#Hexentanz With No End

[gbhbl]

Album Review: Client/Server – Hexentanz With No End (Self Released)

Dripping in dark atmosphere, the abstract nature of Client/Server’s post makes for an unusual experience, but then you have to take into account the dominance of doom, and it is doom that dominates.

Formidable riffs, cavernous rhythms and soaring dreamlike vocals shake the streets of Tokyo and combine to form post-metal doom band Client/Server. (un)Known as a noise/ambient band from Boston, the group was founded in 1999 by married duo Tom (formerly of punk/annoy band PigseX) & Jennifer (formerly of electronic-beat unit Hard Luck Woman Movie). During this era, they released two albums. In…

[doyouknowdarkness]

The Devil’s violinist...

Niccolò Paganini, (1782 – 1840), was such a virtuoso with the violin that most of his contemporaries were split into two groups: Those that argued that Paganini was possessed by the devil, and those that thought that he had made a pack with the devil. No-one believed that man alone can show such musical skill!

He began composing at seven and gave public performances when twelve, but by the age of sixteen he had descended into full blown alcoholism. He disappeared from the public eye only to emerge at age twenty-two as the violinist to end all violinists. Paganini was capable of playing three octaves across four strings in a hand span, a nearly impossible feat, even by today’s standards.

Paganini, was always dressed in black, dancing frantically whilst performing and having what one might call, a cadaverous physique (extremely tall and thin, coupled with pale skin, unnaturally long fingers and hollowed out eyes), did not make it easy on himself. “Flaming eyes” and “thin lips that held a sardonic smile”, was what his contemporaries described him like.

His deviant behavior coupled with a repertoire that would not be out of place in today’s left-field music, (his 1829 Berlin concert was billed “Hexentanz - Witches'  Dance”), plus the fact that he turned away the priest that came to give him the last rites, made the local churches initially refuse to give Paganini a Christian burial and accept his body into consecrated ground.

Paganini’s remains proved to have quite an adventurous afterlife as they have been twice embalmed, moved to 10 different locations, and have had a total of 6 burials. So you know what they say: There is no rest for the wicked ones….

+Trivia Obscura the game of dark knowledge and life style goes live on 29/10/2020 Join our kickstarter here...+

[thesorcerersapprentice]

The Witch in History #1: Victorian Era

“Despite an acknowledgement of the capacity of a male-ordered society to oppress and victimise women, witchcraft narratives and historical commentaries reinforce traditional concepts of femininity, associating acceptable womanliness with passivity, submission to authority, and chastity (or with guilt and repentance). A manly, unfeminine woman may—as a so-called sorceress or witch—tantalize or momentarily assume power, but such women are eventually revealed as wicked or ineffective, even ill-advised, in the challenge they mount to society. … For all its potential as a metaphor for transformation, witchcraft in Victorian writing provides opportunity, not for a radical critique and refashioning of social roles and expectations, but for a conservative reaffirmation of traditional structures of influence and power.” (Maureen Moran)

‘Medicine, especially, was the true Satanism, a revolt against disease, the merited scourge of God. Plainly sinful to stay the soul on its way towards heaven and replunge it into life!’

“Woman, then, is Satan’s chosen one, and Michelet underscores this fact numerous times. He ascertains, for example, that ‘Satan returns to his Eve. Woman is still that in the world which is most natural’.31 It is in her hand, Michelet says, that Satan lays ‘the fruit of science and of nature’.32 In particular, the witch was skilled in aiding other women with their medical problems and acting as a midwife.33 Further, the witch is the one whom ‘the weeping girl’ turns to in order to have an abortion. She also teaches the ‘miserable wife, burdened by the children born every year only to die’ how to ‘cool off the pleasure at the moment [of the man’s orgasm], render it barren’.34 In other words, the witch gives women power over their own bodies, which can be seen as a form of feminist practice.”

“Do not conclude too hastily from what I have said in the preceding chapter that my purpose is to whitewash, to clear of all blame whatever, the gloomy bride of the Evil One. If she often effected good, she was equally capable of grievous mischief. There is no great and irresponsible power that does not also abuse. … What power like that of Satan’s chosen bride, who heals, predicts, divines, evokes the spirits of the dead, can spell-bind you, turn you into a hare or a wolf, make you find a treasure, and, more than that, make you love! This terrible power that unites all the others! How should a violent spirit, all too often wounded, sometimes become very perverted, not have used it for the sake of hatred and vengeance, and for the pleasure in malice and impurity?“

“The Black Mass, in its primary aspect, would seem to be [a]‌ redemption of Eve, cursed by Christianity. Woman, at the sabbath, fills every function. She is priest, and altar, and consecrated host, whereof all the people take communion. At the bottom of things, is she not God himself?”

