The Themes
Professor Clayton distilled three themes from Darwin’s theories which Mark then used in his choreography.
SAME / DIFFERENT How similarities become differences and how individuals within a species have commonalities because they share the same features, but there must be differences to produce variation.Within a species everybody looks the same, yet it is the slight differences which could determine whether that individual will survive. EXAMPLE IN THE DANCE: a line of four dancers move in unison, slowly breaking up as two couples pair off, followed by short solos that emphasize the individual dancers.
PAST/ FUTURE The interplay between the past and the future: evolutionary change is a dynamic process, dependent upon time. Examples of evolution in nature often take hundreds or thousands of years to be recognised. However, some key examples have been noted over a much shorter time frame – for instance the ‘peppered moth’ has been subject to natural selection in response to a changing environment caused by the Industrial Revolution. But the future also plays a part in the present: some birds spend many years perfecting the dancing skills with which they eventually attract a mate, an example of sexual selection. EXAMPLE IN THE MUSIC: the composer Julian Anderson uses the fifth movement of the music to introduce new elements then brings back old ones. Throughout the score there are continual themes which recur or are reintroduced in a slightly different way. EXAMPLE IN THE DANCE: during the same section on stage, one of the dancers is wrapped in silver foil, which is then lifted away leaving a cast or ghost – even a fossil.
CONCEAL /REVEAL The nature of camouflage; of how the natural world can conceal and yet reveal.Viewed from one angle individuals are camouflaged yet suddenly, because of the dynamics of change, they can reveal. A fantastic example of this is the dancing ‘duels’ of male birds of paradise. Hidden in the undergrowth, the males are very hard to see, yet when they start to dance, they use their ‘inflatable tutus’ to great effect to woo the females, who watch their performance with a critical eye – and it really is a case of ‘now you see it, now you don’t!’. These exaggerated and showy movements may appear extremely comical to us but are essential, as the females are so particular in their choice of mate. EXAMPLE IN THE DANCE: in the third section, the dancers appear then disappear into the background rather like the way animals have to leave the safety of their camouflage to find food or a mate.