WEEK 5 Outside the Studio

Reading Week

I was out of the studio this week, so naturally I totally forgot about uni work- including improvisation.

I spent the weekend travelling around Newcastle, which meant going on trains and navigating, etc. I hate travelling with the passion. I get frustrated, stressed and quite frankly, the thought of getting lost made me so nervous and so anxious.. very similar to when I started improv classes.

Part of this weekend included going out to dinner and it was my responsibility to find a suitable restaurant that was cheap, close, and with a menu that suited my very picky partner. I didn't make any reservations and on a Friday night, we were lucky if we could be seated in two hours. So I had all these obstacles in front of me. I defeated and went home with a full tummy.

Once I had access to my books, I found like I related this weekend to how Kent de Spain discusses structure and more specifically the limitations and delimitations that might occur in improvisation. I admired how Steve Paxton mentions the spaces that he uses and the obstacles that he came across. He took what he had and used them to his advantage to create a piece. I then saw the stressful hunt for food as a opportunity to find new places to eat rather than going to the usual restaurants, which in my opinion made the meal a lot more exciting and new.

Bibliography:
De Kent, S. (2012) Landscape of the Now. USA: Oxford University Press.

WEEK 4 Time flies when you're having fun

A visual version of Chinese Whispers 

Today's lesson I felt was the most successful so far. We experimented with time and space after reading Landscape of the Now (De Spain, K., 2012, 108-119) and Composing while dancing (Buckwalter, M., 2010, 60-90). We worked in groups and pairs, and we looked into copying each other and then finding our own versions of the leader's movement by echoing, using the essence, diminishing and augmenting. Almost like visual Chinese Whispers with our body.

I felt that this week, I finally understood (or attempted) exploring further movements that were outside of my comfort zone. When we were performing our improvisations in the class, I was very aware of what type of movements were seen and I focused on changing the atmosphere by doing different dynamics and using different effort.

It was also interesting to assess when to enter and exit the space and I was doubting myself and second guessing. Like a false start. I think this was because we were all watching those performing in the space and watching each other, anticipating who was going to make their move. At times, I would enter the space with the intention of joining another occupant but by the time I had made my journey, my plans would fall through. I then had to make quick impulsive decisions. Should I keep dancing? Should I leave the space? Should I begin dancing with another? Whichever you choose, you are engaged with yourself and everyone around, and everyone is engaged with you and themselves.


My journey continues...

Bibliography:

De Kent, S. (2012) Landscape of the Now. USA: Oxford University Press.
Buckwalter, M. (2010) Composing while dancing: An improviser's companion. Madison, Wis: The University of Wisconsin Press.

WEEK 3 Close your eyes and look!

An Outside Eye

Due to an illness, I sat out of class today. This was a very interesting experience. I find that as dancers, we tend to forget to stop and look, to observe what is really happening around us. 

Watching my colleagues experiment without the use of sight, I saw that everyone had developed a fear as they were holding back, perhaps they were scared of bumping into each other or hurting each other. Everyone cares for everyone and this fascinated me, you could see that the movements were small and timid, but once you gave their sight back the movements were a bigger, prouder and less ambiguous and timid. 

Another fascination were this pair of long term best friends dancing together. They were almost in sync with matching and complimentary positions. It looked so natural and effortless! Compare this to a different combination of dancers that didn't know each other that well and you could see the hesitation and sometimes the panic in their minds. 

I think in order to fully experience the world of improvisation, we need to get rid of that fear, hesitation and panic, and learn to adapt quicker in fast moving situations. 

Today I found out that you really need to trust yourself as well as your friends and the environment to truly vibe off each other to create a performance of improvisation. 

WEEK 2 Visiting the Landscape of Now

A Week of Reading

This week I have been reading Landscape of the Now by Kent De Spain and this is what I took from the book. 

As dancers, we know that the initial learning can be difficult but once you have the hang of it, everything is easier. This anecdote also made me see that improvising might be because it's a instinct and it might not always be a choice. (De Spain, K., 2012, 45) Like when you're performing a roll on the floor, it's important to know your own body and the technique to avoid injury.

Linking back to my past, I was always told that get my leg higher, I would need to develop strength and flexibility. But now, while improvising I see that it doesn't matter about the technicality as long as it's safe. A kick can be a low or as high as your body allows in that moment. 

Kent de Spain mentions that focusing purely on movement can be a 'result of limitation in the body/mind' (De Spain, K., 2012, 101) Which I think means I should trust my body and not be so precious in order to free myself and become comfortable with just dancing because I felt like doing so. 

Speaking of the moment, the movements that might occur in that moment can be totally unpredictable and for the first time in my dance journey, I'm starting to understand that's actually fine! It's okay to not know what you are doing and to spontaneously move. 

Bibliography:

De Kent, S. (2012) Landscape of the Now. USA: Oxford University Press.