Swansong (1987)

Factual Information

Choreographed by: Christopher Bruce Music: Philip Chambon Costume and Set Design: Christopher Bruce Lighting: David Mohr The Prisoner/Victim: Koen Onzia The Guards/Interrogators: Kevin Richmond (1st Guard) Matz Skoog (2nd Guard)

Performance History

Bruce originally created Swansong for London Festival Ballet (now known as English National Ballet). Its world premiere took place at the Teatro Arriaga, Bilboa, Spain, on 25 November 1987. Swansong has gone on to be performed by a number of ballet companies, including Housten Ballet (USA), Deutsche Oper (Berlin, Germany) and Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve (Switzerland). Rambert performed Swansong for the first time on 12 April 1995 at Theatre Royal, Norwich and it has remained in their performance repertoire to this day.

Analysis and Interpretation

Dance style

Bruce uses a range of dance styles and techniques in his choreography, but rather than aiming to reproduce these styles in an authentic way, he aims to reproduce their essence.

Ballet and Contemporary

Swansong incorporates a number of dance styles, including contemporary, ballet, jazz, tap and ballroom. Bruce blends contemporary movement and actions (eg spiralling torso, low centre of gravity, use of off-balance and flexed feet) with balletic moves (such as jetes, arabesques, turnout and attitudes). Images of flight/birds are often abstracted and used in a more symbolic manner, as opposed to a more literal interpretation, in, for example, Matthew Bournes Swan Lake. There is a strong use of the back, which is very contemporary in style.

Jazz, Tap and Vaudeville and Tango Dance

Various examples of social dance have been blended and combined into dance sequences in Swansong. Jazz moves are seen in isolation of body parts, reflecting the multiple rhythms in the music, and also slides to the floor. Tap is used in the question and answer sections, with references made to icons such as Fred Astaire (when the interrogators dance using canes). Bruce uses the light-hearted tradition of vaudeville to provide an entertaining quality to the dance, which also offers a shocking impact when the scenario becomes violent and confrontational.

Commedia delArte

Traditionally, this Italian theatrical form was used to explore serious political issues of the day. Bruce draws on it in order to encourage the audience to find humour in what is essentially a tragic situation. Acrobatic moves such as cartwheels and handstands are also used, together with a variety of lifts in the trio sections.

Number, gender and role of dancers

Swansong is a work for three dancers, consisting of two interrogators (or guards) and one victim (or prisoner). The original cast (who appear on the video version) was all-male but it has been performed by all-female casts, and with a mixed gender cast, eg two females (one an interrogator and one the prisoner), with a man as the other interrogator. Bruce will not, however, permit the two guards to be of one gender and the prisoner another, as this suggests a gender issue rather than one of political oppression. Lifts requiring great strength have often been adapted to enable women to perform in the roles of interrogators. A female guard interrogating a female prisoner also adds a different angle to the subject matter, as it removes the physical brutality from the equation, whilst suggesting a different form of torture to the audience, for example, one of psychological interrogation.

Dance idea/concept

Swansong is disturbing in that it shows the interrogation and torture of a prisoner by two guards, incorporating brainwashing, humiliation and physical violence. Bruce frequently uses a number of sources for his choreography. However, reading about Amnesty International and wanting to say something about the prisoner of conscience particularly inspired Bruce. The other impetus was Bruces desire to personally say goodbye to dancing as a performer. Other sources included the experiences of the Chilean poet Victor Jara under the junta of the 1970s, and the novel by Oriana Fallici, entitled A Man, which describes the torture of a man who spends 3 years in a cell with almost invisible windows. The title, Swansong, is also appropriate, as the noun has two definitions/meanings:

A persons last work or act before death or retirement etc. A dying swan sings only at the point of death.