“The Devil’s Bride cannot be a child; she should be in full thirty years of age, with the face of a Medea and the beauty of sorrow; her eyes deep-set, tragic and feverish, with streams of serpents descending aimlessly, I speak of a torrent of black, untamable hair. Perhaps, on top of all, a crown of vervain, the funereal ivy, and the violets of death.”

According to Leland, the Italian witch, unlike her counterparts elsewhere in the world, usually comes from a family in which her craft has been passed down for several generations, with lineages that in some cases stretch all the way back to Roman or Etruscan times.112 This tradition has been kept alive in utmost secrecy, which it has in Leland’s opinion benefited from, since ‘witchcraft, like the truffle, grows best and has its raciest flavour when most deeply hidden’.

This is the Gospel (Vangelo) of the Witches:

DIANA greatly loved her brother LUCIFER, the god of the Sun and of the Moon, the god of Light (Splendor), who was so proud of his beauty, and for his pride was driven from Paradise.

DIANA had by her brother a daughter, to whom they gave the name of ARADIA [i.e. Herodias].

Thou who art daughter unto him who was Most evil of all spirits, who of old Once reigned in hell when driven away from heaven, Who by his sister did thy sire become, But as thy mother did repent her fault, And wished to mate thee to a spirit who Should be benevolent, And not malevolent!

Great Diana! Thou Who art the queen of heaven and of earth, And of the infernal lands—yea, thou who art Protectress of all men unfortunate, Of thieves and murderers, and of women too Who lead an evil life, and yet hast known That their nature was not evil, thou, Diana, Hast still conferred on them some joy in life.

And thou shalt teach the art of poisoning, Of poisoning those who are great lords of all; Yea, thou shalt make them die in their palaces; And thou shalt bind the oppressor’s soul (with power); And when ye find a peasant who is rich, Then ye shall teach the witch, your pupil, how To ruin all his crops with tempests dire, With lightning and with thunder (terrible), And with the hail and wind . . . And when a priest shall do you injury By his benedictions, ye shall do to him Double the harm, and do it in the name Of me, Diana, Queen of witches all! And when the priests or the nobility Shall say to you that you should put your faith In the father, Son, and Mary, then reply: ‘Your God, the Father, and Maria are Three devils (p.227) . . . ‘For the true God the Father is not yours; For I have come to sweep away the bad, The men of evil, all will I destroy!

‘For every woman is at heart a witch.’

Persecuted by man-made laws as she [woman] has ever been, and as eternally in revolt against them, there could be no more appropriate or deserving figure to be chosen as Patroness of the great fight for freedom than the much libelled, much-martyrized, long-enduring, eternally misunderstood Witch.182

Indeed, to be condemned as a witch was but to have an official seal set upon the highest compliment payable to a woman in more than one period of earth’s history, seeing that it marked her out from the dead level of mediocrity to which her sex was legally and socially condemned. … From Cleopatra or the Witch of Endor onwards, the exceptional woman has had the choice of effacing her individuality or of being regarded as an agent of the devil.183

Woman is more likely to become a witch because of ‘the greater quickness of her perceptions’, he states, something that is evident already in the Garden of Eden. Concerning this biblical event, Hueffer argues along the lines of, for example, The Woman’s Bible: ‘If Eve first gave the apple to Adam, she gave with it the future of civilised humanity.’184 A view of Satan as a cultural hero—similar to Michelet’s—is present in several places in this book as well, with (p.234) phrasings like the following: ‘It is to the search after the philosopher’s stone and the elixir vitae that we owe the discovery of radium. It was only by calling in the aid of the Devil that mankind acquired the prescience of a God.’

women viewers had the opportunity to behold and to evaluate the forbidden freedom and the empowerment of goddesses and enchantresses … instead of identifying with constricting Victorian-style attire and rooms full of knickknacks or lush gardens full of blossoms. Little was forbidden to the witch and her sisters, for they transcended mortal law. Unfettered by temporal imperatives, or even by the Victorian lady’s corset and yards of heavy dress material, sorceresses acted according to their own dictates.

