Signature Assessment Reflection As the provocation project was at the early stages of development, I wanted to be clear on what a provocation

was. From this I was able to develop my own personal definition for it that still held true to its actual meaning. I believe a provocation is a performance of any kind that has been triggered from a previous performance or art piece you have seen. The piece that provoked you could range from many different art forms, whether it is singing, dancing, acting, a story, a film and many others as well. Working from this definition I was able to explore all the different performances to make my provocation piece come to life. As my provocation piece I chose to do a group dance choreographed by the members of our group. We were able to agree fairly quickly upon a provocation piece we wanted to use to generate our dance. We decided upon a dance that was used in competition that had a theme of sickness. In this dance they strictly focused on cancer and how the disease affects your family, friends and those around you. The way the group of girls danced together, along with the theme of the dance and the song was what overall had moved me. From this piece our group decided to keep the theme of illness but we would each take our own directions for our dance. The side I wanted to come from was hope. I believe hope is a very powerful thing when put into the right hands. As this person close to you is being struck down by this illness, hope is the brightness they are able to see if they are just able to stay positive. Illness affects more than just the person suffering from it and there are so many negative consequences that may come from it. This is why I believe, to carry hope for yourself and those around you, allows you to take away the negative and strive for the future and recovery. We were able to use the class time and very quickly come up with the choreography and different elements we wanted to incorporate within the dance. In our dance we chose to not use any props. By doing this we were able to strip the dance down to what it truly was, technique and emotion and ensure that the audience members were capable of viewing that.

I believe on the performance day the things that went well were, the emotional aspect and technique. Everyone was able to hold their own and perform as a group on a fairly even level, with this it allowed the dance to look in unison. Things to improve on personally and as a group are the still moments. A dance can be very captivating when going through all the movements, but nothing is more captivating and draws the audience in when the whole group is still. I think in the future working as a group on this and watching each other during the performance for the still moments to ensure we are synchronized will add to the emotion and effects of the dance. One of the performances that resonated with me was Laurens monologue. After watching her performance and watching the film that had provoked her piece it was quite evident what she used as her provocation- The Christian Marclay The Clock 10h15 Nuit Blanche theater de Chaillot. In the description of the video it says Raw filmed footage for a memory of the present time: concerts, performances, travels, moments of life I truly believe Lauren was able to capture this very well. In Her monologue she was able to create a relevant story line while taking quotes from all of the different plays. I really enjoyed the philosophical question of time and how she questioned time before she moved on to the next play and each response related to the play she were focusing on. The way Lauren used props to make different indication to the audience was an intelligent way of getting her message across without disrupting her monologue. Her use of the stools and chairs whether she was standing or sitting or throwing them down was good use of the props. By having the title of the plays written on paper for the audience to know when she was switching to a new play was a helpful element that did not take away from her performance. Without knowing much about acting, from a performance level I believe she did a good job. One thing she could improve on is memorizing her lines. It was a long performance, which is understandable, however to make it even better having it

memorized would achieve that. As well as speaking a little clearer ensuring that each word is annunciated so that she can be heard. Overall I felt as if Laurens monologue was directly related to her provocation which made it that much more interesting to watch her provocation after watching her performance. Taking quotes and themes from four different plays was a great way to show how the theme of time is directly related to her monologue, the questions she asked, and her provocation. For the technique previous used I believe Lauren did use her knowledge of acting, as she acknowledged the audience during her performance, for the most part spoke clear and at a good pace and finally, knew her material fairly well One of the performances that did not resonate as thoroughly as it could have was Estelle and Ashleys dance performance. As stated previously my view of a provocation is a performance piece that is derived and provoked by another piece of art. Be it a novel, film, dance, stand up piece or song I believe a provocation had to come from something greater than just a concept. For this reason I felt Estelle and Ashleys piece fell short of having a provocation. Although the dance was very upbeat and entertaining, I felt as if the provocation for my definition was not met. As I have been a witness to their work in the past, I agree with their statement that when given the choice to create a dance piece they have chosen more somber and heavier themes rather than a light and happy dance. Their idea for wanting to do a jazz dance with a little bit a musical theater was there and obvious but I believe the provocation from an art piece could have been done differently. Being in the studio at the same time as them, I was able to see their work habits and the creation of their movements and the dance come together. They did use the class time efficiently, working on technique and new tricks such as the partner-assisted cartwheel. This allowed them to be prepared on the performance date. I really enjoyed the song choice they made and the characters they played, it allowed the

dance to come to life. It was not just movements stuck together by transitions but it truly was acting through dance. This allowed the audience to be taken into their setting and let us to be energized through it all. If they were able to perform their provocation piece again I would suggest extending it slightly. It was a very bubbly and cheerful dance that they could have added a few more elements to make it that much better. Also to use the elements of what make good choreography, such as levels, jumps, turns, spacing to add variety and more movement to the piece. And lastly, find a piece of art or a performance that you are able to use as material that provoked you and gave you inclination to create this happy and energetic dance.