is an investigation of the musical accompaniment of Kylian’s Falling Angels and the relationship of this to the dance. In this tutorial you will research aural elements and discuss the way in which movement and form relate to the accompaniment.
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3. READ THE TWO REVIEW QUOTES BELOW AND CONSIDER THE WORDS
HIGHLIGHTED IN COLOUR. HOW HAVE CRITICS RESPONDED TO THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DANCE AND AURAL ELEMENTS?
With scant pause between the pieces, eight female dancers costumed in black leotards and slippered feet advance stealthily in a line abreast from the darkness. “Falling Angels,” set to the first movement of ‘Drumming,’ composed by Steve Reich, begins with a simple rhythmic pattern tapped by stick on an a bongo drum. Soon the loom of Reich’s phase shifting technique weaves the copied and re-copied rhythmic threads into billowing veils of energy. In a sense, these veils became the net of history into which the angels fall.
There are phrases in this work that are inspired by two near-meditative Japanese art forms: the deliberate, controlled articulation of butoh and the frenetic, exaggerated body movement of taiko, with the emphasis on the latter. The eight women begin by emerging from the shadows and marching slowly towards the audience. They stop within non-equidistant square light patterns that throw an unearthly penumbra on their faces and torsos. Then with the drumming picking up, the women, collectively and taking turns individually, throw themselves into frenzied delirium.
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4. “feel the sound, the colour of the
endless shifting overlapping patterns”
How does Kylian respond kinaesthetically to the rhythms of “Drumming”?
What is the relevance of beginning the piece in silence?
How does Kylian use movement to accent the drum beats?
How do dynamics of the movement reflect the drum beats and rhythms?
How do individuals and groups of dancers respond to the different rhythms?
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5. “from one short rhythmic motif, longer and more intricate phrases are created and woven together…complex music out of minimalist means”
How does the generation and organisation of movement complement the rhythms that build from a single drumbeat?
What movements accompany single drumbeats?
Describe how simple movement motifs are developed further as rhythms become more complex.
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6. HSC areas of study
components
movement
spatial elements
dynamic elements
aural elements
dancers
setting and environment
interpretation of the work
context
genre
subject matter
meaning
significance
writing and criticism
reading and writing reviews – newspapers, magazines, journals
the role of the critic in dance
placing the criticism in context
organising the dance
motif
phrase
motif into phrase
sequencing
transition
repetition
variation and contrast
formal structure
unity
appraisal and evaluation
evaluation
general values of society
specific values in the context of the work
worth and merit
effectiveness/appropriateness of the work
effectiveness/appropriateness of the performance
Prescribed choreographers and works
era/period in which they work
background/training
influences
choreographic style
This tutorial addresses the following syllabus area of study in appreciation
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