Unique Forms of Continuity in Space

Where It All Began

Aspects of contemporary dance and abstraction are interconnected. The main idea behind contemporary dance is how much the dance style reveres movement rather than technique, although there is importance given to technique as well. There is movement from within the body which is expressed outwards while the dancer utilizes space and emotes through their physique. There is a similar deviation seen in abstract art, where it diverges from conventional art as seen in Salon paintings. Contemporary dance and abstract art thus stray away from common art forms, in dance as well as visual art and focus on exploring some fundamental aspects of the art form other than technique.

I found that translating an abstract piece of art to contemporary dance was something new and refreshing, and it also showed how vast this assignment was in nature. The beauty of this dance form was understanding that it was an interesting medium to use which helped capture the essence of a piece like Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity in Space through movement. A classmate and I began creating the movement while keeping in mind all the features in Boccioni’s sculpture and depicting them appropriately. We kept in mind the idea of time and space. Our movements represented what we took away from Yvonne Rainer’s pieces. There was simplicity in some movements, which helped highlight the message we were trying to convey to the audience.