Choreography Designer – Creating Routes: Turns, Travel, Sleep, and Rotation

These tutor notes are intended for attendees of this Harleyquin workshop.  The benefits of making them available via the web outweigh the likelihood that others may stumble across them.  If you have not attended this workshop, please consider attending or supporting Harleyquin Workshops.  More info HERE

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Tutor:  Eva Harley (EvaHarley Resident)
Last updated: 7/28/2018

Workshop Summary:

Geared for those who know the basics, our focus now turns to participants building a complete route for a dancer.  After a brief review of the types of movement, sleep, travel time, and an introduction to turn time, participants will first be creating a route based on simple directions, then will build a route of their own creation from start to finish.  A very hands on practical workshop with lots of interaction and support.

Workshop Notes:

Focus for Today

Putting the pieces together to create your own route.  Play, stretch, and become familiar.

Tools are wonderful and give so much flexibility and opportunity in creating a dance.  There are two pieces to every tool, however.  There are the technical aspects – click on this button, move this, paste that.  There is also the creative aspect – how to USE the tool to enhance your creativity.  Today our goal is to apply the technical aspects of how to use the tool and focus on applying it.

Every tool has a learning curve as you begin to use it.  Creativity can be slower to realize as you work your way through using the tools, fumbling a bit, learning as you go.  At times it can feel overwhelming and discouraging.

Don’t!  With practice and play, it will become more familiar to you, easier to use.  There will come a day that the tool becomes second nature and your creativity becomes center stage instead of the tool itself.  That is our goal, finding our way there.

Review

Everyone participating in this workshop should own the Choreo Designer version 2.0.  You’ve also hopefully become familiar with the basics – what a waypoint, designer ring, and mover are, and also the technical aspects of how to use them.

Let’s Begin!

Types of Movement

The Spot On Choreo Design System allows an almost unlimited type of movements to enhance your dance.  You can control the movement of your dancers with this system, and also your objects.  Note – this system is purely to move dancers, not animate them.

MOVE – from point A to B

MOVE – rise and lower

MOVE – rotation

MOVE – pivot

MOVE – turns

  1. Review of sleep time and travel time
  2. An introduction to the new turn time feature in version 2.0
  3. Activity – follow basic instructions to create a  route
    1. every participant will be given a list of basic instructions to build a route which we will work through together and individually for those ready for more challenge.  Example:
      • start your dancer facing forward, have them sleep for 5 seconds
      • move forward for 5 seconds
      • move forward for 8 seconds at an angle, turn time of 4 seconds, sleep 5 seconds
      • move your dancer backward for 8 seconds, sleep for 2 seconds
      • turn your dancer to face the audience for 0.5 seconds
      • move your dancer forward for 2 seconds
      • angle your dancer up for 0.5 seconds (think of a plane taking off)
      • have your dancer angle up and forward 2m off the ground for 3 seconds, then sleep for 5 seconds
      • rotate your dancer so they are still 2m off the ground but now parallel to the floor (not angled), facing the audience, sleep for 3 seconds
      • bring your dancer down flat to the floor for 2 seconds
  4. Review of our route
  5. Activity – Participants create a route of their own choice, minimum of 8 waypoints.
  6. Review and Questions