Still Life at the Penguin Cafe by David Bintley

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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
    • 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
    • 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

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