PERSPECTIVE VARIATION
Fragmente2 is based on an overall contrapuntal relationship between music and dance. However, through annotated scores indicating musical and choreographic objects and the interaction between them, as well as choreography descriptions, this page presents a more detailed analysis of the contrapuntal choreomusical relationships and various triggers throughout the work (marked in bold). In the annotated scores the musician’s musical objects are marked with grey circles (dashed circles represent silence), the choreographic objects carried out by the musician are marked in dark blue. The dancer's choreographic objects are indicated only with grey text, her musical objects with orange text and circles.
As an overall metaphoric concept for our work with composing, staging and performing Fragmente2, we see ourselves as two black-clothed acting figures that move in a white performance space, as black notes on white sheet music. The gestures and movements of the figures can be seen as a volatile ink-graphic that dissolves as it is written. Furthermore, throughout the performance, the figures relate to different spatial geometrical patterns.
Below, each fragment listed has a title in bold capitals that indicates the metaphorical concept on which the choreomusical relationship is developed. Furthemore, the page is structured in three columns indicating different perspectives, from left to right: A, B, and C.
All annotated excerpts of Shinohara Fragmente © 1974 Schott Music, London are published by kind permission of Schott Music, Mainz, Germany. Graphical images are made by © Frödin & Unander-Scharin, 2024. Frödin's poetic reflections are translated from Swedish by Magnus Jacobsson.
K = Kerstin Frödin (musician) Å = Åsa Unander-Scharin (dancer)
F12: THE SURGICAL SERIES
Å performs a series of theatrical surgical gestures with high precision. K stands behind Å, playing a series of short and jerky musical gestures.
The metaphoric image is that K attentively assists the surgeon (Å) with sounds and equipment. The choreomusical interaction is based on recurrent checkpoints where the figures shift between giving and taking impulses, musical sonification of gestures and cause-effect relation.
An artistic reference is Charlie Chaplin’s barbershop scene in The Great Dictator (1940) where he performs his duties as a barber with a great precision and enthusiasm to Brahms´ Hungarian Dance No.5 (1879).
F13: MECHANICAL DOLLS
The horizontal and vertical dimensions are switched throughout this fragment as both performers lie down on the floor.
When the springs are released, (cause and effect from metaphor – > dance and music) Å turns on her right side and starts to “walk” like a rotating cogwheel back and forth. K plays even and continuous glissandi while lying on her back (sonification of movements).
F10: THE PEAK
Å winds up as a preparatory movement, followed by cutting elbow movements while running in zigzag in a threatening manner towards K. The two figures come very close to each other. For a short moment they alternate between being hunter and prey (cause and effect).
In the next moment, which marks the absolute musical peek of the entire work, K’s noisy sound blows Å away (cause and effect music – > dance) followed by an individual diminuendo in both music and dance.
F3: COMPLETION OF SURGICAL WORK
Å folds the operation report then folds her knees to sink down and then lies down straight on the floor.
Halfway through the fragment, which is musically quite mechanical and “on-off” in its character, the two figures establish eye contact to jointly decide to move on. The fragment ends with a full stop (a joint zero-point) where both figures lie, feet-to-feet, straight down on the floor, like wound-up mechanical dolls.
F5: THE COCKROACHES
K plays a long trembling tone recurrently interrupted by fast note-figures as she walks towards Å. At the same time, Å lets her fingers wander along her legs and body in a creepy way, as she rises to a standing position (cause and effect relation alternate between music and dance).
TRANSITION F5 – F8:
Å falls and starts to crawl backwards, pushing K backwards.
Here, the dynamics between the two figures changes, as well as the role of giving and taking impulses.
F6: BALANCE AND INTERRUPTION
K is balancing the quartertone notes and herself on a thin line of the circle, at times interrupted by contrasting aggressive short musical figures.
Å balances on a point in the centre of the circle and slowly expands her limbs interrupted by K’s aggressive figures that causes her to kneel (cause – effect from music–>dance). The quartertone notes make Å expand again, followed by three simultaneous choreomusical gestures.
F8: THROWING AWAY THE COCKROACHES
A simultaneous choreomusical gesture, quick as lightning, where Å throws away the cockroaches climbing on her body.
TRANSITION F8 – F2:
Å lets her arms slowly fall and turns her gaze towards K. The two figures eye contact occurs during what we refer to as a ”joint zero point”, a moment when both figures' are “holding the time”.
