These two set designs are different in many ways such as their regions the animals are from, the title and the role it plays in the penguins dance and the way the set does and does not change. These two dances were the two most different dance scenes that we looked at in our set work and as I have proved the settings are very different but they still cover animals, their habitats and their movement.
Lighting:
The lighting in these two scenes were very different although the same techniques and lights were used, the main lighting differences were the colours and number of lights used.
In the penguin café There was a full wash across the backdrop as there is in all of the other dances but to create the effect of the cold a plain light was used, to emphasise the dancers against the backdrop three follow spotlights were used. When the backdrop scenery changes to the café the full wash is changed to a dim pink wash rather than a colourless wash, this use of colour wash although not bright still emphasises the features of the café and the fact that there is a new focal point for the audience. The follow spots remain on the dancers as they travel around the stage, but towards the end of the dance the spots become larger as more dancers are introduced. To highlight the edges and centre of the stage Yellow spots are used this is the only fixed stage lighting used on the stage.
In the southern cape zebra scene the dancer is covered by three different styles of lights a full colourless wash, a central spotlight or for a brief time a follow spotlight. The backdrop is lit by a pink / purple wash to create the effect of a sunrise, as the dance progresses the backdrop light gradually dims and eventually at the end of the dance a blackout is used. At the beginning to separate the dancer from the backdrop a central spotlight is used because at the beginning the main focal point is the African plain backdrop, because the zebra does not appear predominantly in the beginning as his starting position is on the floor. The central spotlight is used to allow the audience to focus on one specific dancer, separating him from other dancers, the backdrop and other areas of the stage. A full wash is used to highlight the stage area, but it is a dashed lighting effect at the very beginning to create the image of the zebras print.
The lighting used in these is different because of the set and dancers because different lighting is used for more dancers and coloured lighting would have to be used if the set is specific to make the image more predominant to the dance e.g. the African plain or the colonial café.
Props:
The title of the Dance emphasises the fact that these are not normal animals; the main motif of the title is of a penguin waiter. These two dance scenes both include props to create the effect of the movement and behaviour of the animal.
In the penguin café scene the penguin waiters although wearing the costume of the penguin the accessories included were a tray with drinks on and a hand towel these are not used but are kept throughout the dance as an effective focal point and this separates the dancers from any normal penguin. The title motif is of a penguin waiter with the tray on one hand and the hand towel held on one arm, the other arm is raised both the scenes beginning and ending positions are this same motif.
The Southern cape zebra uses the props (tassels), to create the effect of the zebra’s tail. The prop is used in connection with other parts of the body and other movements to allow an image of an alert zebra aware of its surroundings, the tassels are held in the dancers hands and act as an effective focal point for the audience. The other dancers featured in this dance scene are 10 dancers used to show models that are playing their part to the decrease in the animal population by contributing to the skin trade, unaware to the fact that they are making a creature extinct. The accessories used by theses ‘model’ dancers are a skull of a zebra worn as hat and other zebra skin items worn as fashion accessories, a zebra would have had to have been killed to have enabled these ’models’ to wear these accessories.
These two dances show positive and negative props as the tray, hand towel and tassels are positive but the skulls and skin trade items are negative props. All of these props provide focal points for the audience so the dancers can be separated from any different dancers and they are all individual.
Dance content:
All of the dance scenes in this show are based around animals and the problems created for them. These two animals are from completely different places in the world but are both faced with extinction and this dance is to show the effects of peoples actions.
The penguin café uses light, soft expanded movements to express their lifestyle and how they are not vicious or harmful but are graceful and comfortable in their surroundings. Their care - free attitude shows how unaware they are of how under threat they are. The penguin dancers are wearing trousers low down to give the effect of the restricted leg movement of the penguin and their technique of travel. Unlike the care - free moves and attitude of the penguin the zebras movements are very abrupt, the dancer gives the impression that the zebra is aware that he is under threat and that he always has to be alert no matter what activity they are doing. The sharp head movements used give this impression, they play an important part in this scene, as this is one of the repeated movement used to create the realistic effect of the zebra reacting to its surroundings. The zebra uses expansive movements rather than the restricted movements of the penguin, the dancer uses all parts of the body to produce the movements so that the reach of the movements is more extended than that of a typical body form. The two specific body part used were the head and the spine, this was used to create the image of the zebra travelling but the dancer still remained in the same place and did not move when producing these movements.