In the beginning of this session we discussed our ideas and understandings of the readings, from week one and week two, my group focussed on ‘Dear Practise’ the main four rules within this reading was: Patience, show up, don’t get attached to results and tell the truth.
The letters tell us about individuals’ experiences with improvisation, they explore the nature of improvisation. Improvisation is being vulnerable to own movements and connecting with the body, it is to have the idea of what is coming next without thinking about it too much. To learn the skill of improvisation you have to show up and explore ideas with patience.
We were speaking of our ideas and were offered to speak, I did so and so did others however a few had not, so there was silence, the expectation of someone to break the silence, it caused discomfort for everyone in the room, however because it had been silent for a while I looked at the person next to me being Rayanne and said whispered “say something” she gave me an awkward facial expression and then she did speak moments later. The versatility and flexibility of how we change between roles is interesting, in this instance I took leadership, by offering Rayanne to speak. This activity shown improvisation through speech and gestures.
My ideas being explored: the body is influx- how it feels in the body? Bodily awareness of time as a concept and the quality of engagement. “To be open” “Give expectations and free knowledge” “To lose control” These three quotes enhance our understandings of telling the truth.
Tracking is reassessing what has happened before and be aware, not to return from what has been done before and to perceive new movement.
Whilst improvising we have to think about making better choices from the time before and also less successful, this is by allowing the body to freely move without intention of diverting back to habits. When improvising, we don’t know what encounters are going to happen, so we accept each movement idea when exploring.
Partner work- observing when partner improvises and find what their habits are.
Jess:
Ripple Roll High Swipe Roll Push Turn Low Down Roll Swipe
Dynamic Jump Swipe Leg Kneel Swing Step Jump Ripple Swipe Walk
Tasks independently:
• Improvise
• Improvise with no repetition
• Improvise with spoken words of movement
• Improvise with speed (on the scale of 1-10)
• Develop- use the likeness of movement to start
• How we brought back movements
• Remembering and standing back where we stood for pervious task
Kayla said my fast-paced movements looked like McGreggors style. I choreographed more material when improvising at a quick speed.
Start- develop- bring back-develop-bring back, this made exploring the movements of interest have a clearer purpose.
I was observed by peers, them noticing my habits. My feedback being, that I lean back on my heels, roll on the floor, use my arms a lot. I developed the manipulated finger into the wrists my peers expressed that they liked this, also the developed arm sequence was appreciated.
I have been challenging myself movement material and becoming more comfortable with improvisation also giving an understanding of how I move in my body. I liked the idea of going back to movements I felt were successful. Manipulating a body part enhanced a choreographic skill I hadn’t used before, also I had to focus on my injury (muscle strain in left knee) when improvising to suit my body’s ability. How I produce work? How I feel today? Tracking has been helpful to my improvisation skills; the readings have given me a clearer understanding.
“the level of concentration, telescoping in and zoom out” Nancy Stark
Here is a short clip from this session, were I explore my movement vocabulary.