Hi Celeste, So at first I see several phrases in this. In trying to identify what those phrases were, I looked for something that unified them, something that would signal the core characteristic of each phrase. What I came up with was the positioning of your body in a straight line facing the camera, with both feet on the floor (most of the time). That to me was kind of like the verb, not because it signaled action, but because all the other pieces were linked to that - if your body was not in that position you would have a completely different look for the other movements.
Then I wanted to identify the arguments of the verb, the subject and object so to speak. I thought maybe the arm movements could be the arguments - they take a specific form depending on the particular posture/stance/direction/orientation that you take with your body, but they also stand alone in a sense. You could have some of the same arm movements if you were lying on the floor or sitting down, but they probably wouldn't have the same overall feel as if you are standing.
I thought maybe the motion of moving your arms above your head was a motion that marked a new unit, like at 0:10, 0:14, 0:23, 0:32, 0:34. But I'm not sure that that directly correlates with the phrases that I saw so I'm still thinking about the ways that those phrases are defined.
I also saw some elements that I would consider adverbial in that they modify the overall phrase, but weren't crucial to your positioning, like the scratching on your arm (0:13) or the swing in your hips at (0:17). I had the thought that adverbials could also be conveyed by the overall speed of the movements - that the movement is somehow the core (or argument of the phrase) and the speed is something that modifies how those arguments are understood.
I also noticed stops and pauses like in speech, and was wondering if those might be like a conversation, signaling a new idea or a way of indicating the possibility of someone else to take a turn.
You labeled this a single phrase, so I tried to think of ways that I could identify just one verb. That was harder. Instead what I saw was something more like a starting point to an end point, an opening to being closed in. Then I wondered how a conversation might be viewed as having that flow and considering the pieces within a conversation as moving in that direction. But that still brings me back to identifying multiple phrases as opposed to a single one. Cynthia
Interesting! Wow. I think you really hit on an important idea with the way that you were looking for "a phrase" in what I called "a phrase" - here is where we probably use the term differently in choreography and linguistics. Through your reading, it is definitely true - there are several phrases within which I call this a "phrase of movement." I am running off to a rehearsal, but will think on this more and post more comments. And more movement.
Hi Celeste,
ReplyDeleteSo at first I see several phrases in this. In trying to identify what those phrases were, I looked for something that unified them, something that would signal the core characteristic of each phrase. What I came up with was the positioning of your body in a straight line facing the camera, with both feet on the floor (most of the time). That to me was kind of like the verb, not because it signaled action, but because all the other pieces were linked to that - if your body was not in that position you would have a completely different look for the other movements.
Then I wanted to identify the arguments of the verb, the subject and object so to speak. I thought maybe the arm movements could be the arguments - they take a specific form depending on the particular posture/stance/direction/orientation that you take with your body, but they also stand alone in a sense. You could have some of the same arm movements if you were lying on the floor or sitting down, but they probably wouldn't have the same overall feel as if you are standing.
I thought maybe the motion of moving your arms above your head was a motion that marked a new unit, like at 0:10, 0:14, 0:23, 0:32, 0:34. But I'm not sure that that directly correlates with the phrases that I saw so I'm still thinking about the ways that those phrases are defined.
I also saw some elements that I would consider adverbial in that they modify the overall phrase, but weren't crucial to your positioning, like the scratching on your arm (0:13) or the swing in your hips at (0:17). I had the thought that adverbials could also be conveyed by the overall speed of the movements - that the movement is somehow the core (or argument of the phrase) and the speed is something that modifies how those arguments are understood.
I also noticed stops and pauses like in speech, and was wondering if those might be like a conversation, signaling a new idea or a way of indicating the possibility of someone else to take a turn.
You labeled this a single phrase, so I tried to think of ways that I could identify just one verb. That was harder. Instead what I saw was something more like a starting point to an end point, an opening to being closed in. Then I wondered how a conversation might be viewed as having that flow and considering the pieces within a conversation as moving in that direction. But that still brings me back to identifying multiple phrases as opposed to a single one.
Cynthia
Interesting! Wow. I think you really hit on an important idea with the way that you were looking for "a phrase" in what I called "a phrase" - here is where we probably use the term differently in choreography and linguistics. Through your reading, it is definitely true - there are several phrases within which I call this a "phrase of movement." I am running off to a rehearsal, but will think on this more and post more comments. And more movement.
ReplyDelete