F9: PREPARATION FOR SURGERY
The relentlessly character of the multiphonics in the flute part associate to signals that make the dancer perform a series of rythmic gestures in preparation of the surgical operation in the following fragment.
The choreomusical relationship is tight but at the same, the figures act individually.
FY: THE BRIDGE
Å winds up to standing position approaching K, which in turn makes her stand up (cause and effect from Å movement –> K movement ) relation.
F1: TENSE AND WATCHFUL INTERPLAY
K plays a long note that emphasises the straight line between the figures, her gaze is fixed on Å.
Å slowly lets her hands walk on the floor while slowly shifting the weight to her feet, as if being pulled by the long note (cause and effect from music –>dance).
TRANSITION F1 – F5:
Å slaps her hands on her knees which is an impulse for K to fold her knees and start to play F5 (cause and effect from dance ->music).
F4: THE GARDEN
The diminuendo from the previous fragment seamlessly transitions into a scene where the two figures end up next to each other. K’s short soft glissandi form Å’s dramatic poetic gestural interpretation of a poem by William Blake. The metaphoric poem oscillates between two extremes: images from the wilderness and a cultivated garden.
The choreomusical relationship resembles a conversation between the figures and contains various interpunctuations. Similar concept as in F2, but here the choreomusical conversation is carried out through Å's hand gestures instead of choreographed footsteps.
F7: SPATIAL EXPANSION
The growing garden expands into a larger landscape. The conversation from the previous fragment continues but is less intense and the figures act more individually and at a distance. Å continues her pending between wild and cultivated gestures (from the Blake poem) while K walks away exploring a larger landscape.
FX: CIRCLE – STRAIGHT LINE – DOT
This first fragment establishes the performance space and introduces the two figures: Å and K. They start walking – one by one – in a large circle to 1) invite the audience to the performance 2) claim the circle as the performance space and 3) establish the choreomusical approach.
The punctuated sound of the two figures’ simultaneous steps immediately signals that the material is composed. The circular walk of FX is the only part of the work that is based on an even pulse.
The walk ends with a simultaneous “full stop” where the figures stand behind each other in a straight line after which Å first throws up her arms and thereafter falls on her hands, as if affected by an external force. This fall is also the impulse for K to start playing (cause and effect relation from dancer – >musician).
F2: INTERPUNCTIONS BETWEEN TALKING FEET AND MUSICAL GESTURES
Å “speaks” through awkward rhythmical steps in a contrapuntal conversation with K’s spoken language-like musical gestures.
Both performers' material is worked out after various interpunctuations, such as question marks, exclamation points, dashes, commas, and end points.
FZ: THE TAKE OFF
A sudden (invisible and inaudible) impulse causes the figures to look upwards (cause and effect from an external impulse – > both figures). A joint gaze marks the end of the performance which slowly dissolves (simultanious gesture).
F11: JERKY COUNTERPOINT INSIDE A CUBE
Å performs in an imaginary cube. Her choreography is based on a series of eight movements in which she throws the tips of different body parts (thumb, toe, heel, ear…) towards the corners and edges of the cube where they immediately bounce back into her body.
K plays outside the cube. The musical material resembles the bouncing nature of Å’s gestures. Together they create a rather jerky contrapuntal relationship. Often Å’s up-beat preparations (with hand and foot) correspond to the musical peaks and vice versa.
F14: INTO-THE-VOID-SCHEMA
The figures stand side by side, getting ready to leave. The choreomusical material consists of gestural and audible signals and the figures' attention is focused on their upcoming journey into infinite space.
The two figures follow a kind of formalised gesture-and-sound schema in which they prepare to take off.
The dancer's gestures in F4–F7 are based on William Blake's (1757–1827) imagery-rich poem The Argument, which opens his graphically illustrated works of poetry The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (year).
Voice over: Åsa reads and performs her choreographic instructions F4–F7
The dancer’s choreography in F14 has been shaped and memorised in her body. As a series metaphors: a listening antenna, gesturing signals in an empty space, load the machine, kick and fall, a spit in the eye, pick out the eye and paste it on the surface of the universe, wave.
The dancer’s choreography in F6 has been shaped in the dancer's body. The dancer-choreographer imagines and memorises the series of choreographic objects as a succession of metaphors: balance on a centre point, extended bird's wings.
