Site-specific choreography in a constrained school foyer
A Year 13 choreographer has been given a 4-minute slot in a regional dance showcase. The venue's main stage is unavailable, so the work will be performed in the school foyer: a polished concrete floor, a glass wall on one side, a staircase at the back, and an audience seated on three sides within 1.5 metres of the performance area. There are seven dancers, four of whom have never performed site-specific work. Rehearsal time is two 90-minute sessions plus one technical run. No rigging is permitted, and the only power outlet is 6 metres from the performance zone. One dancer is recovering from an ankle sprain and cannot jump or land from height. The choreographer's concept is 'pressure and release' - a work about exam stress. The school's health and safety officer requires a written risk assessment before the performance.
1. Explain how the choreographer could translate 'pressure and release' into movement choices that respond to the foyer's features. Justify two choices using dance elements and relationships.
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Reasoning: the concept should be felt in the body, not illustrated by mimed stress. The foyer gives three physical facts to exploit: a hard reflective floor, an audience at 1.5 m on three sides, and a vertical element (the staircase).
- Spatial pressure: begin with dancers travelling on narrow pathways around the perimeter, passing within arm's reach of the audience. This uses space (pathway, proximity) and relationships (the audience as an enclosing wall). The release comes when two dancers break the perimeter and travel on a fast diagonal to the centre, leaving a gap the audience can see. The contrast is spatial, not literal.
- Weight and breath: use the glass wall - palms pressed, weight forward, then a slow spiral away. This uses body (weight, tension) and time (sustained hold, then quick release). It is ankle-safe because the supporting leg stays grounded.
- Sound: with no rigging and limited power, use breath and footfalls as the score. A canon of audible exhales creates pressure; silence creates release.
Why this works: each choice makes the audience physically aware of confinement and expansion, so the concept is communicated through choreographic structure rather than costume or text. It also protects the injured dancer by avoiding jumps.
2. Identify the three most significant risks in this performance and propose a control for each. Explain how each control preserves the choreographic intent.
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Three risks and controls:
- Polished concrete floor. Risk: slips and impact injuries, especially for the dancer with the ankle sprain. Control: require non-slip dance shoes or bare feet with rosin; ban jumps and landings from height; rehearse floorwork at 70% speed first; keep a first-aid kit and ice at the side. Preserves intent: the concept relies on low, grounded movement, so removing aerial work does not remove the idea.
- Audience within 1.5 m. Risk: collision during fast diagonals; audience tripping over cables. Control: mark a performance boundary with low tape (not a barrier that blocks sightlines); choreograph entrances and exits away from the audience's knees; brief front-of-house to seat latecomers at a break. Preserves intent: the closeness is the point, so a tape line keeps the intimacy while making the safe zone visible.
- Power cable from the single outlet. Risk: trip hazard across the performance zone. Control: tape the cable along the wall, route it outside the boundary, and use battery-powered sound if possible. Preserves intent: the sound score can still be played; the cable is not part of the choreography.
Why this order: the concrete floor and audience proximity are inherent to the site and affect every dancer; the cable is a single, easily controlled hazard. The risk assessment should also address the staircase if it remains in use.
3. Evaluate whether the choreographer should keep the staircase as part of the performance area. Justify your position with reference to the concept, the dancers, and the venue constraints.
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Decision: keep the staircase as a static level, not a travelled pathway.
Arguments for keeping it: it gives a vertical plane that embodies 'pressure' - a dancer standing above the others while they reach upward creates a visible hierarchy and tension. It also uses the site's architecture, which is a strength of site-specific work.
Arguments against: the dancer with the ankle sprain cannot safely descend quickly; the audience is close and sightlines may be blocked; the staircase has no handrail on one side and the concrete steps are hard.
Reasoned position: use the staircase only for a single dancer at a time, in a sustained still position, with a spotter and a no-running rule. Do not choreograph entrances, exits, or descents on it. The 'release' can then happen when that dancer steps down slowly and is caught by two others at the bottom - a controlled weight-sharing moment that uses the staircase's height without turning it into a risk. If the health and safety officer will not approve even this, cut the staircase entirely and replace the vertical level with a low plinth. The concept survives because the pressure/release contrast can be made horizontally through proximity and weight.