Final thoughts on collaboration

Throughout this module I have come to realise how collaboration is not a simple or linear practice. Many things can be classed as collaboration which we may or may not realise. For example, every dance piece we have worked on in our 2 years of university have been a collaboration, either between us as dancers or with a lecturer. We have even made solos during some modules which have also been a collaboration, as we have collaborated with each other to create joint 'scores' in which we used to form our own separate solos. We have also collaborated when creating solos by giving feedback to one another during the process, this could be a direction or dynamic in which to perform some of the solo, or could be an idea to add into the solo, which again makes it a collaborative piece as more than one person has contributed to it. In my opinion, unless you work on something purely on your own from start to finish, including editing and music, it can be classed as a collaboration.

Another example, is Laura's section of our unison piece, which comes right at the end. Although it is a solo from Laura, the movements which inspired the solo videos came from other peoples phrases earlier on in the piece. Laura then also collaborated with the editor Adam to communicate how she would like the section to look on the screen. So although you can only see Laura on the screen, many people have played a part in that clip. 

Again, in my opinion, I think there are different levels to collaboration whereby some collaborations include an equal input from all collaborators whereas some collaborations may be dominated by one person with little input from others. However, all levels are still a collaboration in their own form, and require a different approach to achieve the final result.