dance improvisation and reflective practice

WEEK 4

 

WOW! What a class! Today was something else, amazing! For the first time I felt comfortable in what I was doing. I had the confidence to keep going into the space and interacting with others. I LOVED CLASS!

The class was a formal assessment this week, so I automatically felt nervous as previous weeks I haven’t felt right. This class usually scares me so much that I feel sick, however I went in with an open mind and I felt great. A positive mental attitude before class helped me maintain that attitude through the lesson.

One quite from the reading that I really worked on and kept in mind was “If you are concerned about how you are seen or what you are doing, time will press on your mind and squelch your creativity.” (Kent de Spain, 2014, 114)

In previous weeks I felt really conscious and silly creating new movement, so this week (and especially for the assessment) I tried my hardest to be confident and positive and to also stray away from my habitual movement and to also be more daring. I started from the word go, the warm up involved walking (with the hips and not leaving them behind), running and then dropping into press-ups (using the feet so we wasn’t heavy footed) and then also using our minds to quickly get into the specified number of people- this was also fun at the same time, which helped me relax into it even more.

FLOCKING

Flocking whilst in a horizontal line was harder than I thought it would be. Using my peripheral vision whilst maintaining a still position with my body and also thinking about staying in time with everyone, was brain overload! At one point, I tried to take the lead and the people on either side of me followed me but the rest of my line was doing something else from another person leading. This proved to me that we needed to do the movement slower than slow so everyone was able to stay in time and keep up with the chosen movement.

The glacial time/clock or felt time, was difficult as you would be thinking of the instructions of making solos, duets, trios, quartets and groups of 5, that you would forget to count the time or to even keep a mental note of how long you could have been moving for. I always find it hard to maintain stillness after moving as my blood condition makes my body feel numb and especially my fingertips, they feel as though they are going to pop. But this is something I need to work on myself and learning how to control it. I felt confident with working with new people, whereas the first session I would only really work with people I knew the most- which is a huge improvement for me.

We watched the “Ensemble Thinking Scene” by Nina Martin in preparation for our next task. The rules of the task were explained and we began with the task. Watching others move open my eyes as to when we could do each rule and how creative it could be, I found it inspiring and it motivated me to stay confident and keep going into the circle and move. I really liked and understood the “distance” rule, many of times I took a movement and performed it elsewhere in the space. I took a swoosh movement with my leg on a low level and did it right behind a group of people who were doing movement on a high level- this added contrast.

The focus element was the most intense as me and Leesh had a moment of constant eye focus, It was hard to keep a straight face and keep in the moment, however once we both got into it, it was as though we had planned to do the movement we had chosen. We took it slow and sustained so we could fulfil the movement but also make most of the moment we had. One thing I have learnt is that each moment of improvisation will not happen the same again, as every height and move will be different each time so just go with it. It is making me enjoy class even more each week.

Becca, Charlotte and Chloe had amazing focus at one point, keeping eye focus on the body part moving of someone else, this highlighted the movement and drew my attention to that movement whilst I was watching.

Nina Martin says in Buckwalter’s book that “Dancers don’t choose to enter the dance based on an intuitive sense of the building dace material, but to simply fulfil the score”. (Buckwalter M, 2010, 62).

This helped me realise and understand that the score was the most important part, and whatever movement we chose was to match and emphasise the score, not just because we felt like doing that particular movement.

I didn’t feel as pressured or shy this week, my actions and movement felt more natural, making me thoroughly enjoy the class.

 

Bibliography:

Buckwalter, M. (2010) Composing while dancing: An improviser’s companion. Madison, Wis: The University of Wisconsin Press

Spain, K. (2014) Tracking in Landscape of the Now: A topography of Movement Improvisation. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press

WEEK 3

 

The form of a dance or improvisation can change.

The form can change by

Shape – What body part to move (eg: nose or hip) or what shape to make with the body (eg: an ‘S’ shape or writing your name,

Dynamic – sharp, slow, flowy, fast, continuous, disjointed

Space – having a large studio space, small space, gaps between people, upstage or downstage

Pace – the speed of the movement or if you have been to perform it in a certain way

Rhythm – a set beat you’ve been given eg: 1,2,3,4,and 5, and 6, 7, and 8 or a piece of music that you have been given.