women viewers had the opportunity to behold and to evaluate the forbidden freedom and the empowerment of goddesses and enchantresses … instead of identifying with constricting Victorian-style attire and rooms full of knickknacks or lush gardens full of blossoms. Little was forbidden to the witch and her sisters, for they transcended mortal law. Unfettered by temporal imperatives, or even by the Victorian lady’s corset and yards of heavy dress material, sorceresses acted according to their own dictates.190

The formidable beauty and glamour of the omnipresent Pre-Raphaelite witches in combination with their commanding, assertive postures must have furthered the enthusiasm this motif aroused in certain nineteenth-century women.

There were not, then, many female painters or sculptors portraying witches, and most of their works were far from subversive. However, we could also count dance as a form of visual representation of the motif, and the case of Mary Wigman’s (1886–1973) Hexentanz (‘Witch’s Dance’, 1914, new version in 1926) then presents an interesting example. 

What did Wigman’s witch dances look like, then? In a brief (50 seconds) film clip from 1929 or 1930 of Hexentanz II, we see Wigman wear a wig of dark, dishevelled hair, a ghostly female mask, and a flowing gown. Accompanied by percussion she sits, drums her feet against the ground, and moves around like a spider in a somewhat threatening manner.230 (p.245) The clip does not document the entire performance, but according to contemporary descriptions and photos, it ended with her rising up from the ground and lifting her hands above her head in a menacing fashion.

As we have seen, the demonization of women’s rights activists involved both hysteria and witches, creating a strange circularity between those who used witches as a positive symbol of female rebellion and those who used them to denigrate it. As for the up-valuation of witches, a further factor—which is more amorphous—is how Pre-Raphaelites and others made the visual representations of the figure romantic and glamorous from the 1860s onwards. The influence of this is less easy to trace immediately in the way we can often do with ideas stemming from reading the Malleus, Charcot, or Michelet. Nonetheless, this reworking of iconography also undoubtedly hovers somewhere in the background of the cultural renegotiation of the motif taking place around the year 1900, which led some to make the witch a champion of women’s liberation.

Source: Satanic Feminism: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture by Per Faxneld.

[awedbyhersplendor-blog]

Top ten songs of the moment list!

I was tagged by @gellavonhamster whose musical taste is just so great mine will sound quite ridiculous next to it! Thanks for tagging me! 

I’m not very good at ranking songs, so it’s a bit more like: my ten favourite songs right now!

I’m very curious about all of you and your music tastes so please, if you feel like sharing your favourite songs, consider yourself tagged by me! (And if you feel self-conscious... just look at my tastes aha!)

1. Tomb Mau Mau by Vampire Beach Babes. It’s funny, it’s catchy, it has vampires in it, I can’t stop listening to it! (I also always end up imagining the entire cast of Dead And Loving It dancing to it for a reason)

2. Gothic Surf-O-Rama by.... Vampire Beach Babes! I like this one because you can actually focus on things while listening to it instead of just singing along aha! I absolutely love VBB, I feel like they just capture the 80s horror movies spirit so well? I mean, could just not imagine the vampires from Lost Boys dancing to it? 

3. Evergreen by Ben Howard. This song is like... in my forever ton ten songs! The entire Burgh Island EP sounds like what I’m always looking for when I go hiking / camping.

4. Mark of the Witch by Hexentanz. There should always be a song that sounds like it’s come from the depths of the earth and below in your top ten! What else would you listen to during your night out with the forces of evil? It reminds me of Event Horizon, The VVitch and The Lair of the White Worm a lot too so that’s definitively a plus!

5. Trio n°2 in E-flat by Schubert. Yes, it’ s all because of The Hunger, but it’s also great to listen to for the study times! It’ s also great if you want to feel like an ancient creature wandering in marble halls with your great muslin robe trailing behind you as you face the passage of time unchanged, the heartache of having lost your humanity frozen in your cold, cold heart!

6. The Andromache by Bear McCreary. I mean, the entire Black Sails soundtrack, am I right??? But this one is like... motivational? I don’t know, I just enjoy listening to it when I study. 

