Spinal Deformities

 SPINAL DEFORMITIES

This blog will be solely based on my further research I have partaken in across this week. Continuing on exploring Russell Maliphant's curiosity of the human movement, I found an article discussing how the 'Venus de Milo' may have a spinal deformity as well as presenting numerous opinions about the background, discovery and the anatomy of the statue with its possible spinal deformity. With this in mind, this immediately caught my attention as one of Maliphant's elements of his choreographic style is the use of the spinal range of motion.

The article goes on to mention the findings of 'Venus de Milo', expressing how the model of this famous statue may have had a deformity of the vertebral column and possessed features suggesting the condition of scoliosis or possible other deformities. With the sculpture being known as "an icon of silent feminine beauty"(Van Steen, 2010), it is interesting to see how something dismembered, for example, was embraced.

As a choreographer, this intrigued me into seeing how I could include this idea in my movement, perhaps creating more of a struggle to execute certain movements or involve my spine more in my choreography and then show the contrast of that and the struggle of having a spinal deformity. For this, I will refer back to Maliphant's key elements of movement as well as his practice being "health promoting and injury reducing while creating beautiful choreography"(EncoreEast project - Measuring range and quality of movement — Russell Maliphant Dance Company, 2022).

Andrew, K., Iwanaga, J., Loukas, M., Chapman, J., J. Oskouian, R. and Tubbs, R., 2018. Does the Venus de Milo have a Spinal Deformity?. Cureus, [online] Available at: <https://www.cureus.com/articles/14246-does-the-venus-de-milo-have-a-spinal-deformity#references> [Accessed 31 January 2022].

Van Steen, G., 2010. Liberating Hellenism from the Ottoman Empire. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Russell Maliphant Dance Company. 2022. EncoreEast project - Measuring range and quality of movement — Russell Maliphant Dance Company. [online] Available at: <https://www.russellmaliphantdancecompany.com/researchprogramme/encoreeastaestheticperformance> [Accessed 31 January 2022].