Autumn Quartet
Autumn Quartet began as a choreographic research project in the autumn of 2009 and continuing into the spring of 2010. The piece involved four dancers --Erik Abbott-Main, Eric Falck, Amanda Platt, and myself. The piece explored sexuality, nudity, physical aggression (wrestling, biting, etc.), agency, and dancing within determinate and indeterminate conditions generated by an algorithmic score. The score consists of a series of inter-related decision making structures: if you choose to do A, then B will follow. There are two highly rehearsed, precise primary movement phrases that performers can choose to dance at any point during the piece. Each phrase commits the performer to relinquishing certain control (of where they can and cannot more, who can do what to their body, etc.) to the other performers. Walking slowly, dancing, stripping, biting, wrestling, redressing, being undressed, and dressing again make up the vocabulary of the piece, structured in part by the score and always by the performers' own decisions. As the piece develops, the floor becomes a topography of haphazardly discarded clothing; by the end of the piece, all of the clothing has been recovered, and the space is "re-set."
The first Autumn Quarter (2009-2010) was presented informally in the Department of Dance at The Ohio State University.
I re-staged the piece in the autumn of 2011 through the spring of 2012, culminating in a series of performances over the course of two days in the Department of Dance at OSU. The second cast included Shannon Drake, Kelly Klein, Brian Koenig, and Wesley Tyree.
The soundscore for the piece —which does not directly determine any particular decisions or progression —is a mashup of pop songs, film scores, and audio clips from queer porn films by Madison Young and Shine Louise Houston. The musical pieces include:
Intro Versailles by Reitzell / Biggs
Caddis by Lucky Cat
Poker Face (Space Cowboy Remix) by Lady Gaga
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
Gwely Mernans by Aphex Twin
Review: Spicy finger lickin' good loses. A reflection on Michael J. Morris' Autumn Quartet by Matt Morris, Sparklezilla Magazine Spring 2010: 23-25.
I have also notated the two primary movement phrases using Labanoation as an accompaniment to the algorithmic score:
Phrase A ("Face Phrase")
Phrase B ("New+Long Phrase")
The first Autumn Quarter (2009-2010) was presented informally in the Department of Dance at The Ohio State University.
I re-staged the piece in the autumn of 2011 through the spring of 2012, culminating in a series of performances over the course of two days in the Department of Dance at OSU. The second cast included Shannon Drake, Kelly Klein, Brian Koenig, and Wesley Tyree.
The soundscore for the piece —which does not directly determine any particular decisions or progression —is a mashup of pop songs, film scores, and audio clips from queer porn films by Madison Young and Shine Louise Houston. The musical pieces include:
Intro Versailles by Reitzell / Biggs
Caddis by Lucky Cat
Poker Face (Space Cowboy Remix) by Lady Gaga
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga
Gwely Mernans by Aphex Twin
Review: Spicy finger lickin' good loses. A reflection on Michael J. Morris' Autumn Quartet by Matt Morris, Sparklezilla Magazine Spring 2010: 23-25.
I have also notated the two primary movement phrases using Labanoation as an accompaniment to the algorithmic score:
Phrase A ("Face Phrase")
Phrase B ("New+Long Phrase")