Action, dynamic, spatial and relationship content (Paras 9.2-9.3)

Whilst all dance movement is set and notated, Bruce encourages dancers to individually explore and express their roles, allowing for a more personal interpretation. However, Bruce is clear in that the choreography is always more important than the dramatic content. Because of this, dynamics and pathways can vary, depending on the dancers own interpretation. A good example of this is seen in the first solo, which was not choreographed to the music, and has no obvious pulse, allowing for a certain amount of freedom of interpretation. The victims solos contain technically demanding and difficult balances, which the Dancer struggles to maintain. This highlights the mental struggle of the victim. Simple moves, such as walking towards the light downstage left, or towards the imaginary door stage right, can be expressed with determination, despair or anger, depending on the individual dancer. Birdlike gestures/imagery are all suggestive of the victims wish to escape, either physically or symbolically, through death. The chair is used in a range of ways in order to express the state of mind of the victim, or as a physical prop. Extended lines, including arabesques and leaps across the stage, combined with slow, sustained, and lyrical movements all go towards expressing the emotional state of the victim during the solos. In contrast, the trio sections have a much more light-hearted dynamic quality, whilst teasing and bullying the victim. Movements of pushing, pulling, balancing and lifting dominate, demonstrating weight transference and flow of energy. Tap dance and vaudeville routines, Jazz style movements of the hips and legs and ballroom dance steps are all used to interrogate the victim. Relationships are either solos for the victim, two versus one as the guards interrogate the victim, or all three dance in unison when they force the victim to cooperate with their questioning.

Structure and choreographic devices (Para 9.6)

Swansong is divided into seven sections, each of which is interlinked with tapped-out questions and the entrances and exits of the interrogators. The victim starts on stage and doesnt leave until the very end of the dance. To add to the imagery of a cell, the guards only ever enter or leave via stage right, as if through the cells door.

Introduction

The dance begins with an interrogation of the victim, with the questions and answers being demonstrated through the medium of tap dancing in the silence proceeding the music. Questioning has a game-like quality, lulling the victim/audience into a false sense of security.

Section 1 (Questions and Answers)

Movements are now more forceful, consisting of pushing, pulling, balancing and lifting. Repetition is used to suggest interrogation, and repeating of questions. Tapped out questions are performed faster, to suggest a more aggressive style of questioning. Motif development is seen, in the way the guards perform slight variations on each others steps, as if re-phrasing their line of questioning. Relationship changes from trios, to duets to solos, heighten the sensation of a cat and mouse scenario being acted out. Use of unison amongst the interrogators suggests power, whilst the victims solo phrases imply a defiance when answering their questions. Birdlike images and wing arm gestures are introduced.

Section 2 (Tea for Two)

The title Tea for Two refers to the music, to which it was originally rehearsed. Another interrogation session sees the victim responding initially with defiance, which the interrogators soon knock out of him by humiliating him. This is seen in the way they force him to don a red clowns nose, whilst they themselves don baseball caps, and perform a camp, soft-shoe shuffle tango. They proceed to force the victim to join in, with all three soon dancing in unison, with the prisoner looking increasingly uncomfortable and unsure of the interrogators. The chair is constantly shifted out of his reach, which increases his sense of insecurity, the chair being the only object which he could use as a shield/weapon, should the need arise. The violence steadily increases, culminating in repeated tapped out questions which increase in pace and tension, until the victim snaps and responds by jumping to his feet and frantically tapping out his answer. The red nose is finally removed and the interrogators leave. However, one returns to light a cigarette and stare at the victim. This is the only time we see just one guard on stage.

Section 3 (First solo)

This solo is like a cry of frustration and anger from the victim, with repeated birdlike gestures, implying his increasing urgency and wish to escape. Gestures of reaching towards the shaft of light are repeated, which might suggest his mulling over the desperateness of his situation. Actions are either twisted, symbolising his anguished, tortured spirit, or open and birdlike symbolising his wish to fly away and escape.

Section 4 (Slow trio)

Opening sequence of a slow trio is performed twice, as if they are quietly niggling and harassing him, trying to wear him down. The chair is repeatedly pulled away from him, or is used as a weapon against him. He is continuously pushed and pulled around, with a suggestion that his head is held under water. The interrogators hold him upside down, while he kicks his legs, helplessly. Strong use of slow lifts dominates.

