Movement Examples

• Thematic, emotive and often entertaining subject matter North didn’t follow the trend in the 1980’s for abstract dance. Instead, he kept musicality, technical dancing and dramatic meaning.

  The death of a young girl and the range of emotions facing her as she faces death. Death is personified by a male dancer Example of theme: Death performs a chopping action of his hands into the girl’s side which makes her fall to the floor. She circles her arm over her head, gestures ‘stop’ with her hand before running away stage right. Death places his hands over her eyes to symbolise taking away her sight.
• Starting point for the piece was the first two movements of Schubert’s quartet ‘Death and the Maiden’ music in D Minor. A song including a conversation between Death and a Maiden Death cradles the girl – she lies backwards onto his legs and he rocks her gently from side to side in direct correlation with the rhythm of the violins. Movement is smooth and sombre which is also clearly reflected in the music.
• Assisted jump in attitude followed by supported jeté battu. Faster balletic footwork echoes the fast pace and change of energy as the girl tries to escape ‘death’ In the first duet, Graham technique evident in the use of sudden changes in the spine from high release to forward contract in response to corresponding sharp rhythmic changes in the music.