BY DANIEL DAVIDSON

 

When creating, I find that often, as with beginning this piece of writing, starting is the hardest part…

Over the course of the last few years, I have been focused solely on creating work and developing my creative voice. Below are some thoughts that I have found helpful in my trajectory as a choreographer. It is worth noting that I am not an expert, and I am very much still learning and practicing these ideas myself. The longer I live and the more I experience, I’ve come to understand that no-one is an expert, we are all students…

 

Just Do Something.

When faced with an empty studio and a group of dancers waiting for direction, I often get stuck with where to begin. I’ll think to myself “just do something, anything.” It’s easy to judge ourselves quickly about what we are making, but I’ve found it useful to just do something and try as hard as I can to leave judgement outside the studio. Often the real piece and true ideas show themselves through the cracks of the ‘thing’ we start…

 

Finding Inspiration.

Recently I’ve been trying to make work inspired by everything other than dance. Films, poems, nightmares, a lighting state I noticed once in the street or a colour combination I notice in a magazine (some people have labelled this the ‘art of noticing.’) All of these things spark my imagination and I now tend to be inspired by more abstract things that don’t necessarily connect to dance. Often these observations will provide a starting point, a theme, or evoke a feeling or sensation in me that I then attempt to turn into living, breathing art.

 

Remove Judgement.

Susan Kempster (MA Choreography Lead at Central School of Ballet) once said to me “Don’t focus on making something ‘good’” and asked “what is ‘good’ anyway?” This question has stayed with me throughout the last couple of years and I’ve found it extremely useful when entering the moment where I start to question myself and my abilities. When you are stuck and you find yourself asking “is what I’m making ‘good,’” remind yourself that everyone’s definition of ‘good’ is different. Try as hard as you can to remove judgement from what you’re making. In doing this, I find that I’m able to tune into what I really want to say and what I am noticing and enjoying from the process evolving in front of me.

 

What Is Choreography?

As I dancer, I used to believe that choreography meant creating sequences of dance steps and assumed that the steps should be generated by the choreographer. I would find myself frustrated when creators would come into the companies I danced in and task the dancers with creating. I was of the firm belief, then, that this was the choreographer’s job. Developing my practice, I no longer believe this. Choreography isn’t just creating dance movements. It’s about shaping the space, creating an environment or mood, and structuring the work. The planning of the space and the bodies in it, which direction movements travel, grouping bodies together and the ebb and flow of the selected movements are all choreography. The movement does not have to be birthed from your own body. Often dancers will create more interesting things in the studio than I ever could, but it’s how I manipulate them and integrate them into the work that makes it choreography. Others may disagree, and that’s ok. Everyone is entitled to and will have their own opinion of your creative process.

 

Tasking.

If tasking (asking the dancers to create material based on a task set by you) I would advise allowing the task to go on longer than it feels necessary. I’ve found that sometimes the magical ‘eureka’ moments happen in the dying moments of the idea being workshopped, but it is in our nature to cut something off when it feels as though it is not working. Trust me, I know it feels SO uncomfortable when something feels like it’s going on for too long, but staying with that discomfort may prove fruitful and offer up something you hadn’t initially noticed or even asked for. In a couple of my works, the most interesting moments (to me) have been the ones that were discovered from these awkward, uncomfortable moments. 

 

Letting Go.

Allow yourself to change your mind. It’s absolutely ok to change your mind about the steps you liked the day before or the music you listened to every day for the last month and felt inspired by until you played it in the studio. 

I try not to hold tightly onto an initial idea or theme. The dancers in front of you will dictate what happens in the studio. They might not provide the thing you wanted initially but the new thing will be equally as interesting to you if you dig deep into it. Allow room for the work to breathe and morph into something else. 

The piece you set out to make is often not the piece you end up making. In the past, I’ve held on so tightly to my initial idea that the end result felt tight and suffocated. I’ve since learned to let go slightly and allow the process to dictate what the final piece grows into. For me now, this is far more exhilarating. I am constantly trying to allow space for interesting ideas to develop, though it takes a lot of courage to step into the unknown everyday. This is something I am still practicing daily and it can be very draining, especially if you are someone who plans meticulously (which as I dancer, I did.) 

 

The Outcome.

Lastly, the piece you make will not necessarily be the piece that is received by the audience. Each audience member will watch your work differently and have a different opinion about what they perceived it to be about.

Your greatest work might go unappreciated, while something you thought was a failure could achieve unexpected triumph. Ultimately, how your work is received is beyond your control, it lies in the hands of the audience. However, by staying true to your vision and expressing what truly matters to you, you ensure that no matter the reception, you can take pride in what you’ve created.