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Compositional Devices for Exploring and Structuring Phrase Material in Dance, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Dance

This document from the ohio state university's department of dance outlines various compositional devices used in dance composition to explore and structure phrase material. These devices include development, transformation, transposition, isolation, scrambling, accumulation, inversion, retrograde, splicing, embellishment, canon, augmentation, and diminution. Each device is defined and examples are given for how they can be applied to dance phrases.

What you will learn

  • How can development be used to bring about a feeling of evolution and growth in dance phrases?
  • What are the different types of inversion in dance composition?
  • How can transposition be used to change the range or plane of movement in dance?

Typology: Study Guides, Projects, Research

2021/2022

Uploaded on 09/12/2022

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The Ohio State University Department of Dance
College of Arts & Sciences Professor Vera Blaine
Revised 2012
COMPOSITIONAL DEVICES FOR EXPLORING & STRUCTURING PHRASE
MATERIAL
NOTE: Definitions in quotes are musical definitions from the Harvard Dictionary of Music.
1. DEVELOPMENT/WORKING OUT/RESHAPING/TRANSFORMING
"The important technique of recent composition which consists in the 'unfolding' of the
thematic material. These devices are used in a manner designed to bring about a feeling
of evolution and growth, of increased intensity at higher 'temperature,' of dynamic stress
and climax."
to gradually carry the phrase to a new choreographic intention through repeating,
mirroring, augmenting, diminuting, isolating; the phrase evolves to a new physical
situation.
2. TRANSFORMATION
"The modification of a musical subject or motive made with a view to change its
personality."
to change the phrasing/organization of energy and time (re-phrase timing & energy)
to change the dynamic/character (change from resiliency to strength)
to explore nuance
3. TRANSPOSITION
"The rewriting or the ex tempore performance of a composition at another pitch, i.e., in
another key."
to change range or planel orientation of movement
to put the movement of one part of the body on another part
e.g., arms to legs, legs to arms
to change the level of the movement
e.g., put aerial or middle level phrase onto floor
to change the state of the rotation of body parts
e.g., change from turned-out to parallel
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The Ohio State University Department of Dance College of Arts & Sciences Professor Vera Blaine Revised 2012 COMPOSITIONAL DEVICES FOR EXPLORING & STRUCTURING PHRASE MATERIAL NOTE: Definitions in quotes are musical definitions from the Harvard Dictionary of Music.

  1. DEVELOPMENT/WORKING OUT/RESHAPING/TRANSFORMING "The important technique of recent composition which consists in the 'unfolding' of the thematic material. These devices are used in a manner designed to bring about a feeling of evolution and growth, of increased intensity at higher 'temperature,' of dynamic stress and climax."  to gradually carry the phrase to a new choreographic intention through repeating, mirroring, augmenting, diminuting, isolating; the phrase evolves to a new physical situation.
  2. TRANSFORMATION "The modification of a musical subject or motive made with a view to change its personality."  to change the phrasing/organization of energy and time (re-phrase timing & energy)  to change the dynamic/character (change from resiliency to strength)  to explore nuance
  3. TRANSPOSITION "The rewriting or the ex tempore performance of a composition at another pitch, i.e., in another key."  to change range or planel orientation of movement  to put the movement of one part of the body on another part e.g., arms to legs, legs to arms  to change the level of the movement e.g., put aerial or middle level phrase onto floor  to change the state of the rotation of body parts e.g., change from turned-out to parallel
  1. ISOLATION (paring down)  to explore one or two aspects of the phrase e.g., only do: the focus and head movements of the phrase, the port de bras, the shifts of weight, the leg gestures, the directional changes, etc.
  2. SCRAMBLING/REARRANGING  to reorganize the material within the phrase or the structure of the work (think of movement as a vocabulary list)
  3. ACCUMULATION  A sequentially based repetition: to start at a specific point in the phrase and gradually add the following counts, going back to the starting point each time and accumulating. e.g., 1; 1,2; 1,2,3; 1,2,3,4; 4,4,4; 5,6,7; 7,8; 8
  4. INVERSION "The general meaning of the term is substitution of higher or lower tones and vice-versa." There are two main types of inversion: Harmonic — an interval is inverted by transferring its lower note into the higher octave or its higher note into the lower octave. Melodic — a melody is inverted by changing each ascending interval into the corresponding descending interval, and vice-versa. The result is a mirror-like exchange of upward and downward movements, comparable to the contours of a forest and its reflection in a lake.  to perform the spatial opposite, or counter-direction with the same body part; a configuration of 3 or more movements is needed to discover the "invertedness" Reminder: do not change level, invert in relation to center of body consider center of weight
  5. RETROGRADE "the term denotes the backward reading of a melody, i.e., beginning with the last note and ending with the first one."  to go from the end of a phrase to the beginning, as in running a film backwards