Violence In Modern Dance
The approaches led by Martha Graham Dance Company are very basic to the contemporary dance culture. The paper presents the elements of violence in two of the contemporary dances by Martha Graham Dance Company. These are Night Journey and Clytemnestra. The approach is to analyse these contemporary art from and the use of elements of violence to provide a message to the spectators.
Elements of Violence
The theme of ‘Night Journey’ refers to the violence led over Jocasta and Oedipus, where Jocasta hangs herself and Oedipus drags out his eyes. It gets presented by a group of women who are delivering dance through movements led by each part of their body. It then introduces a couple representing Jocasta and Oedipus and the pain and act of violence that occurred to them. There are random movements following an aggressive music. The music in itself creates the sense of violence. The group of women are the presenting the repressed format of patriarchal form of society. The body languages reveal pain and the passion to grave. All dressed in black add the elements of grief and sufferance. The dance reveals postures where the palms are kept all open in the mode of craving. There are stiff steps with hands in front, as if wanting to reach to something and still unable to get it. The movements like covering eyes with hands and protective body postures makes the spectator feel the tortures that continues over women in society.
‘Clytemnestra’ features has the score made by Egyptian-born music and scene composer Halim El-Dabh. Like ‘Night Journey’ music is not aggressive but is definitely about revealing a hard core pain and exhaustion. It is here that a couple reveals the pain and the sources of both physical and mental tortures. The woman displays a snake, providing a mirror image of Eve who was lulled by Satan. The woman reveals exhaustion and the rest of the troupe adds elements of pain to the expressions. Expressions of being suppressed and oppressed by violent situations are the elements transferred to the spectators. There are movements representing the elements of rejection and ultimate acceptance of dominance. The chair that rules and adds violence and elements of suppression to society has been added to the act to show the ruling authority of society.
In both the acts, the sources of violence have been depicted by facial and body languages. The selections of color for the costumes of the characters too are additional elements of adding suppressions and dominance led in contemporary society. The use of black and outlines made by golden or silver specifies the mark of restrictions and the denial to any sense of freedom or liberty. There is an absolute use of Release Technique’ used in both ‘Night Journey’ and ‘Clytemnestra’. The approaches are straight and the message to violence gets narrated in a very expressive way.
Conclusion
It can be thus concluded that being the oldest dance company in America, Martha Graham Dance Company understands the development of modernity in the contemporary society and presents its point of views through its dances (Horosko, 2002). Since contemporary dance is all about expressions and body movements, Martha Graham Dance Company expresses every context of the script with appropriate movements (Olsen and McHose, 2004). Open arms and open foot movements cover the mental periphery of the spectators and helps in conveying the elements of the dance. In ‘Night Journey’ and ‘Clytemnestra’ the elements of violence are thus well expressed and that gives the spectators a chance to release the pain that is blocked within him or her.
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