Holistic Outline
Experiment 1: Dance
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Costuming: black shirt, black pants, piece of fabric tied over mouth
Song: Blue Hours by Ochre. I picked this song because it had varying sounds and a lot of stimulation. There are no words in the song because I want the meaning of the dance to be portrayed by the movements as opposed to lyrics.
Part 1:
Audio: none (silence) at first, music fades in
Movement: Dancer is sitting, trying to read a book, showing signs of distraction and frustration. She moves as if she is wanting to get up, as well as touching body to show discomfort, pulling her hair and clothes, touching her face, shrugging her shoulders, self injury, blinking, jumping, and kicking. These are common motor tics of people with autism.
Story/message: This part should be conveying some of the struggles that people with autism have to deal with, as well as the challenges that their caregivers face. This is demonstrated with some of the most common challenging symptoms displayed by people on the spectrum. For example, people with autism are often highly distractible— many times, they cannot selectively attend to a single stimulus like a book. Another common challenge is the fact that people with autism are very sensitive to sensory stimulation. In other words, they can’t have too much stimulation, but they can’t have too little, either. Often people with ASD wear weighted vests or sound-reducing headphones to adjust the sensory stimulation of the environment to their liking. If they feel sensory related discomfort, they may have meltdowns, perform aggressive, self-injurious behavior, or see an increase in motor tics. One can imagine the frustration that someone with autism may experience when they are told to/want to focus, but can’t due to sensory stimulation.
Part 2:
Audio: music on loud
Movement: The dancer stands up and tries to communicate, but gets frustrated. She dramatically takes the fabric off of her mouth at around :27 and immediately begins to make larger, more traditionally dance based movements, often dancing with the piece of fabric. Some types of movements she makes include large jumps, stretching in various directions, creative/unusual moves, sudden jerks/small movements, and velocity changes, sometimes going from fast to frozen in a matter of seconds. It is important for the dancer to eventually smile or have a pleasant face during this part.
Story/message: In this section, I hope to demonstrate the inside of the brain of someone with autism, as opposed to the behaviors that autism is stereotyped by. This is tangibly conveyed by the removal of the fabric over the mouth. Taking this off represents removing the label of autism and using dance to express oneself. By dancing with this fabric, the dancer demonstrates how autism has a part in how they think and how they are able to express themselves. In the choreography, this will be conveyed because the larger movements are based in the original smaller movements from part 1. That is, they are based on tics and sensory stimulation, but they are now made larger, more intense, and in a more positive light. There are so many positive aspects of autism including attention to detail and utter creativity, and I will use these aspects to transform the original movements. In addition, I will use information about what it feels like to have autism to create movements. This part should be mostly enjoyable and energizing to perform and to watch.
Part 3:
Audio: music finishes
Movement: Dancer sits back down to read book, leaving the fabric off of her face.
Story/message: At the end, the viewer should have a sense of how intense and amazing the inside of the brain of someone on the spectrum is. They should also understand that autism plays a part in making them the spectacular person that they are, despite the challenges that accompany it, as demonstrated by the inclusion of the piece of fabric in the routine. When the dancer sits back down to read, leaving the fabric off of her face, the viewer may be lead to understand that the dance allowed the person to express themselves in a way that they weren’t able to before, which helps make them more successful.