Surgical series – movement instructions
[1] Put on the operating cap–[2] arms in the sleeves first right, then left–[3] button buttons–[4] right hand in pocket–[5] grab the surgeon manual on the shelf–[6] open–read–[7] lick your finger–scroll–lick your finger–scroll again–[8] close the and remove the book–[9] watch the clock–[10] screw up the tap–[11] push out soap–[12] put it in your hands and clean them –[13] rinse and shake out the water–[14] hands in gloves, first right then left –[15] fill the syringe with anesthetic fluid–[16] snap away three air bubbles–[17] load syringe–stick in syringe–[18] knee folds, stunned, sleepy–[19] catch the scalp and cut open the stomach–[20] pull out the intestines–[21] pull the scissors out of the pocket and cut the thread–[22] pick up needle and thread–[23] sew a stitch, sew another stitch–[24] cut the thread–[25] put on a patch–[26] turn to the desk–[27] write a report–[28] press the print out button_[29] pick up the printout–[30] pick up a pen from the chest pocket–[31] push the ball point– [32] sign–[33] fold the report–[34] put it in the pocket–[35] fold the knees–[36] lie down on the floor.
The dancer’s choreography in F1–F5–F8 has been shaped in the dancer's body. The dancer-choreographer imagines and memorises the series of choreographic objects as a succession of metaphors: hands walking on the floor and up the legs, a sudden knee drop, fingers crawling like cockroaches, three zig-zag flashes with razor-sharp palms.
The dancer's choreography in F11 is described in a drawing that shows how the tip of different body parts (head, thumb, heel, toe, etc.) draw curved lines between the corners and walls inside a three-dimensional cube.
In the series F9–F12–F3, the dancer's choreography consists of gesture instructions in written text.
In F2, the dancer's choreography consists of a series of jazzy step combinations on a horizontal line. The steps are marked in the annotated score.
Choreographic scores, instructions and models, video of the dancer's voice-over instructions during the performance, and the musician's poetic reflections
F12: Kerstin's poetic reflection – The surgical series
Tones take leave
in a floating stream
Large intervals filled with ornaments
and empty gaps
It's quick and playful
but I follow the quiet places of the line
Above, a completely different scenario:
The surgeon works fast and skilfully
I see:
neck, back and arms
skin against black clothing
A needle
a book
a report in profile
The layers form an odd pairing
FZ: Kerstin's poetic reflection – Outer space
Completely still
an impulse shoots up
Bend your back!
Bend your neck!
Far up, a movement
We're still here
F 14: Kerstin’s poetic reflection – Before the outer space
Stand still
shift weight to left leg
affix the right foot a bit down on the shin
Parallel movements
We have tried a few times only
to keep the balance
to feel the simultaneity
Then at short intervals, follow
the narrow vowels of the signals
explosion
fall
eye
the fading tone
We are prepared
F9: Kerstin's poetic reflection – Firm grip
I catch the spin
tones vibrate in my body
Arms turning, the step out
Catching the hand and the twist of the head
multiphonics move between different levels
I hold them in a firm grip
F13: Kerstin's poetic reflection – The dolls
Like wound-up pocket watches
two dolls on the floor
tense legs
heels lift
The weight of the flute felt against my lip
Another balance
air runs out
A quick look, then slowly down
My back is cold and heavy
When the doll dances counter-clockwise
quarter tones balance on a tightrope
F4: Kerstin’s poetic reflection – The garden
I stand at the edge of the circle
Bent tones follow each other like thin stitches
Each its own gesture
its own voice
Sometimes I see the tones in front of me
shaping the short series
I'm within the changing sound
the response from the room
Fingers go their familiar way
Choreographic impulses
make themselves known
in between and parallel
Arms busy
We play in a garden
We plant and study what grows
A flower burst into blossom
a quiet twist in my body
the stem bends softly
The glissando descends towards the trill
We follow the last, growing far above our heads
The flute ascends with the stitch
F7: Kerstin’s poetic reflection – The park
We rise in a parallel countermovement
I walk on a path by tall trees
The garden was a park
The tones take big steps
finding their way upwards in the octave
retiring and then up again
My gaze seeks tones, footholds, during the quiet walk
Then I stop in a multiphonic
Looking towards the periphery of the circle
Seeing her back, arms in movement and then a twist towards me
There's a straight line between us
I listen to the sound
seeking my way back
New impulses connect to my phrase
a fingerpoint
The energy is spreading
my arm reaches straight up to the flute's signal