The Dance-Language Conflict
Extension of Research and Process
Background Information
My six project participants received the following instructions, along with the video displayed on the right.
"Please send me a written translation of what you see in the video. This may take any form, as long as you are using words as your medium. You may choose to objectively describe what the body is doing, your perceived intention/emotion/story of the movement, list descriptive words or concepts, describe it using poetry, analogy, or narrative, etc. Your possibilities are limitless here, and you can choose as many avenues as you see fit...The only real requirement is that you must use words, and that your description must be chronological.
Original Work
Choreographed and performed by Carly Lucas.
Don't summarize the general themes of the piece in a paragraph - think of it more as something that could be made into a list based on the order that things happen...[F]ind the most efficient way to describe the work. Challenge yourself to be able to speak your directions as the dance is happening...I will be using your translation to create a new dance work."
In return, I received six different responses that became their own unique variations of the work. Each of these, along with their corresponding translations, can be viewed below.
Acknowledgements
Carly owes gratitude to the Department of Theatre and Dance at Ball State University for their guidance in creating this digital platform to share her work. She also owes immense thanks to all of the individuals involved in the creation and production of this project: her faculty advisor, Jenn Meckley; her six "dance translators," Cindy Lucas, Maree ReMalia, Amelia Ringer, Ethan Tackett, Adam Thatcher, and Robbie Weatherington; her writing advisor, Jacob Lauve; and those who provided their time and resources in regard to other production areas, Victoria
Bulick and Mary Meo. The completion of this project would not have been possible without the help of all of these people, and for that, Carly is incredibly grateful.
Additional Information and Resources:
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