Staging Dance To NormanMorrice and Maria O'Connor Staging Dance Susan Cooper Forewordby David Wall CBE ~l Routledge ! ~ Taylor & Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK First published1998 A & C Black (Publishers)Limited This edition published2016 by Routledge 2 ParkSquare, Milton Park, Abingdon,Oxon , OX14 4RN 7ll Third Avenue,New York, NY 10017,USA Routledgeis an imprint ofthe Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1998Susan Cooper All rights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be reproduced in any form or by any means-graphic,electronic or mechanical,including photocopying,recording, tapingor informationstorage and retrievalsystems - without theprior permissionin writing of the publishers. A CIP cataloguerecord for this book is availablefrom the British Library. ISBN 978-0-87830-081-5(pbk) CIP catalogrecord available at the Library of Congress. Typesetin 10 on llY.!pt Palatino Cover photos Front Main photo by Pete Jones is of Cyn Dee Too in Pleasant and Correct by Kazia Rudewicz for Royal Academy of Dancing College Workshop'95. Smaller photo (above) by Bhajan Hunjan is of 'fire' section from Samsaraproject 1995 , showingthe floor paintingdescribed on page126 . Smaller photo (below) by ChristopherBaines is of the Jiving Lindy Hoppers. Back Photoby Focuson Danceshows Greasepaint School of Make-up makingup a youngdancer for Horoscopeby Gail Taphouse. FOREWORD There is of courseno substitutefor experience,but to be able to sharein that of othersis invaluable. As a young dancer, performing the roles of Siegfried in Swan Lake, Colasin La Fille Mal Gardee,Albrecht in Giselle, Romeoin Romeoand Juliet, for the first time, I had the help of not only thechoreographers, choreolo- gists and ballet mastersbut more importantly was able to sharein the experiencesof Rudolf Nureyev,David Blair andChristopher Gable. Their generosity in imparting their knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm helped me to sculpt my interpretationsand gave me the security to becomean artist, not just a fine dancer. It is with this samegenerosity that SusanCooper has written STAGING DANCE. Shehas such a wealth of experienceand love for dance.She has covered in its pagesthe full spectrumof expertiseneeded to stage a performance,a uniquebook which I know will help andenlighten all who readit. David Wall CBE Contents Acknowledgments viii Introduction 1 PART ONE 1 The venue 5 2 Flooring 18 3 Choreography 21 4 Music and sound 35 5 Design 48 6 Sets 52 7 Props 59 8 Costumesand make-up 63 9 Lighting 79 10 Stagemanagement 89 11 Administration,funding, marketing,publicity 96 12 Rehearsalsand productionweek 101 13 Health and safety, sanity and therapy 107 PART TWO PROFESSIONALDANCE COMPANIES 109 The Jiving Lindy Hoppers 109 GreenCandle Dance Company 113 STAGING DANCE WITH YOUNG PEOPLE 115 TransitionsDance Company 115 The PeterWilliams Designfor DanceProject 119 Staginga traditional ballet on studentdancers 121 Royal Ballet EducationProject 124 JoyceButler Schoolof Dancing 126 Appendix: film/video resources,bibliography and further reading,useful addresses 129 Index 134 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thanks are due to everyonewith whom I have worked in the theatre- dancers, choreographers,directors, composers,musicians, designers, technicaland administrativestaff - and as a teacher.Particularly David Dean, who has inspired many creative activities, and Susan Danby, Principal of the Collegeof the Royal Academyof Dancingfor recognising the value of production experiencein dancetraining. Also Christopher Davey, David Platerand Joy Duffett. Specialthanks to Darryl Jaffray, Head of Education,The Royal Ballet; RachelLightfoot, RebeccaHanson, Bhajan Hunjan, Jo Maund,Tim Sutton, Jonathan Petter; Bill Cratty and Lars Jensen of Transitions Dance Company; Terry Monaghan and Eileen Feeney, The Jiving Lindy Hoppers;Fergus Early, Green Candle Dance Company;Lloyd Newson and Leonie Gombrich,DV8 PhysicalTheatre; Joyce Butler; JudithMaden, Arts EducationalLondon School; ShanMaclennan, Royal Festival Hall; Bill Deverson,Blitz '96; Teerth Chungh, CochraneTheatre; Val Bourne, Dance Umbrella; Annie Lincoln, English National Ballet; Glen Morgan; Peter Farley, Malcolm Stewart and Peter Docherty of Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design; Mary Clarke; Mollie Davies; Ann Whitley; StuartBeckett; Val Hitchen. Royal Academy of Dancing, Chief Executive David Watchman, Carolyn Parker,Mandy Payneand students. Cristina Aguiar, Paul Armstrong, Mike Concah, Dee Conway, Susan Crow, Gadi Dagon, Chris Davies, Focus on Dance, Hugo Glendinning, Tim Griffiths, Tony King, Martin Meyer, Chris Nash, Brian Slater, AnastasiaShorter and Angela Taylor for photographs. Tesni Hollandsand Anne Watts for all their adviceand encouragement. Vlll Introduction 'I neverin