7. Born To Die by Lana Del Rey. I found the live at the Chateau Marmont version of this song and it’ s so raw I get chills every time I listen to it!

8. Crazy Kids by Kesha. If you ever wondered how come everything I write is a mess, I feel like this top ten list might enlighten you a little aha! You must always have an up-beat song ready to lift you up when you’re feeling down. 

9. The Train by Carter Burwell. The entire Carol soundtrack should be here but Trains is one I apparently listened to the most? I’m listening to it whenever I write fanfics too so I’ve been listening to it a lot the last few days! 

10. My brain is in the cupboard above the kitchen sink by Alien Sex Fiend. ASF is always, always a Mood. Plus, it’s pretty much how I feel those days aha! 

[818zombie]

🦋🍭🎵

whats the big change you gone though recently

making my self better

would you say youre a loyal person

fuck yes i am

top 5 songs at the moment

the doors end of the night

king diamond- halloween

Alice Madness Returns Dollhouse

Hexentanz 1 Midnight Procession

Frowning - Murdered By Grief

[riffsstrides]

Michael Wollny & Vincent Peirani

Tandem

ACT Music, 2016

Michael Wooly, piano

Vincent Peirani, accordeon

German pianist Michael Wollny and French accordionist Vincent Peirani bring jazz, classical, folk and improvised music together in this fine recording- their first as a duo. ‘We prepared and arranged some of the pieces with great care, whereas we left others very free and completely open to the spontaneous ideas,’ says Wollny: their response to each other is so intuitive, it’s not always easy to tell which is which. They open with Song Yet Untitled, by Swiss singer Andreas Schaerer; the accordion’s deep portentous chords sound like an organ behind the wandering piano arpeggios. The surface is glassy and the slow chords almost rocky. The pensive melody resonates, like the theme tune to a movie in your mind. Wollny grew up loving Schubert and Romantic music, and Peirani learned classical music by transcribing it for accordion; both have a wide repertoire of ideas to draw on in their version of Barber’s Adagio for Strings. It’s culled to a couple of harmonised lines, sonorous and tautly emotive. It moves into a Steve Reich-like section with fast, intricate chords that repeat ecstatically before falling back to the main theme. Time expands and contracts, but it’s all over in a few minutes. Hunter turns Björk’s electro-pop into dark thrummed strings, as high piano notes drip onto the strong accordion groove: part flamenco, part Ravel’s Bolero. Wollny’s solo has rhythmic hints of Corea, with abstract shapes and huge crashing chords. He scratches and dampens the piano strings in almost menacing flourishes. Wollny and Peirani’s original tunes are at the core of the CD; you can hear their strong musical personalities pulling together and against each other. Wollny’s Bells has long atonal lines that chase each other like snowflakes in a blizzard- the album was recorded in the snow in Bavaria’s Schloss Elmau. It recalls the frenzy of one of his Hexentanz (‘witch dance’) pieces. It slips into swing, piano and accordion throwing boppy phrases to each other. In total contrast, Peirani’s mysteriously-named Did You Say Rotenberg? wrings strong feeling from a folk-edged three note minor motif, as the harmonies unwrap. Peirani toured with an Eastern European band, and there’s something of the Balkans in his colourful solo. Wollny adds jazzier harmonies, recalling Joachim Kühn in his angular solo. The two move in and out of phase with each other then come together like waves. Wollny’s Sirènes lures the listener in with a melodic riffs, dropping piano notes in unexpected places: they create lopsided timings and harmonies, changing colours over a still scene.  Each instrument has a solo section, thoughtful and deeply Romantic. In Peirani’s Uniskate, Wollny strums the piano strings like a harp or dulcimer behind the bright accordion melody, played with a sense of nostalgic yearning. The piano bass lines seem to hold back the time then push it forward. For a few bars, Peirani’s chords (almost swing) pull hard against Wollny’s flowing arpeggios, as if they might break loose from each other. The rhythmic tension is astounding, heightening the emotion of the piece. Gary Peacock’s Vignette has an intense treatment, a dark tango intensified by Peirani’s growling trills on the accordion: his blurred, fluttering sounds add a sense of mystery to the melody. Wollny’s solo is warm and expressive, echoing Peirani’s trills. When the piano melody returns, with high wistful accordion (accordina?) counter melodies, it’s especially beautiful. (As well as button accordion, Peirani plays accordina on the album- a kind of metal melodica- though it’s not easy to hear when.) Sufjan Stevens’ Fourth of July is slowed down, with rich textures filling the simple, tolling chords. This was recorded live at a concert following rehearsals at Schloss Elmau, as was Travesuras (written by Tomás Gubitsch, and Argentinian-born friend of Peirani.) Travesuras has an Hermeto Pascoal-like wild irreverence in its tango-influenced grooves; a slow central section heightens the fierce playfulness of Peirani’s solo working together with Wollny’s powerful grooves. Tucked away at the end of the track is a hidden song, unnamed. It’s Judee Sill’s The Kiss, with its classical cadences and plaintive melody: as gentle as a Brahms lullaby with harmonic twists to draw you in. This is the kind of album it’s hard to write about: the two are such instinctive and accomplished musicians, that you want to simply absorb yourself in the music, and share their ideas and moods. ‘My speciality is that I’m not a specialist,’ Peirani has said. ‘I’m always curious about music and I try to play music in my way. I don’t care about the style. There is no borderline.’

