The importance of a good pose

Yesterday, I went to the Cirque Du Soleil show called "Dralion". Another standing ovation for all the performers of this wonderful show. I would suggest to go watch it whenever is around your city.

While I was watching the show, I couldn't help myself to stop and analyse the way the dancers, and the performers in general, moved (I guess that's something that comes with learning animation; sometimes you just have to observe more than admire).

Anyhow, what catch my attention were the strong poses the dancers were hitting during the show, specially during the opening. Each character represents a different element and you can see just by the poses in their dances the difference between them. It reminds me a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender and the differences between the kung-fu styles they had.

The clarity and feeling of the poses show the detail and effort the choreographers have put into it, since during the whole show the degree of synchronization and precision was astonishing (I guess that's something the Cirque du Soleil does on every show). You can watch the opening of the show in the video below.

Here is another one where the actual perfomers are interviewed. Check the poses of the girl doing piruets with the hoop while in the air.

In general, you can see that the poses they hit are very clear and strong, they have good silhouettes and are very easy to read, not to mention the level of grace (or power) they want to convey. The movements they do are very fluid, and a lot of time you can see the equivalent of a "moving hold" when they hit a pose. In my mind, the performance has to be clear and have to look good from different angles, since there will be viewers all around the platform.

I believe that all shows like this must consider this type of things whenever they're creating the choreography. Dance shows, figure skating, synchronized swimming, etc. The principle applies to a lot of different performances!

So we, as animators and creators of performances, have to put a lot of attention and care in the key poses of our animation. As choreographers of the character's performance, we have to make sure the poses are strong, clear to the audience and that they always display an emotion so the viewer can feel whatever the character is trying to say. And just as you can see the level of effort the choreographers of the Cirque du Soleil have put into the Dralion performances, the same will occur with your animations. People will notice how much effort has been put in your work by watching your animations, so always try to give that 110% in those key poses!!