Video transcript
Dancing with D'Arts - 08. Performance and outcomes - Dinosaur Dig dance

[music playing]

VIRGINIA FERRIS: Okay, now let's work on our performance. We're going to work on a dinosaur theme as our example task for one week. Our stimulus could be a story, a word, a shape, maybe the history, maybe something abstract about dinosaurs, maybe even a video game or something like 'Night at the Museum'. We're going to research and discuss, analyse all the different types of movement of a dinosaur, how they interacted with each other.

Why did they die? Why did they become extinct? Was it climate change, asteroid impact, volcano?

[dinosaur roar]

Hmm?

Okay, let's start by looking at a picture of a dinosaur.

I have a bit of a picture that I found. I've got just a little bit of a dinosaur picture here.

STUDENT: Oh, yes, dinosaurs.

VIRGINIA FERRIS: Yeah? See some of the dinosaurs? What sort of dinosaurs-- do you know what sort of dinosaurs they are?

STUDENT: Triceratops? Look, that is like that--

VIRGINIA FERRIS: Maybe start with a dinosaur shape.

STUDENT: Ahh!

VIRGINIA FERRIS: Explorers, once they are all in a fantastic dinosaur shape, okay, what's going to happen--

Maybe join the shape with a friend and link up, adding 2 people together to make one shape.

Let's have a look at your shape over here. Where is it? Let's see.

Okay, and I need you both together to make one dinosaur together. Yeah? See if you can do that together as one dinosaur.

STUDENT: How?

VIRGINIA FERRIS: I don't know. Use your imagination. What do you think?

STUDENT: Raar!

VIRGINIA FERRIS: You could be the tail and he could be the head.

STUDENT: Oh!

VIRGINIA FERRIS: Yep? Somebody could be--

Maybe then add some locomotive movement, moving very slowly as dinosaurs move.

[music playing]

And freeze!

Use dynamics by adding different levels, different tempos of movement, frozen shapes into the locomotive movement.

Shape 3. Here we go at slapping. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, do-si-do. Harbour Bridge, spin your partner.

Okay, where's your other dino-- where's your dinosaur? Who are you going to be a dinosaur with? Maybe this body. Be a dinosaur with this body.

STUDENT: This one?

VIRGINIA FERRIS: Yeah, this one here.

STUDENT: This one?

VIRGINIA FERRIS: Yeah, this one over here.

Adding to our dinosaur dance, we now want to include maybe the environment or maybe the explorer or adventurer who comes looking for the dinosaurs. Let's start by looking at a picture of the landscape where the dinosaurs used to roam. Create an abstract landscape shape with or without a friend.

Very nice. That's good, yeah, you can hold that shape. Let's see if we can hold the shape. Oh, excellent, some excellent shapes around here I can see.

Maybe use words to simulate movement and shapes such as rocks, cold, shake. Travel around the space like an explorer looking for fossils or maybe the spirit of the dinosaur. Maybe create a fossil shape or travel around the fossil shape. To add more creative tasks, add things like the dinosaur disappears, lost time travel, the archaeologist arrives, the fossil, the museum.

[music playing]

Off you go, explorers.

[music continues]

And freeze, explorers, freeze. Look at one of the fossils. Freeze. Dinosaurs, start to move. Very slow moving one body part, maybe moving another body part. So start to move a little bit, moving a little bit, yeah? Okay, first, explorers start to help them get up. Start to bring them up slowly. And put them in dinosaur shapes.

Put them in dinosaur shapes.

Slowly, you guys, put them into dinosaur shapes. Dinosaur shapes. Good. Explorers, make sure everyone is in a dinosaur shape. Okay, now we're going to travel with your group of friends.

Off you go, travelling in your dinosaur movement as a friend, travel with your friends. Go. Travel with your friends. Okay, so travelling.

[students chattering]

Slow motion, slow motion, remember, slow motion. Slow motion travel. And we're going to freeze and face each other. Freeze and face each other.

Ready? Through 3 positions go, position 1, position 2, position 3. And clap, go.

[clapping]

Slap.

[slapping]

Do-si-do, around you go.

Harbour Bridge, swing your partner, go around. Dinosaurs around. And freeze. Circle, circle, circle, circle, circle. Looking around, are we ready for green in our circle?

Here we go. Green, energy, flop. And green, energy, flop. pocket, 1, 2, 3, 4, hot! And again, go, 2, 3, 4, and--

[students wooing]

And linking up, off you go, go. Linking up, guys. Everyone's attached, attached, attached to the other body. Very slow motion magnet coming in.

People with material get ready. Get ready. Ready? 1, 2, 3, go. And melt.

[students exclaiming]

And hold on-- hold on for your applause.

[applause]

Well done. Well done.

Some of the compositional elements that were used to create this dinosaur dance were things like relationships, relationships with others, the music and the floor. The use of dynamics in the movement, the slow and fast tempo. The style of the movement, it could be jazz or contemporary or creative. The emotions and the expression. The non-locomotor movement and also the locomotor movement. Shapes, the purpose and intention of this story, the timing of this dance, and also the space that was used. Add costumes or even use a piece of material to create the impression of a dinosaur. Using lighting or special effects such as smoke, maybe even a large art installation could also be used to create this piece.

The music resources that you could use could be 'Walk the Dinosaur', 'Jurassic Park'. Check out the music that we've included especially for you to suit this dance. Remember that this is just a template to use to facilitate dance. Other ideas could be a penguin story, 'Happy Feet', or 'A Night at the Museum', or 'Frozen'.

In the next session, we create a 'Two Tribes' dance.