 

 

Today’s session taught me that even most simple of tasks need 110% concentration and commitment. As simple as walking through the feet is, executing a walk properly and going heel toe is hard when thinking about it. We taking walking for granted, but walk in the studio with controlled breath and correct posture and alignment, it’s like running a marathon. Whilst walking,  the constant thought of breath, filling the space so there were no gaps, working as a team, how your external body is held was running round my head, and then combined with collectively starting and stopping as a group made my external senses and my peripheral vision work harder. Not leading the group on when to start and stop was the hardest as you needed to sense others around you and their movement, as though you all shared one mind. Watching others, I could see they wanted to perhaps stop but then also did not want to lead. Team work was essential in this task and taught me that even walking, jogging or running takes a mass amount of team work. Because people were concentrating on when to stop or start, the feet became heavy footed and people did not run properly, there was more noise which means less concentration and more space was revealed as no one concentrated on filling the gaps. Multitasking was also key in this task, and the more things to remember the more that it was evident that it needed work, however I felt I was more engaged and under control this week- also more confident and comfortable.

 

 

Flocking.

This was a task for the whole group and worked on experiencing the sensitivity to other people’s body. As an observation it was beautiful to see the ricochet of movement from front to back and also the small moments of unison from the people for example, at the front and could sense what was coming next. The movement needed to be slow, simple and was often gestural, therefore the movement was easy to follow and easy to keep in time- which was the intention. Some movement was tried but was too difficult to do in a small space with everyone being close together for example, going down to the floor or leaning far to the side.

 

“Do you intentionally repeat the failure and use that as anew movement to explore?” (Spain K, 2014, 69)

Some leaders of the movement used their own style to determine the movement they decide to do and sometimes it would not portray properly onto others, but whatever the outcome, was used to create the next movement- thinking about tracking which was from last week’s session. (I feel a huge improvement with noticing to track movement).

Splitting into 2 groups to made it easier to perform the movement such as going on to the floor or lunging out to the side or performing faster movement. There was some movement that ended up in counterpoint and was truly mesmerising to see and experience.

 

Pairs A and B.

The key words for this task was “continue”, “change” and “develop”, all relating to the movement in which you did. I noticed that all the movement was fast and not internal as such. It was not as habitual as the previous weeks however the speed and the body parts used could have been varied. When told to develop the movement, it became repeated which links back to Spain’s reading and how you could make a mistake a new motif when repeated. All first thoughts of movement started with an arm gesture of some kind. Instructions were given to change the shape and dynamics of the improvisation. This was useful as then the movement was new and original and not habitual. Some instructions were…

 

• No arms
• Then the arms back
• Leading from the elbows
• 5 walks every 10 seconds
• Leading from the nose
• Super slow movement
• Fast forward
• Leading from the back of the knee

These instructions helped everyone’s movement stray from habitual.

 

Score Relationships.

This final task was to work on the relationship with others and how to form a solo, duet, trio or a quartet, based on the rules and the idea of creating relationships in mind.

The rules…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sections highlighted in blue are the only sections of space allowed to move in at that given time.

Stage 1                                           Stage 2                                      Stage 3                                       Stage 4

• In stages 1 and 2 you can only walk, run, fall, kneel, stand and turn.
• In stages 3 and 4 you can do any movement
• In stages 1 and 2, the key words are continue and change
• In stages 3 and 4, the key words are continue, change and develop

-To also, wait around the edges of the room before stepping into a certain section.

-Move on the sound of the alarm in the music.

At first this felt a little hazy as I felt like there was lots of instructions, however after the first few people had the guts to go first everyone loosened up. Sometimes it was hard to multitask and concentrate on creating the relationships as sometimes doing a movement would not catch on with someone else, therefore you felt like had made a mistake. But rolling with it leads to other opportunities that enabled you to follow someone else to form another relationship that you probably wouldn’t have tracked or thought would happen.

 

“I mean, I think it’s where really good improvisation ensembles make or break their world, how the ensemble deals with conflict or with mistakes or with misunderstandings.”(Spain K, 2014, 71)

 

Moments of pause and silence helped refresh the body. The slow pace of the group helped also with the tracking and internal thought process of keeping clam. I found it helpful to watch others and see the magic be created right in front of me. When the entire space was being used by the whole group, many duets and trios formed and created patterns such as going up and down onto the floor which created contrast and also complimented movement going on around the room.

 

This class helped me to understand ensembles and how simple movement can look effective in large groups. Also, how to remain calm in situations when bombarded with instructions. I can feel myself loosening up more and relaxing from week to week and the movement is becoming less habitual, I still need work but… Bring on next week!

 

Bibliography:

Spain, K. (2014) Tracking in Landscape of the Now: A Topography of Movement Improvisation. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

WEEK 2

I went in disliking the idea of improvisation and left feeling open minded about it. I did not say I like it, but I am open minded.

