Ghost Dances

Need to know:Choreographer: Christopher Bruce

Music produced by: Inti Illimani, South American Folk Music

Music arranged by:

Set Design: Christopher Bruce

Costume: Belinda Scarlett

Lighting: Nick Chelton

Premiere: 3rd July 1981, performed by Ballet Rambert, Bristol Theatre Royal

Sections1. Opening and Ojos Azules2. Huajra3. Dolencias4. Papel de Plata5. Mis Llamitas6. Sicuriadas7. Ojos Azules

Style – Lyrical/Narrative

A one act dance in which 3 skeletal ghosts await a group of dead who re-enact moments from their lives , before passing onto the underworld (heaven or hell)

Dance styles – Folk, contemporary, ballet

Folk-linking chain movements and small neat stepping patterns

Contemporary – bold plies, rolls, tumbles

Ballet – whirling, circling movements, arabesques

Inspirations/Starting PointsBruce was asked to choreograph a work for the Chilean Human Rights Committee

Victor Jara’s (South American folk artist) wife Joan. Victor Jara was murdered in the coup in 1973. Bruce used stories heard first hand from Jara’s wife to create a dance suggesting the suffering and defiance of the people yet reflect their dignity and determination to continue despite tragedy during their struggle for freedom.

Masked dances – Bolivia

South American culture

Music – Inti Illimani

Overall StructureCyclical form – the ending echoes and to some extent repeats the opening sectionThis could suggest that we are watching a memory, scenes from the pastThere is a climax in the 6th section

It is a palindrome of seven sections – they work the same forwards or backwards (ANNA)

The dead pass diagonally across the stage, which could suggest they are in ‘transiiton’ or on a journey passing from life to death

The Ghosts also create this diagonal during the piece

Set DesignDesigned for a proscenium arch stage

We see a rocky plain with mountain peaks and an opening to a cave – this could suggest entry to the underworld

There are several rock like structures

It could be interpreted as the valley of the shadow of death

Do the rocks look like skulls/coffins?

LightingEnhances the action by highlighting specific details

We are given an impression of a shadowy place through atmospheric lighting

This is made gloomier by a green light when the ghosts are active

A sculptured appearance of the Ghost Dancers is emphasised by side lighting, which also casts shadows

When the dead are performing the lighting is generally brighter which reflects their character and mood of the piece

Once the dead have entered the stage, the lighting is the one changing featureThere are sudden changes at moments of dramatic deaths

Other lighting changes/alterations happen so the audience is not necessarily aware of them or how their viewing is being manipulated

A cold blue light overhead focuses on the deaths at the ends of the duets

PropsNo props used really

The rocks are used by the Ghosts and the dead to either hide behind or rest on

In section 5 the colourful tie of a male dancer is used playfully