Combined arts project- Hansel and Gretel

1st November 2021

 Focus: The great famine (Introduction).

Skills-

We started off with some trust exercises which included leaning on each other and giving into gravity on each other while not falling and supporting each other in pairs. We then built a small duet using the following instructions from the support exercises-

• Fall and support. For example, i was back to back with Lola and i slowly let my back fall onto hers as she crouched down to let me end up just balancing on her back and letting all of my weight go.
• Lift and replace. This exercise included Lola lifting me up from the ground with a part of her body. I stood side to side with her and she lifted me up by her pelvis and with her arms around me. I had to lean into her for this.
• Imprison. This was an exercise which was to have one partner holding on to a part of the other persons body so that they could lean away from them (as if trying to get away) without falling. I bent my knees and held on/pulled on Lola's waist so she could lean forward without falling. 

We then thought about contrasting dynamics, making some of these exercises fast and unexpected or slow and sustained. We decided to have the first exercise a quick fall so it looked like i had just been hit by something suddenly and Lola cushioned my fall. We also decided to have the lift and replace a slow and gentle lift (as this links to how you would hold someone who has died in the famine).

We started to consider how these movements could be interpreted in an abstract way of the context of the great famine. We spoke about how the fall and support could represent the weak people relying on the support of others, such as family and friends. The lifts can represent the mass amount of death and family members having to carefully lift their deceased loved ones out of their homes. The imprison shows the greed of the people and how selfish they got about food and what was theirs. 

Me and Lola then grouped together with 4 other pairs to create a group piece using our small duets to show a community of people being affect by the great famine. Integrating all of our duets really showed the affects as it was a larger group of people that looked as though they were suffering. we all shared a slow sustained dynamic throughout that accompanied some sad, slow music.  Half of the class were split up for this to create two groups.

We then sat down as a group to pick out certain phrases from the scripts introduction that described the great famine. For example, mine and Lola's was "mothers were fed their children in desperation". 

Knowledge:

Frantic assembly influenced todays work because they follow the same devising process that we went through. they start with simple instructions such as fall and support exercises that lead and progress into duets and then into pieces with meaning behind them. 

Understanding:

The work of frantic assembly influenced our own exploration and the creation of the opening scene of hansel and Gretel because frantic assembly is all about exploring and playing around on your own to make your own material before keeping it permanently and adding to it. this made us experiment with different choreography instead of being given material to just learn and go along with.