Alison Bentley  in londonjazznews.com

[yes-zeri]

Mary Wigman’s Hexentanz (Witch Dance) It gets pretty wild at the end

[filzwerk]

Michael🧔 verrät seine geheimsten Tricks.............. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 An Tagen, wenn es so richtig stressig in der FilzWerk-Werkstatt ist und du das Gefühl hast, die Welt würde auf dem Kopf stehen..................... Wenn zig Internet-shop-Aufträge schnell fertig und noch ganz ganz viele Produkte für den nächsten Kunsthandwerkermarkt gemacht werden müssen. Wenn die Fotos für die nächste Landlust-Werbung noch fotografiert und das Werbevideo für unseren YouTube-Kanal www.FilzWerk....TV noch zu Ende gedreht werden muss. Wenn noch schnell neue faltbare Sitzkissen, in einem neuen Design, mit einem Muster aus Helmi´s Einhornpupswolle gefilzt werden sollen. Und wenn die Zeitung noch davon erfahren soll, dass wir mit den neuen Hausschuhmodellen "HEXENTANZ und WALDLÄUFER-SCHICHERHEITS-HAUSSCHUH (mit Sicherheit warme Füße 😂😂😂)".für den deutschen Staatspreis für das Kunsthandwerk NRW nominiert sind........................................................ und dass alles bei schwülem Wetter, wo einem der Schweiß nur so den Rücken runter läuft,........................ Dann muss man halt einfach ganz ganz lieb💏💏💏 zueinander sein, um nicht am Rad zu drehen. An solchen Tagen überrasche ich Barbara gerne mal mit einem Strauß Blumen, oder einem Milchshake und ein wenig Nervennahrung (zb. ein Stück Schokolade) oder einem schönen Mittagessen. Danach sieht die Welt doch schon gleich wieder ganz anders aus.😀👍 Euch allen einen schönen Tag, mit wenig Stress und viel Freude an kleinen Dingen😆 GGLG 💕 euer Michael von FilzWerk Mehr anzeigen http://www.filzwerk.tv/?fbclid=IwAR1JJvo4Otoy65krKE8FpQZ84WPmyXRqWb8bXG3UpL0O8G9DVtYeoSAdFkc

[jill-chew-blog]

Week 4

1. Isadora Duncan believed that the human soul is housed in the solar plexus, the spot between our ribcage. When we dance, the soul must project outwards to reach the audience, which in return will affect them in ways that they do not even realize. Isadora's movements are always projected from the chest, always wide and open. It stays true to her theory of dance being the manifestation of the soul. Her choreography is a kinesthetic experience, a sense of awareness of the body.

In my opinion, modern day contemporary choreographies are lacking soul. In a dance competition, choreographers emphasizes on tricks, the number of pirouettes, and flexibility to capture the audience and judge's attention.  Choreographers mindlessly throw in aerials, backflips and scorpions to showcase a dancer's strength and flexibility, creating choreographies that look similar to each other. An example of a choreography that cleverly highlighted the dancers' strength without losing the essence of soul is 'If It Kills Me' choreographed by Travis Wall. Jeanine and Jason - If it kills me

2. In Hexentanz (Witch Dance), Wigman sits crossed legged and creates bizarre and eerie arm gestures which I think perfectly suits the title of the dance. After some research on the Net, I discovered that Wigman focused on bodily movement, and used minimal theatrical sets. She dances free from music, finding rhythm through the exploration of body movements before adding minimal music into her dance after. Therefore, in the Witch Dance, her movements led the music.

