Choreography : EXEC_FLIP_ARPHAGE/. - How would it look like on stage ?

This is by far my favourite Hymmnos ever in the entire Ar Tonelico series. I've listened it to it as many times as I could - to the point that I can now choreograph the entire thing.

For this, viewers have to take note of a few things :

1. Almost all the girls performing on stage are assumed to be Reyvateils. These are the people who sing in the in-game world, Ar Ciel (strangely, ciel in French means "sky"), in order to communicate with the higher beings that govern Ar Ciel - the Wills. The few exceptions we can have are those of human descent - we need those too.
2. This is going to be a fusion of cultures. This is going to be the best I can do where this is concerned. Perhaps it'll grow better over time, but I have an idea for something really spectacular. And for this, I am going to assume that the stage on which we are performing is well-equipped.
3. Hymmnos is based on emotions. The first three sounds which appear in most sentences are emotion sentences. Hence the multiple instances of Was yea ra mean "I am happy/delighted", and the word rrha in Rrha yea ra means that the person singing it is in a trance state. Every single sentence has emotions for Arphage, as far as I can remember. So we cannot risk ANYTHING. There has to be pure soul in this performance. Nothing less. The best thing, for those who believe : pray before the performance. SERIOUSLY. Arphage is also partly on belief, so assume embrace those lyrics.
4. The dancers have to be colour coordinated (preferably). Only the main Reyvateil(s) may use a different colour. This is especially true for the Riverdance sequence onwards (read on, you'll know what I mean soon enough).

And now that I have mentioned what needs to be in this performance, or in this song, now, let us move on to the part we've all been waiting for. *drum roll* This is the choreography !

• The stage begins with dark blue/dark green hues. Preferably dark blue, though a mix of both is permissible. The main Reyvateil is dimly illuminated, so a sort of subtle emphasis will be on her when she sings Sawul fffam tecasa sssy.
• 0:36 : The rest of the choir slowly starts coming in. Still the dark blue/green hues, though a bit more emphasis can now be placed on the Reyvateils singing with our lead.
• 0:55 : The dark blue/green hues disappear totally from the stage. We can hear the rest of the choir singing - that is enough. So only a white light should appear above the lead Reyvateil when she sings Fayelebe zayy sss feweve.
• 1:00 : Childhood memories start rushing in. And why ? Because this part reminds me of church choir so much. I miss church choir. <3 And the cantatas I used to listen to every Christmas vigil mass ! And this part sounds exactly like them for some reason... Okay, back to the topic : At lex hymmnos, the entire choir is illuminated with white, but there are no background colours. So it's going to be a sort of stark contrast between the white and the black - which I hope to create.
• 1:02 : This line is the climax of the introduction section. When the entire choir of Reyvateils starts singing Sss illm baars meevax yearh leee, this is when we'll need moving lights. They can either illuminate the back of the stage, or the floor (though I recommend the latter). So it sorta spills some colours on the Reyvateils proper, and I'm looking for that. At yearh leee, all Reyvateils lift their hands high as though in submission, in prayer.

Note that throughout this introduction section, the Reyvateils are pretty much static, except for yearh leee. And we prepare to go on to the next section...

• 1:12 : Beginning of Section II. Here, the blue/green hue of the introduction section returns. Reyvateils start moving to the front in a solemn pace. The Humans of Ar Ciel start entering stage from the sides (i.e. from behind the curtains), also at a solemn pace (perhaps a step every two seconds). Our lead Reyvateil still takes a prominent place, i.e. centre stage. And whilst everyone is relatively static at this point, our lead can move according to the way she sings.
• 1:35 : Light starts pouring in. We can let the white lights on stage slow-fade on starting from this point. This will coincide with the lyrics Furi sosogu hikari abi te. Again, a subtle emphasis is placed on our lead. At this point, the Reyvateils may either : 1) twirl, 2) place their hands on their hearts. I recommend the latter.
• 1:42 : All Humans should be in their designated spots by now. So they shall stand in their respective places, face down and not much emphasis is placed on them yet. Movements of Reyvateils from 1:35 continue, and the light continues to pour in. At this point, the blue-green hue should become significantly lighter (think cerulean).
• 1:56 : At Yliix tlirs, the Reyvateils start stepping (solemnly yet again) to their respective places for the next section. So there should be two lines - one comprising Reyvateils, one comprising Humans. Alternatively, we can all make them join hands. Our lead Reyvateil is still at the front... and by now, the backlight should change to a cross between deep sky blue and turquoise.
• 2:11 : Lead Reyvateil steps to her position and cues everyone to come in. Brace yourselves, the next part is going to be SPECTACULAR !

Now the reason why I love this third section very much is because now the influence of another culture comes into play, and it can only be done when everyone works at it together. If well choreographed, this scene can be intense. I can't say how well I'm doing it, so what I can give right now is the basic choreography, as well as an idea of how I hope it'll look.

