Choreomusical Analysis

In order to consider a phenomenon with more useful conclusions, it is very important to define precisely the terminology, circumstances and concepts. In fact, the variables in the study are reduced to the most essential ones that allow to reason objectively, based on established conditions. In the case of the present report, we aim to specify in what environment and with what characteristics the relationship between music and dance develops in a stage work. The goal is, through choreomusicology, to observe these relationships between the score and the choreography, especially in the Bulgarian stage dance art. The scientific methods used are: descriptive, documentary and comparative. We first specify the focus on poetics and aesthetics, before considering what the stage performance covers on the Bulgarian folklore basis, after clarifying what is useful for our purposes the role of the dancer on stage. Part of the conclusions is that the explained conditions for the stage work predispose to more fruitful analyzes and can help to build more refined works.

Keywords: Choreomusicology, music, dance, score, choreography, choreomusical relationships, aesthetics, poetics, stage performance, spectacle, dancer.

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За да се разглежда едно явление с по-полезни изводи е много важно да се определи точно терминологията, обстоятелствата и понятията. В действителност, променливите в изследването се свеждат до най-съществените, които позволяват да се разсъждава обективно, на базата на установени условия. В случая на настоящия доклад, целим да  уточним в каква среда и с какви характеристики се развива връзката между музика и танц в сценично произведение. Целта е, чрез хореомузикологията да се наблюдават тези взаимоотношения между партитурата и хореографията, особено в българското сценично танцувално изкуство. Използваните научни методи са: описателен, документален и сравнителен. Първо уточняваме фокуса върху поетиката и естетиката, преди да разглеждаме какво покрива сценичното представление на българската фолклорна основа, след като изясняваме каква е полезната за нашите цели роля на танцьора на сцена. Част от изводите е, че пояснените условия за сценичното произведение предразполагат за по-плодоносни анализи и могат да спомагат за изграждане на по-съвършени творби.

Ключови думи: Хореомузикология, музика, танц, партитура, хореография, хореомузикални взаимоотношения, хореомузикални връзки, естетика, поетика, спектакъл, представление, танцьор

This article is based on a lecture-demonstration that described and discussed a spectrum of different principles for choreo-musical  relationships. The specific examples shown were selected from traditional Norwegian dance and music and consist partly of live dancing and music and partly of films from my fieldwork. Since I am researching dance rather than music, dance is my main point of departure. The material has been presented through my teaching, and some of it is referred to in my other works. However, I have not published any specialised articles on the topic, and thus the opportunity to do so now is very welcome.
The article is based on two principles:
1. The assumption that choreo-musical relationships are culturally grown1 and cannot be expected to match simple general principles.
2. On a structural level, the primary sources for the study of choreo-musical relationships are recordings which capture realisations of dance and music in interaction, allowing a holistic approach to transcription.
Analysis of Norwegian material shows that there is a wealth of variation in how such relationships function. Many of these have been ignored by the often prescriptively oriented dance and music notation systems. Questions of perception and emic understanding are also decisive in the
description and interpretation of often surprising relationships, and we end up by asking if and how choreo-musical relationships might or should influence the notation of dance music.

This article introduces the theme and contents of this double issue on choreomusicology. It summarizes the historical development of research focusing on the relationship of music and dance, or sound and movement, especially within music and dance studies, but also in other disciplines. The authors advocate the term choreomusicology as an umbrella term for the various approaches used to investigate music-dance interrelations and related topics such as embodied music interaction. The focus is on combining views from ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology, which offer new potential to choreomusical research with their culturally sensitive insights based on ethnographic fieldwork, often including practical understanding of the traditions studied.

The use of music in sports routines that involve choreography is inevitable, and the appropriateness between the two is taken into account for awarding points in competitions. In dance, theatre, or in firm music, the use of music in choreography displays the subjectivity of interpretation to a certain extent due to preferences, background of audience, coach, and composer. However, more scientific and fundamental aspects shared between music and movement can provide a better perception of a particular routine. This study reports an experiment on a rhythmic gymnastics routine to investigate whether an increased congruence between music and movement enhances the perception of sports quality from a musical perspective. In the experiment, the original music accompaniment was changed with a new composition to increase the congruence between music and movement using six parameters including tempo, rhythm, phrasing, accent, direction, and dynamic. Fifty-two undergraduate music majors evaluated two videos of the same routine in a questionnaire regarding the qualities of the performance. Apart from motivation, the results show that the sports qualities with the new accompaniment were significantly perceived better than the original version.

