Arvo Part’s Fratres (1977) has an unrelenting tempo, following Part’s signature style of composition that uses broken chords.
The music is played in a minor key which has connotations with dark solemn feelings which is important to the atmosphere and meaning of the piece.
The movement vocabulary clearly correlates to the accompaniment in relation to speed and dynamics.
The accompaniment creates a tense and anxiety filled atmosphere.
How could this have influenced the movement?
The accompaniment was the initial stimulus for the piece and Bruce has said that this piece of music gives him the image of "a European history and tradition steeped in over a thousand years of suffering and human experience.”
How can this be seen in the piece?
Shadows
FACT FILE
Choreographer: Christopher Bruce
Performed by: Phoenix Dance Theatre
Premiered on: 26th November 2014
Dancers: 4 (2 male and female)
Duration: 12 minutes
Performance space: End stage
Accompaniment: Arvo Part’s Fratres for violin and piano
Bruce explores a family dynamic in Shadows, looking at the relationships between each member as they deal with an unseen but ever-present outside force. What could this force be? Shadows is based on the idea of family members gathered around a dining table.
The piece has a semi-narrative structure and begins as a solo and develops into a duet, trio and finally a quartet.
Bruce typically allows his dancers to improvise, based on his stimulus, in the studio to let their personal style influence the movement. Therefore the movement created is appropriate to both the theme and the dancers in the piece. This is how he worked with Shadows.
Bruce knew that the table in the piece would become a part of the choreography rather than part of the set.
How could the use of the dancers’ improvisation have helped this?
Bruce designed the stereotypical 1930-40s style costumes for this piece. How did he clearly show the different genders?
There are no costume changes in the piece other than putting on the coats at the end. The coats and shoes that are put on at the end of the piece are to show that the family are preparing to leave the house. The son and daughter are wearing coats that are too big for them, again showing the poverty that the family is experiencing.
Why could he have chosen to use dull colours?
John B Read designed the lighting for Shadows.
The lighting is used to create a small intimate space on stage that makes it feel like a room.
What could this also do to the non-lit space?
Bruce designed the set/staging for Shadows which uses minimal set (stereotypical of a Bruce piece). Shadows uses a black-box style space (a blank space with bare floors and walls) within a theatre setting.
What can you see in the space? All of these items are battered and dull which confirms the idea of struggling for the family.
Because of the staging of the piece the audience has the feeling of being in the kitchen which is often regarded as the heart of the home.
What could this help to convey to the audience?