GCSE Dance fact file- Ghost Dances Rosas Danst Rosas and more

Ghost Dances:

Choreographer: Christopher Bruce

Influence: Chilean folk dancing

Type: Narrative.

Style: Contemporary and American Folk

Company: The Rambert Dance Company

The first time performed: 1981

Music: Composed by Nicholas Mojsiejenko, and was themed on Andean folk music.

Set: By Christopher Bruce

Story/Theme: The dead (ghosts) are killing the villagers, based on the Chilean government.

Starting point: The music and South American rituals and culture.

Stage: Proscenium

Physical Setting:

• The stage that Ghost dances is performed on is in a proscenium stage, this is when the audience is sat on one side of the stage and the stage is rectangular.
• The set design is a painted background of mountains and clouds; this represents Chile as Chile is mountainous.
• The only props in Ghost Dances are rocks in which dancers sit on at the back of the stage.
• The lighting in Ghost Dances (Ghost sections) is dark, the colour used is blue as it is a dark colour but not as dark as black this makes the moods seem gloomy. Where as in the villagers sections the lighting is yellow which is bright which brings happiness. When the Ghosts enter villager scenes the lighting changes from yellow (bright, happiness) to blue (dull and gloomy) representing the change in mood. At the beginning of the ghost section, a dark blue light is shone from above the dancers, filling the majority of the stage and setting an eerie, tense mood to compliment the dancers’ movements. In the middle section, a bright yellow light is shone from above the dancers, filling most of the stage. The brightness symbolizes life and energy which directly correlates to the choreography and works in harmony with the set design. In the final section, there is a blue whitish light shining widely on the middle of the stage on all the characters on stage. Whereas the blue creates a very tense mood, the white in the light shows purity and happiness, so the lighting creates a very mixed atmosphere for the audience.

• Costumes in Ghost Dances are designed by Belinda Scarlett, the costumes for the Ghosts are scary where as the costumes for the undead villagers are bright. The Ghosts wore skeletal masks, white and black body paint which emphasises the bone structure and muscles, and leather blood rags, which are quite spooky costumes. This helps with the narrative as it explains to the audience that the ghosts dominate over the other characters as the muscles symbolize strength. Where as the villagers costumes are all colourful which are quite plain but bright which represents the mood in he villager scenes. Their clothes are quite scruffy, the first woman wore a blue shirt and a green skirt the second wore a white t-shirt and a red skirt where as another wore a blue dress. One man wore a black tie, white shirt and blue trousers another wore black trousers a black suit and a white shirt, which looked smart where as…