This was the same concept used by our group while choreographing the site-specific dance. We choreographed based on motifs and spatial awareness and chose our music after. However, we decided not to include any music in our end product as we felt that the music does not complement our movements.  

3. In ballet terms, women are portrayed as feminine, graceful characters, with wide exploration of the dance space. In contrary to Graham's choreography, the sole dancer in the video was very immobile. The dancer was cladded from top to toe in a big piece of cloth while performing very abstract movements. Besides that, she was very immobile, only performing on a stool, which is another quality that differs significantly from ballet. 

4. In The Green Table, Jooss made a clear of incorporating costumes and sets in the narrative, as is the case with ballet productions. However, most elements of ballet were eliminated, such as grace and elegance. Flexed wrists and feet, hyperextended arms and bending the body forward were uncommon steps in ballet, but in The Green table, they were used for its expressive value. Some dancers gestured with softer hand movements, which may symbolize a submissive politician. While on the contrary, some dancers made strong and clear arms movements, which may symbolize a dominant politician who headed most decision makings.

The political elements were made clear with the choice of music and choreography. When the politicians from both parties danced in unison, the music was softer and calmer, which I interpreted as a sense of mutual understanding and agreement. However, soon after, the politicians divided into their respective parties again and the choreography returned to its rougher movements and the music picked up pace to create intensity. The politicians may have conflicting and clashing opinions and are unable to settle with an agreement. This scene is realistic to modern day politicians.

5. Actions, repetitions and extensions were three key elements used in Passacaglia. I interpreted this dance piece as a story about authority, hierarchy and the Higher Power. When there is a contrasting action between a large number of dancers and the main dancers, it usually shows the differentiation between the leaders and followers. The followers were treated like slaves, always bowing to their leaders and even curling their bodies to form walkways for their leaders.

6. In Balanchine's modern pieces, he allowed bodies to move in ways that ballet wouldn't. Flexed feet, sway of the hips, different and unlimited arm movements were a few examples. His modern choreography is heavily influenced by ballet, but he always makes thing interesting by mixing it with modern steps.

In the video, one obvious example was the basic human mode of transportation - walking. However, the dancers walked in a very upright pose, with chin high in the air, which shows the aristocracy of ballet.

7. In Second Hand, the Cunningham played with directions.  As quoted by Reynolds in the slide, Cunningham "attempted to radically erase and reconstruct movement memory". There was no sense of the 'front' in the piece (where most time is the audience). The dancers shifted directions mid-way through a phrase and focused on where their bodies were facing.

Most of the time, the dancers were dancing through the music, rather than in time with the tune of the piano. There were very subtle moments where the dancers were in time with the music. The dancers continued moving even though the music paused. Therefore, Cunningham may have adopted the Wigman's technique, of choreographing first and inserting a musical piece after. It is an idea where the dance and music can work independently while co-existing in the same time and space. The movements and music does not interrupt each other.

8. In Rainer's choreography, the quality of the movements are very stagnant. There is a lack of dynamic movements. The movements were not very technical as well. My interpretation on this choreography is about everyday life routines and everyday life people. The dancers were dressed in very casual wear and the movements weren't very technical.  

9. The stage adopted a minimal setting, with just the bodies of the dancers occupying the space. I think that was suited for the dance from a storytelling point of view as the dancers moved frenziedly in the vast and unknown space. A red cloth was used to give a better understanding of the story. The dancer that had the red cloth was the chosen one, however not in a good way as the audience are so often told. The dancers threw the red cloth around, trying to get rid of it. At the end, a group of male dancers entered the stage and surrounded the chosen one, as she desperately tried to escape.

The lighting of the stage was constant throughout the piece. It casted shadows over the dancers' faces and bodies, creating a solemn look while accentuating the dancers' physique.

The movements were repetitive, all the while being in sync with the music. The dancers picked up pace as the music intensified and danced in unison when the music was strong and loud. The choreography and music were working together, in contrast with Wigman and Cunningham's choreography.