my life setmy feeton a stagewithout thinking of its magicand my destiny' Ruth St Denisin The Art ofMaking Dancesby Doris Humphrey M y aim is to help you create the magic of danceonstage. Some s tages you will encountermay appear, at first glance,to possessprecious little magic: a freezinghall with a slippery floor is a typical example. The magic will certainly have to be createdby you, both as a dancerand in how you adaptand makethe most of the unpromisingspace. An expressivebody performing beautiful and exciting movements can be spellbinding in its own right without the addition of glamorous costumesor dramatic sound effects. However, most audiencesexpect to enjoy a dance performancecomplete with even the most minimal staging features: live or prerecordedmusic or sound, simple but effective lighting, and costumeswhich enhancethe intention of the choreographer.The y will expect the show to run smoothly: the dancersto bewe ll rehearsed,the sound qu ality to beadequate, and t he venue to have good sightlines. Theseexpectations w ill prevail, whether they are watching a major ballet or a modemdan ce companyin a well-appointed theatre with all the resourcesof regularfunding, full-time staff and dancers,or at the other end of the scale,a small youth dancegr o·tip with no funding or full-time back-up, andexisting largel y on the dedicationa nd goodwill of its participants. Comparedwith theother ar ts, danceis oftent reated like the poorrelation in terms of recognitionand funding, yet as an art form it usesth e mostbasic form of human expression,the body. In its different forms, dance is practised and enjoyed everywhere,whe ther asa social,religious or theatricalac tivity, andevery culture h as its uniquedance tr aditions.Only a few, however, earna living from it, and for those who do, it is a short career. One definition of the terms' professional' and 'amateur' suggeststhe former has enough training and experience to demandand receive a salary,whereas the latter neitherre questsnor receivesa salaryfor his or herwork. In dramaand music th ere may exist a clear dividing line betweenthese two positions,but in danceth ere are many areasof work which fall somewhereb etweenthe two. A professional or amateurth eatre group might produceShe Stoopsto Conqueror The Mikado, whereas only a professionalba llet companywill put on SwanLake. In thespecia lised world of ballet, there is no equivalentto the tradition of amateurdramatics, so thereare no dentistsor florists by day who becomeOdette-Odile by night! Howevermany activities arebeing staged in a variety of settings in modern, tap, national and social dance,as we ll asballet. Many youngpeople today are engaged 1 2 Introduction in dance, whether as a hobby, at school studying at GCSE, A and AS Level, or undertakingprofessional training at a vocationalschool or on a dancedegree. Whilst there is fine writing in books and specialist dance magazineson the individual aspectslike choreography,design and music, relatively little hasbeen written on all the stagingelements together, in a practicalformat. Like all theatreactivities, a danceperformance is the result not of one person's endeavour,but thatof many,so this book is aimednot only at thoseon the danceside of a production, but also musiciansand designersworking alongsidethem, and thoseinvolved on the technicaland administrativeside. Part One coversthe different areasinvolved in the stagingprocess. The practical suggestionsare written at a basic level, and I have suggestedsources of further informationfor moreexperienced practitioners. These include videos of danceworks which illustrate certain aspectsdiscussed in the text and which can give ideasand inspirationfor more ambitiousprojects. Further reading is given at the end, and the namesand addressesof supportingorganisations. PartTwo givesexamples of a numberof dancecompanies and projects. It is hoped that they will show how the elementsoutlined in the first sectionwork in practice. Every projectand company works as a whole, with anartistic aim, groupidentity, and setof practicallimitations. No single aspectof stagingworks in isolation from all the others.The book is concernedwith practicalities,as determinedby the artistic ideals which underliethem. It is suggestedthat you read the whole book through,once, to get an idea of the overall processand the variety of situationsin which dancemakersfind themselves. Having had a tasteof the opportunitiesand limitations you will encounter,go back and rereadPart One, assessinghow the information containedthere can be adapted to your own situation. I haveassumed that you are without significant financial supportfor your work. In periodsof recession,when the arts are often considereda luxury, the difficulty of finding resourcescan seeman overwhelmingobstacle for many dancers.Excellent ideasand