Justin Peck- In the Countenance of Kings

In today's lesson watched In the countenance of kings by Justin Peck. Once we watched it we discussed our thoughts, feelings and ideas about the piece as well as stating the movements we recognised and choreographic devices we saw. When I watched the piece I felt happy, energised and inspired due to the upbeat music and very dynamic movements. When we all discussed the feelings we felt some other students stated that they felt tense due to the spontaneous nature of the movement. I understand how this feeling can be given by the piece as the movement's direction and formation is very unexpected which can cause the audience to be on the edge of their seats due to not knowing what is coming next. We then discussed the meaning behind the piece. When I watched the piece I interpreted that the meaning was something along the lines of believing in yourself or reaching for your aspirations. I believed this as the piece began at the dancer looking down and gazing in the mirror. I think this could show the dancer feeling not good enough. The reflection of the dancer in the mirror then begins to take down her hair and dance which I believe could show the dancer's aspirations of improvement which shows the theme of believing in yourself.  We discussed what others thought the meaning could be and one of them was the reflection of the past. I understand this as the dancer may be looking back at better times or a good memory she had. Another meaning which was discussed was normality. This is shown through the use of the dancers wearing trainers, the fact there is a dog at the beginning of the video and the taking down of the hair as each of these show a sense of everyday life. Another meaning behind the piece which another student had interpreted was order and chaos. This meaning is shown in the vast use of the space and different directions as the formations show order but then the fast movements and dynamic changes of direction show chaos. Also the use of a large group of dancers create a busy atmosphere for the audience which also shows a sense of chaos.After that as a group we talked about the movements we recognised within the piece. For example, arabesque , attitude , penche , rond de jamb and tombe. After that we then discussed the choreographic devices we could spot in the piece. The following were spotted; canon, unison, repetition, inversion, argumentation and highlights. After we watched the movement piece we watched a video of Justin explaining his choreographic process when making the piece. First he picked the music and studied it so he could perfectly fit movement to every beat. He then sketched shapes and formations which he later created movement out of using his own body. He lastly taught the dancers his movement and adapted it to fit them. Justin stated that he liked working with a big group of dancers as it adds more possibility to his work. He makes sure his movement is unpredictable without making any new steps just new combinations of steps. In the video Justin also said he created pieces on what he is feeling at the time which makes them very personal to him. Overall , I really liked this piece as it was upbeat and energising as well as being classical in style. I liked the fact the dancers wore trainers as it allows the dancers to be more free in their movement.