The research project on which we report here grew from a basic set of conditions, among others, the situation of dance research in general, the status of folk dance in Norway, and the research environment at the Rff-Centre.
- Seen from most perspectives, dance research is a new subject. Many disciplines have studied dance, each from their viewpoint, and have been able to do so without going deeply into the actual substance from which dance is built - human movement.
- We can hardly accept dance research as an independent and fully developed discipline unless
researchers have the methodology and competence to study dance as movement. For folk dance research it is crucial to develop analytical methods for the study of dance as movement-based culture.
- Folk dance and the music which belongs to it are important parts of Norwegian cultural heritage. If we are going to carry this heritage further in a faithful way, with the functions which contemporary society offers, we need to develop knowledge and competence which have not previously been necessary.

Sondra Horton Fraleigh posits that "aesthetic value is basic to everything we call dance". , I discuss if one basis for all dancing really can be found? I want to challenge dance art's tendencies to argue about intrinsic values shared by all kinds of dance. I start this by recounting a recent personal experience with a one and a half your old boy, showing how dancing can be a vital framework for social interaction, and where the interaction is the core value of dance.

The paper gives an insight into the author's current Master's project. It explores the
possibilities that open up when using new technologies within movement analysis. In this
work Motion Capture analysis is used to examine the relationship of the basic movement in
capoeira, called ginga, to musical factors, primarily the beat. The study serves as an
exploratory attempt to discover what Motion Capture technology can contribute to
movement analysis, especially the intricate relation of movement and music. Furthermore,
the results can give insight into the perception of music of the dancing/moving person and
show culturally embodied ways of learning and understanding.

SMT Session: Music and Motion

Since 1913, critics and music scholars alike have debated the aesthetic merits of Igor Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring from various musical standpoints, but they often overlook one critical aspect: ballet. Since this music was initially conceived to correspond with dance in a total artwork, exploring choreography can add additional depth to analysis and discussion. Rhythmic analysis of the original choreography of the Rite defends Stravinsky against those who take umbrage with his static displacements, repetitiveness, and supposed non-development. I show how “development” happens when the changing accents of the dancers’ steps provide a counterpoint against the metrical accents in the music.

First this paper contrasts various perspectives of Stravinsky’s music, drawing on discussions by music theorists Justin London and Pieter van den Toorn regarding cognitive aspects of disrupted entrainment possibilities. Next I use dance historian Millicent Hodson’s reconstruction score with detailed notes from Stravinsky’s score in conjunction with the Joffrey Ballet’s 1987 production to analyze the musical accents of the dancers’ steps. I focus on “Ritual of Two Rival Tribes,” discussing how the dancers’ phrases align or contradict the musical fragments, which are themselves metrically displaced against the underlying 4/4 meter. I take this in-depth look at a section of the original choreography to show how exploring dance steps provides a different perspective. Taking this inclusive approach today not only contributes to a richer musical discussion, it allows us to better understand the audience experience at the 1913 premiere. 


Also presented at Pacific Northwest Music Graduate Student Conference (2014)

Importing tuning systems and temporal structures from both ancient and non-Western music into their compositions, West-Coast American composers Henry Cowell, Harry Partch, and Lou Harrison became known as “ultra-modernists.” Mark Morris’s choreography to their music reflects not only these audible components but also their external references, displaying a deep understanding of the composers’ work.  Like these composers, Morris thrived on self-education that went beyond Western subjects in his childhood and youth. At the same time, Morris makes many references in these works to the pioneers of American modern dance, suggesting a self-reflexive process that makes his work less ultra-modern and more postmodern.

A metric model is proposed which incorporates different phases of a single meter. Metric irregularities are interpreted in this model as phase shifts. A phase-shift analysis of three problematic passages from Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring reveals a discourse of metric events not bound by sequence. Van den Toorn's concept of metric polarity is invoked although modified to explain the aesthetic impact of these shifts.

The current study compares traditional practices of fight-dancing in West Sumatra with the progressive practices of fight-dancing in West Java. The desire to study instances of fight-dancing where both music and movement come together in performance meant that the research methodology had to be adapted to each location. Among the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, music and martial arts do not come together except in performances for local festivals and religious events. Among the Sundanese of West Java, music and martial arts can be practiced together and are often featured together in regional, national and international competitions, as well as at local festivals and religious events. Research in West Sumatra demanded constant travel to see performances in various villages, while research in West Java permitted a more centralised fieldsite in Bandung.

From a neuroanthropological perspective, this research was motivated by a desire to understand the co-evolutionary and co-developmental relationship between brains and culture. Neuroanthropology is a field of research concerned with the reiterative causality between brains, culture and the environment. Learning fight-dancing alters neural processes inside the brain as practitioners attempt to acquire new abilities. This act of learning involves physiological, perceptual, and cognitive changes in the student’s body. Concomitantly, teaching fight-dancing involves changes in cultural content so that student practitioners can more easily acquire the music and movement. Those changes that make fight-dancing more easy to be acquired enable the art to be taught to a larger number of students at any one time. Neural changes are cumulative and transformative within the lifetime of individuals. Cultural changes are cumulative and transformative across successive instances of transmission.