Literature Review 1

*** I was going to put this on to google docs but as I am in France at the moment google docs will only come up in french so i can't understand it!! slightly frustrating! so here it is in a post***

Review of http://blog.sokanu.com/so-youre-thinking-of-becoming-a-choreographer. This is an article written about becoming a choreographer, what it entails and how to get there.

I both like and dislike this article. I found that there is a lot of information in here but not all of it is accurate. It is also very vague skipping over a lot of facts that could have been explained in a lot more detail, making it ore useful. I decided to review this piece of literature as it is along the same line as the article I am thinking of writing, however, this does not include any quotes backing up what the author is saying.

The article starts of looking really promising. It starts by explaining what exactly a choreographer is: “The word choreography literally means “dance writing”.” I found this opening sentence really intriguing, I had never thought about describing choreographing like this. It makes you think that in essence a choreographer is an author in the most visual sense. The rest of the opening paragraph is informative and concise, stating exactly what a choreographer does.

Further in to this section of the article the author starts to describe the personality traits that would help in becoming a successful choreographer:

“Choreographers must have an excellent understanding of the specific type of dance they choose to teach. Creativity, physical strength, flexibility, coordination, patience, and perseverance are must-have characteristics. Choreographers must have excellent communication skills and have an ability to be a leader and motivate a variety of dancers. They must be able to work as part of a team and must also be able to work under stress and pressure in a chaotic environment.”

Although I do agree with a lot of what the author is saying, I don’t think that using ‘must’ for especially the middle sentence is accurate. Yes choreographers need to have a lot of knowledge on the type of dance they choose to choreograph in and they need to be able to work as a team to get along with the dancer they are choreographing on. On the other hand, the characteristics described in the second sentence, although very valuable, are not a necessity. I feel that as long as the choreographer has chosen dancers that they feel will portray the image they have in their head it is not necessary for them to have the physical capabilities to do the exact movement, as long as they are able to describe it. Look at the majority of ballet masters and mistresses in the big ballet companies, they no longer are able to get their legs around their ears but they are still able to get the right action out of their dancers.

I also disagree with the statement ‘Choreographers typically are older dancers’ There are so many young talented choreographers in the world, yes she uses ‘typically’ however I feel that there is a huge mix of ages of choreographers. For example some of the bigger choreographers such as Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Michael Clark and William Forsythe started choreographing and set up their own companies in their early twenties.

I do really like the fact that the author has listed all the possible tasks required by a choreographer. They cover every aspect of choreography, from choreographing amateur productions to choreographing for big companies to choreographing for kids in local competitions and shows. This would be very informative for a reader thinking about going in choreography. It would make them think about all of tasks involved, not just putting a few steps together but the paper work side of choreographing and the organisation.

The section titled “What it takes to be a choreographer” is just a hash of information. I don’t feel any of it is backed up with evidence or explanation. The author just seems to be putting in random unexplained and frankly incorrect sentences like; “Choreographers are former dancers with years of experience working in the theater and with dance companies.”  This is very infuriating and the reader isn’t gaining any real knowledge from this section of the article. He is writing information as a given instead of exploring the possibility that there are other possibilities, however unimportant or unlikely they view them.

In spite of this, the author does then redeem himself by stating possible ways of gaining experience as a choreographer. This information would be useful to a reader as it would give them ideas as to who to get in to contact with. They explore the ideas rather than saying just one way is the only way; getting specific qualifications such as a Bachelor in Fine Arts or a Masters Degree; gaining experience through following a choreographer in a company you are already established in; choreographing for local amateur productions; choreographing for dance schools and children. These all add up to possibilities for a reader to look in to, the readers current circumstances may push them to one over the other but at least the author is suggesting options.

The rest of the article is adequate. The author is still not explaining or backing up his points, however he does give options. He explains that there are many different environments a choreographer can work in, presenting lots of opportunities for people looking to go in to the profession.

I think this article was a good learning tool for me. I am able to see that even with in a journalistic article you need to back up your points and explore ideas presenting ideas not telling the reader there is only one way when there isn’t.