Iris at Gorean Falls

Iris, who has taught many through her course at Port Olni's Academy of Gorean Dance performed alongside her Master (Thurkearan) at an exhibition hosted by Gorean Falls on July 26, 2015.  Iris is one of those top performers that has contributed so much to the community, in addition to all we have learned from watching any of her dances.  She was high on my list of dancers 'to be filmed'.  What I did not expect is how well her Master enhanced the scene.

https://vimeo.com/koardan/1507iris

Dance notes

I should know if this was a placatory dance or belt dance, but either way, I could tell it was a brilliant example of a 'By the Book' dance - i.e. one modeled after a dance scene from the books (the Gor series by John Norman).  It was also a 'dance faction' performance - one that conveyed it's plot or message largely by fine descriptions of the dancer's motions.  That differs from 'Story faction' - which exercises free reign in telling any scenario or idea, whether we would be able to physically see it or not.  A new creative style I call 'Poetry faction', in honor of Hoshi, who's performances I enjoy, but do not fall in either story or dance faction.   Personally, I admire the finese required to write a good 'dance faction' performance due to the constraints imposed.  By using only what my digital persona could see or ear, it keeps my mind more immersed, or 'in the moment'.  Unless specified by the organizer, it is not required to use a book form.  But I always appreciate it when I see it.

In any case, the only dances I don't like are the ones that are never written or performed for fear of criticism. Knowing Iris from taking both the AGD beginner and Advanced series, I knew there was no concern for criticism.  My only concern would to be able to absorb all the subtleties of her work. 

Let's take a look at one of the powerful exchanges between Iris and her Master.   Her Master finishes his thought in bold: 

(Quote from Iris's dance follows - last half of post 6, and all of post 7, out of 12).

Thurkearan: Upon hearing her soft plea, his attention moves from her offered body to her eyes.  "Continue," he answers, unwilling just yet to give her the forgiveness she begs for.

Iris settles on parted knees, hips rocking lustfully back and forth in shameless mimicry of just exactly how she would make up for her error, if only he would release her from this agony of his displeasure. Sultry cries dropping from lips like the call of a siren, she looks up to him, that pleading look still dancing in jewel-hued eyes.

(end Quote)

First, not that she is concise.  Emotes do not need to be long to be effective.  In fact, if they get too long I can't read them, consider the arc of the storyline or plot, and watch the wiggles at the same time.  Strunk and White in 'The Elements of Style' said in rule 13 - "Omit needless words."  The trick is to write with nouns and verbs.  Let your nouns be your bones, and your verbs your muscle.  Dance being more art than exposition, Adding some adjectives and adverbs and metaphors are fine.  But take a look at the quote above and count the ratio of adjectives to nouns, and adverbs to verbs (geek speak to say the sizzle to steak ratio).  I bet it is about 1:1 - not usually more than one decorator per noun / verb.  Strong bones.  Lean meat.

You can see how easy it was to fit her posts onto the film.  Many posts had two sentences, and in no case was I overly pressed for space when adding them as captions.  That is not a critera of good posts per se, but a byproduct of tight, impactful writing.

Second.  Her music was outstanding.  Whether it used electronic instruments or not, it had both the mood, and orchestration of a Gorean ensemble.  See my notes on Gorean Music or some of the fine classes at Port Haifa etc for what instruments would be on Gor.  She had all pulled strings (not bowed), some small drums, and a haunting voice.  It is not a requirement (unless stated by the organizers) that music use only Gorean sounding instruments, but it is a bonus.  Yes, there was an electronic guitar in there, but it was played (plucked) as if it were a Czehar or Kalika.

Her music was not over familiar (Like that one song by Raul - great song, but used as often as 'orb').  I know dancers spend many hours searching for music (to say nothing of the hours spend writing, and shopping for just the right animation).

Speaking of orbs, how did you like her description of her eyes?   Fresh - hints at alliteration, unexpected, and attractive.

Third, and most of all, the phrase 'agony of his displeasure' captures the essence of Gorean thinking (if not beyond).

My compliments to Iris and her Master for this performance.  I have seen Iris dance over a dozen times.  It's about time I got it properly on film.  

Videography Notes

Experimenting further on a format I used for my Snow's amazing "Desert Night's" dance this month, I repeated my favorite practices from that, and added a few twists to take advantage of her presence over her Master.

• Broke most posts into two for readability (usually two sentences per post)
• Used 'Nyala' font
• Used over the shoulder view for the 'Owner-cam' shot
• Always panned from left to right, for consistency
• Set duration of post captions in the video by dividing the dance time by the number of posts (as you would do for fade time).
• Highlighted quotes in a lighter color
• Used a different color for her Master's emotes.
• Used font colors that tie to the scene - orange yellow for sand, or blue for her Master's jacket.
• Included zoom out of venue at end
• Added transitions, but not so much the draw attention away from the dancer.
• I used Photoshop to cut away the background of Iris's master, and included him among his quote, using timing fade, and opacity to let you read the text but also visualize his presence.

Lighting: Sunrise (my usual favorite)
Graphics set to "High" with 32 non imposter avatars.  (I optimize for frame rate over ultra high detail more appropriate for a fixed single shot portrait).

GeoForce GTX 960 (2 GB memory), Intel i5 Duo Core CPU, SSD  Windows 7, DirectX 11