What is Ritual? Why is it performed?

[Andrew]

What is Ritual?

Brushing Teeth. Communion. Prayer. Bar mitzvah. Circumcision. Meditation. OCD. Showering. Cleaning Apartment. Crossing oneself. Cooking. Acting ritual. Ritual to get to another ritual. Habitual action.

Why is it performed?

Consistency. Confirmation. Affirmation. Inspiration. Provide consistency and a feeling of comfort. Transformation. Hope. Approach of life. Speaking tongues.

***Continue the conversation.

[Luca]

According to the cambridge dictionary:

a set of fixed actions and sometimes words performed regularly, especially as part of a ceremony

[Luca]

Ceremony (a set of) formal acts, often fixed and traditional, performed on important social or religious occasions

[Luca]

Dictionaries are terrible, they are a compliation of words that we can use/ have to use...but the words listed and their definition are so broad/limited that our mind sets, thoughts and eventually behaviour as well will be limited! Just like in 1984, once we losse the real meaning of a word, we loose a part of oureselves, or a possibility to explore a part of ourselves. Ceremony and ritual have a much deeper meaning to certain societies. Ask a Native American Shaman what a ritual is, he will not talk about "formal acts" or "fixed actions". Every action is different, has a meaning, a purpose, a soul and even the same movement will change a little acording to the day! NOW I understand why chrisitian church is so boring!! Because it is a SET OF FIXED ACTIONS, with no meaning or intent!!!!!

[Chelsea]

If any of you are interested, I am posting a link to this dance piece titled "Minus 16" by Ohad Naharin of Batsheva Dance Company, a company based in Israel.

The music is Echad Mi Yodea, a cumulative song that is song at Passover. There are a total of 13 verses, and in this dance the dancers gradually build the movement; you notice the intensity of the music increases. At the end of each round of movement, the dancers all sing the last verse "One is our God, in heaven and on earth".

I have read some of the dancers thoughts on the piece, and they all agree that it is a very ritualistic piece for them. They have to enter a certain mindset before setting foot on the stage, preparing for the 8 minute piece they are about to perform. It has been sometimes they are so into the movement their chair will break. Apparently they have spare wooden chairs offstage to replace them if the dancers break. It is said the choreographer Ohad Naharin has broken his chair when performing it; he is also the voice singing the song with Tractor's Revenge.

If you aren't familiar with it, here is a translation of the lyrics being sung:
The first verse runs:
Who knows one?
I know one.
One is our God, in heaven and on earth.

The second verse:
Who knows two?
I know two.
Two are the tablets of the covenant;
One is our God, in heaven and on earth.

...and so forth. The last verse is:
Who knows thirteen?
I know thirteen.
Thirteen are the temperaments of God;
Twelve are the tribes of Israel;
Eleven are the stars of Joseph's dream;
Ten are the [Ten] Commandments;
Nine are the months of pregnancy;
Eight are the days of circumcision;
Seven are the days of the week;
Six are the books of the Mishnah;
Five are the books of the Torah;
Four are the Matriarchs;
Three are the Patriarchs;
Two are the tablets of the covenant;
One is our God, in heaven and on earth.

Whew! Sorry that was a bit long, here is the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHw8lZvH4Es&feature=related

It is a little long, but it also once of my favorite pieces of choreography. I feel it represents ritual not only in the religious sense of the meaning of the words and how they are part of the Passover ceremony, but also the ritual the artists themselves go through to perform the piece

[Luca]

I thought of some cool videos I saw while we were talking yesterday and I want to share them with you!

Using view points, some improv, and a lot of intensity:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuOTueS96to&feature=player_embedded

In the movie Baraka there is a very cool Balinese cult of the monkey, using sound scape (it s quite funny as well!)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlFEErlb7IQ

love!

[Luca]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuOTueS96to&feature=player_embedded

[Caitlin]

I love that footage from baraka. there's a really interesting link between types of culture-meaning mostly industry, how they survive-and the types of movements/dance these cultures produce. could be fun to explore, as almost all rituals involve movement of some kind

[Chelsea]

Thanks Luca, those are some great videos! I agree the intensity to me mirrors what we should be having within the conjuring scene. The Baraka clip also has a great example of ritual with a gradual increase in movement, focus and intensity within the synchronized movement of the tribe.

Here is a clip of the ballet I mentioned Rite Of Spring (Its only one section of the dance):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF1OQkHybEQ

And while the quality isn't as good, this I feel is a cleaner version of the dance I initially sent, Minus 16:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfWmtK7ll9s&feature=BFa&list=FLKQK-QI_iiIQUWZvqWqn0hw

I also thought this once was interesting since one of the dancers does break their chair

[Chelsea]

Also, just some ideas for next rehearsal:

Andrew and I had mentioned a few weeks ago about talking about putting meaning to each movement within our ritual sequence. Initially we were going to solely do this, but we feel it may be more interesting if we all have a discussion of the movement and talk about what each movement symbolizes to you.

I will be coming in with some ideas as well, but I think voicing our own ideas about the movement will help make it feel more organic, since you will have your own meaning between the phrase.