The swansong

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The Swansong

The Swansong was choreographed by a man called Christopher Bruce in 1987 and was performed by 3 male dancers. Swansong may come across as violent because of the way the many different dance styles are carried out. There are many different types of dances used the main ones being: ballet, tap, ball room and jazz. The story is about a prisoner being bullied and intimidated by the two prison guards and eventually the prisoner dies as a result of the bullying.  

It is called swansong because the movements the prisoner uses are bird like movements and the fact that he is isolated and trapped like a swan. There are not many costumes or props but the t-shirts that they wore were to signal who they were, and the main prop was a chair. It was used in all sorts of ways, as a shield, a weapon and also a questioning chair. The music and electrical effects are vital because the music shows the mood and the lighting shows the sort of movement and setting.

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Section 1

The tap dance is the main dance used in section 1 because it is used as a question and answer sequence. The section begins in silence then the interrogators enter and begin to dance. By the end of the dance it turns out being a duet versus a solo. The speed changes throughout the sequence and lifts, balances and twist are applied. Also different levels are used as the interrogators begin to play silly mind games.  

Section 2

In section 2 the violence begins and there is a change in the ...

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