In beginning to create my make a thing project, I decided to partner with Jordan Willis, Raquel Baron, and Kolina Hocevar. We decided to use the fact that we were all in dance to our advantage. We agreed to make a video of an interpretive dance based on the book “Beloved” written by Toni Morrison. I think that choosing ‘“Beloved” was the best choice because it was the most recent book in my mind that I had the most knowledge about and had the best understanding of, although it is a hard read and complex book. “Beloved” is only really complicated in my opinion because of the many layers between the characters, but also because of the hidden meanings interlaced in the novel. Although “Beloved” is a complexed book, we chose as a group to simplify it to make it easier on ourselves.
Before we started to film our piece, the group tried to find a story line for the novel that would be easier to understand. The idea of family was what we chose to focus on. We decided on family because the drama that occurs between Sethe and her children all starts from a love a family. Sethe brutally beat her children and murdered her third child because of the fear of losing her family and having them suffer in slavery as she had. Slavery as a whole tears families apart. We tried to showcase that in the video of our dance by having four solos that represent different characters in the novel that come together as a family or community in the very beginning. For example I represent Denver and Paul D.
There is a duet in the video of Jordan and Raquel against a brick wall. In my opinion and the way that view the video, Jordan is Sethe while Raquel represents Beloved. The duet is important because it was meant to show how identities are lost within others. Towards the end of the novel there is a section in which each the woman of the novel start to morph into each. In the book it is represented by a poem in which Sethe, Denver, and Beloved are all speaking at the time, yet it starts to become extremely hard to recognize who exactly is speaking. Jordan and Raquel are doing the same movement at the same exact time in order to showcase Beloved and Sethe becoming one. It also represents when Sethe becomes weak and feeble, while Beloved starts to show signs of being pregnant like Sethe was at the beginning of the book; therefore showing a cycle.
Jordan tipping toeing across the picnic bench in the green room, to me showcases Sethe’s journey of escaping of slavery. The bench had a break in it which could be inferred as Sethe’s breaking point in her decision to escape slavery when most of the Sweet Home men had either been killed or gone insane. Also when her milk was stolen from her, therefore preventing her from doing the job of being able to care for her children.
I think that a lot of moments within the video of our interpretive dance show key moments in “Beloved”. By having everyone dance together in the beginning then break into solos, duets, and a trio show the isolation that came with slavery. Yet since Beloved is a manifestation of slavery and the suffering that comes with it, when she disappears the community and family come back together like in the video.
https://vimeo.com/128248312
This is my secondary source that I found that supports some of the things that I said about the novel.
http://www.articlemyriad.com/analysis-beloved-morrison
This is my secondary source that I found that supports some of the things that I said about the novel.
http://www.articlemyriad.com/analysis-beloved-morrison
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