Nonsense

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Lydia Schwartz (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Lois Andreasen

Abstract: The primary motivation for the dance, entitled "Nonsense", evolved mainly from the belief that happiness is better than sorrow. Often during periods of economic recession and political turmoil, sorrow comes to the forefront more often than the joys of life. It is the choreographer's intent to focus upon those aspects of life which bring the possibility of happiness to an audience. The goal of the choreographer is to allow the audience to have fun and escape through comedy. A secondary motivation for the dance is that comedy in itself is a challenge to produce. Attempting to keep the dancers stimulated and the movements alive, as well as simply trying to make the material comical is a task the choregrapher wished to undertake. As a way of approaching the choreographic problem, the use of audio and visual properties and the ways in which they can relate to movement was selected. The audio properties include vocal sounds, percussion instruments, and the first movement of Lou Harrison's published music, entitled "Suite for Percussion". The visual properties will include chairs, the instruments carried or worn by the dancers and printed signs. In Section I, using three dancers, the audio effects are produced by the vocal sounds of the dancers and the visual effects are produced by the dancers relationships with the chairs on stage. Section II is based primarily on rhythms and movements to those rhythms. The three dancers in this section are continuously playing one of six instruments: a bass drum, a Wigman drum, a tamborine, maracas, sticks, or finger cymbals. The audio effects are produced by the instruments and the visual effects are produced by the audience actually seeing the instruments and the dance movements. In Section III, the five dancers carry and use as properties, sandwich signs with nonsense words written on them and dance to the first movement of Lou Harrison's published music, "Suite for Percussion", and the visual effects are produced by the signs and the movement patterns.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1975

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