• 2:14 : Beginning of Section 3. The sky blue backlight disappears totally and now it's replaced with a bright red, with a hint of orange. At Was, all performers look to the sky and lift their right hands, and at ra, their left hands are lifted. Note that here, the emotion is Was yea ra - I am glad - so everyone has to be glad ! Smile ! If you must move along with the beat, do so by all means ! It brings more life to the performance.
• 2:18 : At Was, the right hands of the performers are brought to the chest, and at ra, the left hands are brought to the chest.
• 2:22 : At Was, the right hands of the performers are extended, and at ra, the left hands are extended.
• 2:23 : All performers may start joining hands. Then after this, it's gonna be several modified pas de bourrée - modified in the sense that... okay, it's like this. We step with our left feet, on the tips of our toes, back, left, front, and at every other beat, our right feet are lifted and brought down (but not too high !). Then after that, our feet move in rhythm. I'm not aiming for something as fast as Riverdance, but I'm aiming for something with that feel. As long as the performers' feet move in time, it's fine. This one continues even to Rrha yea ra.
• 2:29 : The Reyvateils and Humans at the right edge break away from the line, and move swiftly in a large circle (by this I mean feet up, feet down, twirls, pirouettes, whatever we can do for the dramatic effect). And this goes on right until the very last Reyvateil or Human at the left side of the line.
• 2:36 : By this point, all Reyvateils and Humans should be dancing in a circle.
• 2:44 : At lulunya, all performers slowly drop their hands (if they have been lifted prior to this point) and return to standing position, but remain within the circle. Main Reyvateil goes to the middle of the circle and genuflects (i.e. the left knee is on the ground but the right knee is up). So as it is, she will not be visible yet. At this point, the red becomes the usual dark blue-green hue that we saw in the first two sections, but all white lights are on. Okay, I'm not sure how to describe the moves beyond this point, but they must be slow, but passionate.

The next section is often left to the performers' imagination because there are just so many possibilities - but one thing's for sure : the main Reyvateil showcases something to the audience. In Malaysian terms, we call this goreng (lit. "fry") - whatever comes here is impromptu. However, I'm going with the presumption that the remaining Reyvateils and Humans dance based on the script provided.

• 2:58 : The red light returns, but there is no hint of orange. The rest of the Reyvateils and Humans pair up. Each girl gets a boy. They have to remain within the circle. So the moves at this point will be between them : I reckon you might know the typical dance move where the girl extends her hand (as in moves to the side), and then brings it back to the boy's, and then extends, and then brings it back... Click the link for the full set of moves - I got inspired by Final Fantasy VIII for this. Now, what does the main Reyvateil do, you ask ? Over here, all her moves are impromptu... but if I were the main Reyvateil, and I were to get everyone to move with joy, with passion, I'd beat the drums. Whether or not the main Reyvateil's gonna have grace in this case depends on the rhythm proper. But I guess I can easily conjure one... ^_^'
• 3:13 : All movements stop. Reyvateils and Humans let go of their partners. Now the boys and the girls form two circles (an outer one and an inner one). In the inner circle, the girls genuflect, facing the main Reyvateil. It's the boys' turn to shine for these next few seconds.
• 3:15 : Boys take broad steps, but accent each and everyone of them so they're audible. So they have to step in rhythm. This scene is also going to be intense. It's going to be something like this : step (at Ylx), step (at fawEE), turn (at LAas), step (at ra), clap (at YEE). The movements are clockwise. And at this scene, the white lights momentarily disappear. If the performers have access to poles, yes, by all means, they can be used. Instead of clapping, the poles can be hit against the ground. This tactic is easily done in MY considering the amount of dances that use the noise poles.
• 3:23 : White lights reappear. Girls get up and move in the same way as the boys, but anti-clockwise. Main Reyvateil sings in the middle of the circle.
• 3:38 : Backlight turns blue again. Main Reyvateil is strongly illuminated with white. The remaining performers genuflect, facing her. At Zan stiiy yE, the backlight momentarily turns red, and the remaining performers, while genuflecting, look back and extend their right hands.
• 3:41 : Backlight turns blue again. At Xa iEi AaaA IYA, the backlight turns brighter (you know the previous transition : deep blue --> cerulean --> sky blue + turquoise).
• 3:45 : Remaining performers get up and move to their lines (as per Section III). Reyvateil remains at the middle, but towards the end, moves into the line.

And the part which follows after this is the exact same reproduction of Section III's so-called "Riverdance". So let's make Section V identical to Section III in terms of choreography. The only difference here is that in the latter half of this chorus, they use Rrha yea ra instead of Was yea ra, indicating that the performers should be (or at least make like they're) in a trance. So cue to all performers who are interested : at this point, you have to really immerse yourself in the song. Be happy ! Be joyous !

And with this we move to the closing section, Section VI.

• 4:22 : The moves continue at lulunya, but this time, the performers move out of the circle and start pairing up again. The pairs lock arms and spin. At this point, the backlights alternate between red, orange, yellow - all the intense colours.
• 4:29 : Arms still locked. Performers stop spinning. Refer to the moves of Final Fantasy VIII's ballroom scene above.
• 4:36 : At Xans Tyli MinY ImYni Ylx VaYEERa, everyone joins hands, and the "Riverdance" of Sections III and V are re-evoked. We could perhaps have the main Reyvateil dance all by herself at this part, akin to the latter half of the sending of Final Fantasy X. Yes, this part not only has the "togetherness" quality, it also has a sort of spiritual quality to it.
• 4:52 : Main Reyvateil stops "sending dance". All performers are crouched on the floor. Song ends. The backlight fades to blue and the white light on the surrounding Reyvateils and Humans slowly fades away. The main Reyvateil is stronly illuminated. Now I'm not sure how to do this, but we've never made sparkles fall from the sky ? We should perhaps do it at this point. : )

So here you have it. My humble choreography of EXEC_FLIP_ARPHAGE/.