10. The speed of the choreography looks improvised, but in fact the patterns are meticulously planned out. Therefore, the choreography may seem very relaxed and comes easy and natural to the dancers. Every joint of the body is very connected in this piece. A dip of the shoulder would lead to a ripple in the torso and a swing in the arms or legs.

11. Lock's choreography is fearless and full of dynamics. The dancers leap in gravity-defying heights, twisting mid-air and crashing into the floor. Only to get back up and continue dancing with the same initial energy. There were gender-bending qualities in the dance as well. The female dancer was topless and even performed roles a male dancer are typically given. She lifted her partner, spun him around and tossed him in the air which requires a lot of power and strength.

12. Forsythe's choreography is the deconstructing of ballet. He challenges the notion of structure and correct usage by twisting and pulling the geometry of ballet. I saw influences of physical/experimental theatre as the dancers were physically challenged to create big and heavy movements.  

This art work includes gender bending qualities as well. Instead of being a mere accessory to support his fellow partner, the male dancer was highlighted throughout the dance even when his partner was present on stage. Male dancers are often used as tools to accentuate his partners, and not given much time to shine during partner works. This common approach to choreography is being challenged and broken down as choreographers allow men to be expressive dancers and female to showcase their strength.

13. Hofesch Schecter - His choreography shares similarity with Pina Bausch's choreography. The subdued tone/lighting on stage, minimal settings, repetitive movements and group choreography as the music intensifies were common qualities in both choreographies.

Crystal Pite - Strong Language - NDT 1 - Crystal Pite was tutored under Forsythe and it comes as no surprise that her choreography is greatly influenced by Forsythe. Forsythe's use of physical/experimental movements were evident through the heaviness of each movement. The eerie and dark choreography also reminded me of Wigman's Witch Dance.

Emanuel Gat - The formation of the choreography is very similar to Trisha Brown's dance piece. A group of dancers would be on stage performing their own sequence of steps at a slow and relaxed pace.

Wayne McGregor | Random Dance (long version) - I could find influences of Forsythe in Wayne McGregor's choreography. Ballet is deconstructed into more bold and heavy movements. The body is in constant movement and is seldom at rest. McGregor and Forsythe both play with lighting and visual arts to enhance their choreography.

Anouk Van Dijk - A group of dancers were placed into a 'greenhouse' made out of clear windows. Therefore, they did not have a clear 'front' as they were surrounded by audience members, which is similar to Cunningham's choreography. Van Dijk's choreography was physically demanding in terms of strength and stamina, evidently portrayed through the dancers wildly swinging their arms around, climbing up pillars and increasing the intensity of their movements in time with the music. This could be a nod towards Lock's choreography.

Garry Stewart - 'Be Yourself' had the musicality from Graham's choreography, demands of strength and technique from Lock's dance piece and the bizarre and eerie gestures from Wigman's Witch dance. These 3 elements combined made up a very interesting and abstract dance piece. It was also a piece that explored the human body in unimagined ways as the dancers flopped, flipped and tumbled across the stage. The dance piece proved to be ambitious and complex.

14. For this question, I have chosen Garry Stewart's 'Be Yourself'.

'Be Yourself' is a physically demanding dance work. Dancers are required to have the strength and agility of a gymnast, acrobat, break dancer and contemporary dancer gelled together. The sounds that accompanied the dancers such as creaks, moans, taps, sawing, breaking, screeching and panting provided a humorous theme amidst the chaos.

Motifs were frequently used in this piece. Each dancer repeated different motifs under the spotlight. It remains unclear what the motifs represent from the video which only showcased highlighted clips from the whole production. Difference in speed was another key choreographic element. At one point, the dancers were dancing at a stop-start pace which coincided really well with the music.

The key motifs were the intense never-before-seen flips and tricks. The isolations of limbs and joints at a stop-start pace is also constant throughout the choreography.

Stewart took Lock's level of intensity and physical demand from the dancers' bodies to a whole new level because Stewart created flips and tricks that was never deemed possible until today. Besides that, the dancers in 'Be Yourself' were required to be musically precise in order for the choreography to take effect.

15. Throughout the years, the expectations of a dancer has been increased significantly. In the 21st century, dancers have a training routine that is every bit as rigorous as an athletes'. Besides that, dancers don’t just stick to dance. They are required to perform tricks like an acrobat or gymnast.