Still Life at the Penguin Cafe by David Bintley
- Created by: Emily Malfoy
- Created on: 19-04-14 14:54
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- Still Life at the Penguin Café by David Bintley
- Lighting by John B. Read
- Great Auk 1
- Blue wash of light
- Follow spots on each of the three penguins
- Great Auk 2
- Bright and warm lights create a happy atmosphere
- Follow spots on dancers
- Long Horn Utah Ram
- Follow spot on the Ram as if she is a Hollywood star
- Texan Kangaroo Rat
- Starts off dark and then lightens to show the sunrise (the rat wakes up)
- Follow spot on rat
- Hog nosed Skunk Flea
- Follow spot on flea creates a shadow which the flea notices at one point in the dance
- Southern Cape Zebra
- Striped lighting on the floor- looks like the slatted window of a hunters hide, also mirrors the zebra's stripes
- Gets darker towards the end of the section to reflect the mood
- Rainforest People
- Gobo lighting makes it look like the sun is shining through trees
- green wash of light to show rainforest
- Brazilian Woolly Monkey
- green wash of light to show rainforest
- Finale
- Dark to show storm clouds
- Rain effect projected on to stage
- Noah's ark background is back lit so the dancer's shadows can be seen
- Great Auk 1
- Set by Hayden Griffin
- The set changes in each section.
- Great Auk 1
- Tall, narrow painted background of an iceberg
- Great Auk 2
- Tables and chairs at the side of the stage for the film version only
- Background widens
- Parisian café style background
- Utah Ram
- Starts off in the Parisian café backdrop
- Changes to a tall red background of Utah plains with large boulders
- Texan Kangaroo Rat
- Large green backdrop- cactus type plant
- Hog nosed skunk flea
- background is Texan Kangaroo rat's fur
- Zebra
- Zebra comes through the backdrop- the curtains open slightly to let him through
- African planes background
- Rainforest people
- background is split in to two horizontally- the lower level and the canopy of the rainforest
- Finale
- Rain effect
- Noah's ark at the end, all the animals & rainforest people go inside apart from Great Auk
- Great Auk 1
- The set changes in each section.
- Music by Simon Jeffes
- Performed by the Penguin Café Orchestra
- Music was composed before the choreography was created
- The music was on of Bintley's stimuli when choreographing 'Still Life'
- The style is orchestral with country and classical influences
- Choreography
- The structure is episodic
- Theme: Endangered species
- Stimuli: Doomsday Book of Animals, the music of the Penguin Café orchestra, album cover art by Emily Young
- Great Auk
- Penguins perform the "think" motif where they point their finger towards their beak. They are telling the audience to think about the dance's message
- Penguins travel with skipping movements and small steps to show a penguin's waddle
- Ballroom dancers swap penguin masks (some of the girls take the masks and put them on)
- Utah Ram
- 1920s Hollywood/ Fred and Ginger style dance
- Jumpy steps show how the ram would skip across the rocks
- Influenced by Busby Berkeley (American 1920s movie choreographer)
- Texan Kangaroo Rat
- Country/ Western/ Hoedown style dance
- Lots of jumps and hops, an "itching" gesture; creates a humorous atmosphere
- Hog nosed skunk flea
- English Morris style dance
- Flea dances en pointe in some places
- Southern Cape Zebra
- Zebra's movements influenced by African dance
- Models perform a motif: hand swipes in front of the face, performed at different levels
- Contrast in dynamics between the zebra's fluid movements and the stiff models
- Rainforest People
- Lots of contact between the dancers (lifts etc) to show a family relationship
- Sometimes dance as a trio, sometimes one goes off and they dance in a pair
- Brazilian Woolly Monkey
- Influenced by Brazilian carnivals and latin American dance
- Monkey performs a motif where he pretends to pinch the girls' bottoms to show that he is cheeky
- Finale
- Animals run across the stage from wing to wing with their arms in the air to show panic
- Costume by Hayden Griffin
- Great Auks/penguins
- Penguin masks, holding trays with glasses on, orange legwarmers, black jazz shoes, black gloves
- Black tail coat and trousers, white shirt, white bow tie
- Ballroom girls
- white ballroom heeled shoes
- White ankle length short sleeved dresses
- Each girl's dress has a different coloured bodice
- Utah ram
- salmon pink cocktail dress with a rip off skirt
- white ballroom heeled shoes
- Ram mask
- Texan Kangaroo rat
- blue 3/4 length dungarees with one strap un done, white t-shirt
- pink ballet shoes, rat mask
- Skunk nosed flea
- orange flea mask with large yellow eyes and antennae, orange pointe shoes
- orange catsuit with yellow bands
- Morris men
- traditional Morris dance dress
- white shirts, black shorts and long socks, fabric belts, holding sticks, black hats
- Rainforest people
- brown loin cloths, garlands around their necks, painted faces and feet
- Zebra Models
- Red lipstick, 1920s black wig, zebra skull hat feather boa, black elbow length gloves, black tights, black high heels
- Black top, knee length zebra striped skirt
- Great Auks/penguins
- Lighting by John B. Read
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