Bird Song

Title; 'Bird Song'

Choreographer; Siobhan Davies

Movement Material; The Company Dancers

Sound Score and Design; Andy Pink

Contributing Visual Artist ; David Ward

Production Design; Sam Collins

Lighting; Adrian Plaut

Costume; Genevieve Bennet

Commissioned by; Dance Umbrella

Siobhan Davies explores what images and feelings dance can reveal.
Dancers are given practical tasks: visulise a music score for example.
The lines, dots, its stresses and rests are used as a basis for improvisation.

She uses tasks as tools to enable dancers to find movement that is not preconceived. Her role is then to use, mould, hone, create phrases and then reworking the found material to suit the preformer and the work itself. The dancers are not vehicle for the choreography but rether the essence of the work itself.

Davies started with music, setting tasks that related to its texture and rhythm. The movement had to keep the rhythmic and dynamic imprint of the music even if not used in the final work.

ABSTRACT DANCE;
abstract is a confusing term but in dance it means.... lacking in a concrete theme or story

- Its about using choreographic devices, chance procedures and development ideas whithout looking dirrectly at something (ie clocks) and making a direct movement which represents that idea.
- Siobhan Davies has many things that define the style of birdsong. She started with the following ideas:

- Experimenting with creating the middle of the dance first
Davies likened the idea of dropping a pebble into a pool of water and watching teh ripples that are created.

- Exploring unusual relationships to music and sound
You will hear in bird song many different types of sound from many different sources.

- The call of the Australian Pied Butcher Bird
The Pied butcher bird has a beautiful, melodious fluting. Many people consider this the best singer of australian birds.

- Placing the Audience in the Round and so close to the Dancers as they Perform
It must have been a very different experience for both the dancers and the audience, when sitting on the edge of the space. How would you feel preforming so close to an audience?

- Stop Motion Photography
She uses the stop motion photography of Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904)

There are 16 sections of various lengths, using different numbers of dancers, silence, found sound, natural sound, music and various lighting effects.

Section 9 is the pivotal solo with the bird song as the accompaniment .

There are 8 dancers: 3 Male and 5 Female.

The whole works lasts aprox. 56 minutes.