Our time with Dance Study Cycles focused a great deal on the process rather than the product. Much of our days were spent in composition/improvisation classes that fostered the practice of arriving at an idea through a series of tasks. This method of choreography revolves around the notion that organically finding a movement pattern or set of gestures is often times more fruitful and almost always more rewarding. Susan Rethorst, a dance maker currently working with Group Motion Dance Company, emulates the idea of process rather than product. Susan undoubtedly provides a substantial product but while observing her methods in rehearsal and performance, since she has come to work in Philadelphia, has shown me this idea time and time again.
Here is a link to her work with Group Motion and some informative and thought provoking articles involving this same idea.
Susan Rethorst/Group Motion