Section 5 (Second solo)

This solo repeats motifs seen in the first solo, although the dynamics are heavier as if he is mentally and physically exhausted. The chair is used to express a heavy burden, prison bars, fetters, as a stool to be nearer to the light/window, and an emotional and physical support.

Section 6 (Cane dance)

Interrogators perform an up-tempo soft-shoe shuffle with canes, which gradually assume the identity of weapons. They proceed to threaten and beat the victim with them, before casting them aside. All three dancers perform repetition of material from Section 1, although the victims weight is heavier and his head lolls around, until finally he collapses. He is placed back on the chair, whilst the interrogators look on with annoyance and frustration.

Section 7 (Third solo)

Interrogators do not move from previous positions, as if they are looking at the limp body of the victim, whose spirit is finally free from his body. His ensuing solo is lyrical, repeating phrases and imagery from previous solos, but with a greater emphasis on the birdlike gestures as opposed to the tortured and twisted shapes performed before. He gradually dances nearer and nearer to the shaft of light, until finally he smiles back at the guards, and with a gesture of flight he leaves via stage left, symbolising the freedom of his soul, at last.

Design, set, costume and lighting (Para 9.7)

The design is minimal, leaving the audience to choose a possible location, era or other additional details. Props play an important part in Swansong. Baseball caps worn by the guards, suggest a change of tack and imply ganging up on the victim. The red nose is clearly a tool of humiliation, whilst the interrogators cigarette is used to tease the victim, or maybe even suggest they are loosing patience with his resilience. Canes are clearly seen and used as a weapon. The chair is used as a means of expressing the inner emotional state of the victim, and is used against him by the guards, as it is his only security in the barren cell. It is also used to symbolise a range of meanings in order to express the feelings of the victim, eg as bars of the prison cell, which he forlornly peers through. The costumes of the guards imply a uniform, with khaki trousers and shirts, and the fact that they are dressed alike. The victim, in contrast, wears very pedestrian, or urban blue jeans and a faded red T-shirt. The colour red is often used to symbolise love, compassion and anger, all of which are evidenced in Swansong. The stage is dimly lit, suggesting a small prison cell. A shaft of light from upstage left is seen during the victims solos, symbolic in that it suggests an escape route, both physically and metaphorically. During the guards interrogation scenes, lighting is above the chair, as if a spotlight is used to intensify the questioning.

Accompaniment (Para 9.7)

Philip Chambon composed the music for Swansong, after Bruce had explained the subject matter to him. There are sections where the choreography relates strongly to the rhythm and pulse of the music, whereas at other times the dancers move across the music, allowing for a freer interpretation. Sounds were all originally acoustic, then digitally sampled and manipulated. Chambon crashing pots and pans together in his kitchen created the metallic sounds. This was to give the music a sense of harsh reality in light of the prisoners predicament and also provide intensity to the score. The use of wind sounds

represents the spirit and personal struggle of the victim, including the sound like the cry of a bird. The ch-p-cha voices were intended to provide a comic relief, and to sound like someone close by was whispering taunts at you. The tapping in silence is an important accompaniment in that it builds tension, as well as providing a rhythmic sound.

Historical and social context of dances

Bruces choreography often has a biographical element, either from his own personal experiences or biographies and works of other people.

Bruces works often have a political message or underlying theme, eg Ghost Dances (1981), Land (1985) and Swansong (1987).

Music, literature and the arts are often a stimulus for Bruce, but his choreography goes on to abstract away from the stimulus rather than reflecting it directly in his work.

Bruce prefers the audience to make their own mind up with regards to the subject matter of his dances, which is why his programme notes do not give much detail.

His works often have a clear theme, even if they are not narrative dance works.

Set design and lighting are important to Bruce but not at the expense of distracting the attention away from the movement vocabulary.

Bruce uses a range of accompaniment, incorporating many genres and eras. The dance often responds directly to the music. Bruce is renowned for incorporating a range of dance styles in his choreography.