Again, this week started with internal body focus. I remembered form last week that I had to let go of all judgement of myself and just focus on the breath. Laying down helped me to track my body and address the areas that were sensitive, and also areas that were in contact with the floor. I felt heavy the second we started to tense our body parts one by one- for example, the feet, the legs, the pelvis, the lower back, the shoulder blades and arms and ever so slightly the head, working the way up through the body. I noticed that one side wasn’t as comfy as the other, I especially noticed this when we rolling my head from side to side ( I found it really hard to track the pathway of my head ) . Slowly, we transitioned into the fetal position, then the child’s pose, table top and downward dog. Having the freedom to move in and out of these positions as and when I wanted to, helped me to stretch properly and then relax. I felt so relaxed doing this and it helped me prepare my body for the pair’s task. Using our peripheral vision, we sat opposite our partner and had to move in synchronicity. Spain, K says “What you track is usually a function of your improvisational values”. (Kent de Spain, 2014, 48). This helped me to think of a move I wanted to include next, but as I was performing that move, I knew what had come before and what was coming after from thinking about the tracking. As a pair, we worked well with each other on keeping fluidity and keeping synchronised. By doing this pairs task, I realised how important it was to keep focus, and that your focus can drive the energy.

Spain, K also said “Most people may not think of it, but the profundity of the body is not restricted to your body. There is plenty of inspiration to be found through connecting- visually, physically, spiritually- with the bodies of others” (Kent de Spain, 2014, 96). Individually in the space we thought about tracking and improvised, very slowly, thinking about tracking and trying something new- also known as habitual movement. I must say, I found this hard as I would get stuck and resort to a shoulder roll or a movement that initiated from my arms or chest. My feedback from this also told me that my movement was circular, fluid and soft. I noticed patterns and repetition in other people’s improvisations, lots of habitual movement that I definitely need to step away from. I found it useful knowing what I was doing as now I can notice it, track it and improve on it, so maybe next time I might not have as much habitual movement in my improvisations.

The improv jam was the hardest for me as I felt so exposed and hated being in the middle of everyone. I waited till the last minute to enter the circle as I felt so under pressure, which I’m sure everyone else was feeling. After I had done it, I felt at ease knowing we all felt the same, and speaking about it, I knew I resort to habitual movement when I have people watching as I feel comfortable doing it, where as I need to be creative and experiment with my movement.

Definitely something to work on… a lot!

 

Bibliography:

Spain, K. (2014) Tracking in Landscape of the Now: A Topography of Movement Improvisation. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

WEEK 1

By beginning with inward body focus, I was able to remove all feelings of embarrassment and worry before I started. At first this felt uncomfortable however, the more I relaxed I found it became soothing, therapeutic and had a sense of feeling free. With my eyes closed and maintaining the stillness in my body, it opened up all of my senses even more. I feel I will become more comfortable than how I feel now and not as conscious with new tasks as the weeks go on with more practice, as Buckwalter says “practice requires living breathing bodies to inhabit them, and thus adaptation, refinement of ideas, growth and change.” (Buckwalter M, 2010, 156). Losing all judgement of myself, combined with the music, my body felt heavy and I felt as though I was the only one in the room. It was good to acknowledge the points of pain within my body and move to my own accord to what best suited me, maybe next time I will try to experiment even more when told to twist, pull, push, fold etc. but these were helpful to work with. For me, I need to think quicker and feel more freedom in my mind in order to produce new and interesting movement by not worrying about going wrong, just like Midgelow says “’Mistakes’ become openings – for you cannot cross them out, they cannot be neatened up ”. (Midgelow Vida L, 2012, 12)  This helps me to realise there is no wrong or right answer as to what movement I perform, therefore next time I need to be open to new ideas. The exercise in pairs showed me that as well as using your own mind to create new and interesting movement for yourself, you also have to simultaneously work with someone who is also creating movement that is unexpected. With the movement being raw, it looked beautiful to see when other pairs came together in an unexpected way and then some habitual movement would creep in and you could see the creative flow would stop and they would resort to doing something more known and something they are comfortable with. This exercise did reveal personalities and little traits that each person had and would go back to, and even though the style was contemporary, each person stylised contemporary to suit them. This first session has taught me and opened my eyes to the amount of focus and awareness you need for improvisation. Overall I loved feeling free, uncontrollable and relaxed and open minded, I enjoyed the class and can’t wait for next week.

 

Bibliography:

Buckwalter, M. (2010) Composing while dancing: An improviser’s companion. Madison, Wis: The University of Wisconsin Press

Midgelow, Vida L (2012) Dear Practice…: The Experience of Improvising. Northampton: Intellect

Welcome to University of Lincoln Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!