Improvisation and reflective practice

This week we began our improvisation by doing another flocking exercise but in a horizontal line instead of a small huddle. We had to have no clear leader and just follow the others in the group through our peripheral vision. There was a minute or two of stillness when the exercise began as people were adjusting to the task set and thinking of ways to improvise that wouldn’t be too complex. When we began, similar movements began to occur and get repeated as our group concentrated on movements which would be noticeable to others, for example, a roll down the spine or an arm reaching out to the side. In this exercise I found it tempting to look sideways so a strong focus was required to stop this from happening. I lead the movement a couple of times in this exercise and concentrated on how my movement would be simple out of the peripheral to copy. I focused on transference of weight, rocking my weight into the toes and balls of the feet to begin with as this would be an easy starting point for people to copy. When we joined together as a whole group it was a lot harder to start movement, there were clear leaders in the group that would lead the movement more than once. I often found myself trying to start a movement but someone else had already got there before me, this was probably because of the vast number of us all wanting to have a go.

The next exercise we did related to the readings we got set prior to the lesson looking at felt time in dance. We had to lay down and estimate when we thought two minutes had passed. A lot of us were over or under the time required showing how felt time estimation is difficult. The next exercise required us to improvise and move in the space for 7 minutes, sitting down when we believed the time was up. Firstly I thought seven minutes is a long time to improvise without snapping back into old habitual patterns and how will I know when to stop moving?

“In improvisation, time can be friend or foe.Time will crawl, for you and for the audience, if you are not comfortably engaged in the action of the moment. If you are concerned about how you are seen or what you are doing, time will press on your mind and squelch your creativity.”

(Spain,K, 2014, 114)

This quote really inspired me when improvising as sometimes I can be too critical on my movement, worrying too much about what it looks like rather than allowing my movement to flow naturally. Time seems to go slower when doing this and my movement becomes stop start hindering my chances of being more creative and expressing myself. In future weeks I want to put this quote into practice; stop having a constant conscience of worry and being concerned about how i’m seen and just concentrate on exploring movement fully. This quote I believe relates to me and has allowed me to reflect on my current experiences of improvisation. I will definitely try to not let time/worry stop me from being creative in my practice.

To give a visual representation of Nina Martins scores we watched the ‘Straddling Trio,’ and analysed how they used Nina Martins ensemble thinking scores within their improvisation. Martin has 4 main scores which she uses in improvisation:

1. 3/2- How the ensemble relate to each other through levels, movement, facings and distance

2. Hot spot- How the individuals take focus and how the ensemble give an individual focus

3. One idea- how can the ensemble create one simple easy to read form

4. Number score- How many of the ensemble are in the working space

I found that some of the scores were more easier to spot in the video than others. The number score for example was self explanatory, there were always three bodies working within the space whether they were improvising as a solo, duet or trio. The hotspot and one idea principle was a lot harder to spot than the number score because as an audience, we had to know what their perception on form was and what their focus within the improvisation was; we could only guess what it may have been. When looking at 3/2 this was fairly straightforward to figure out because it was just being able to spot their relationships through the way that they move. For example, in the duet section between the male and female they were seen to compliment each other and be improvising on a low/medium level.

After watching Nina Martins ensemble score, we put it into action as one big group. In this exercise i really wanted to explore my movements in relation to other people, being open to work with new individuals in the group and explore relationships in improvisation. A quote taken from the reading,  “space is a playing field without which there is no game,” (Spain, K 2014)  inspired me to want to be in the space more than in previous weeks.

Working with Martins scores gave us something to think about when improvising. The hotspot and one idea score proved hard to work with as i questioned, how do we improvise something to create a clear form? and how do we construct a focus within the group?  Form could be anything you want it to be, there was no right or wrong answer but being able to create new movement to fit around the idea of a form and doing this collectively was frustrating to figure out. To begin this score we walked round the room to the music, when the music changed we began to split off working in smaller groups and improvising movement within these littler groups. Our movement we were improvising was intrinsic to the music that was being played, it was interesting to see how peoples improvisation changed according to this. For the focus score I noticed Heidi began to have focus on applying pressure to her feet working through her feet in a plie position. To compliment the focus I worked on developing her movement on a lower level and working through different body parts, for example my hands, hips and arms.

For the number score we had to improvise with the number of people that were required in the space. I felt I explored relationships quite a lot in this score, working with Tasha looking at points of contact which could be made on different body parts. I also worked with Laura and Tasha as a trio, weaving in and out of their kinasphere’s creating different shapes and stillness within the space.

For the 3/2 score I would work in opposition to people for example, when working with Chloe she would do a forward bend over her legs and I would do a back bend. I also explored facings by working downstage if someone was working upstage or improvising corner to corner. When working in a group of three I found some people kept altering their facings and I would canon their movement.

As the weeks progress I can see a difference in my movement and hope that it will continue to develop. I really enjoyed working with Nina Martins scores this week and I am beginning to feel more relaxed in class. I like putting the readings into practice as it really helps me to embody them.

Bibliography

Spain, K. (2014) Space in Landscape of the Now. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Spain, K. (2014) Time in Landscape of the Now. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

World Dance Alliance.(2013) Straddling Trio with Gamblin, Martin and Wass. [Online Video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCqh3Cq2Qis. [Accessed: 17 February 2016].

Prior to class, we were set 3 separate readings which discuss form, attention and intention. I came across  a particualrly interesting quote from the Kent De Spain reading which said “someone who holds too tightly to initial intentions is likely to not open to the magic of the unexpected.”( De Spain, 2014, 69)  This quote made me question my way of working when improvising, as I usually base my movement upon intention thinking about where I want to be in the space and what kind of shapes I want my body to make. For example, in my practice I often ask myself what will my arm do if i twist it this way? What shape will my body make if i apply more pressure to certain parts? This inspired me to think less about intention and more about moving naturally and actually seeing where my body takes me. Deborah Hay says “there is no time for intention” (De Spain, 2014, 70)  and Steve Paxton questions whether having an intention means you are actually improvising. He tries to “not intend and to find out.”(De Spain, 2014, 70) This is what I wanted to try and achieve as I believe my movement was becoming restricted because of this, which made opening up to new creativity difficult.

We began the class by walking around the space and then as a group, having to find stillness before carrying on. To start with, we found the activity difficult as you had to make a collective decision when to stop in the space. Once we got used to the concept of there not being a clear leader, the exercise got slightly easier. We then increased to jogging round the room which was hard to find a moment where we could all stop at once, I think the fact that we were moving our bodies more and filling gaps in space made it difficult for there to be exact stillness within each of us.

The first exercise was a ‘flocking’ exercise which we carried out together as one whole group. The individuals at the front had to improvise movement to which the rest of the class followed. When at the front you rely on your peripheral vision to make a mutual decision of who is going to start the movement. Movement started becoming quite habitual. I noticed a lot of side bends and arm movements being repeated. When at the back it is also difficult to repeat the movement straight away because you rely on the people in front of you, there were some pauses hence some movement been performed later. When we split into two groups it was a lot easier to replicate the movement because there wasn’t as many of us.

The second exercise we did was in pairs, we labelled ourselves A and B. A’s had to improvise movement whilst being observed by B, they had the opportunity to tell us to change movement, develop movement or continue the movement. My movement began to be very habitualised and repetitive, often performing the same floor work. When my partner shouted ‘change!,’ I started to explore different levels. For example if I started on the floor I would come up to standing and improvise something on a rise. I would also change the dynamic of my movement. My improvised movement began slow and sustained but to change this, I would make my movements more sharp and angular. After a good 10 minutes into the exercise, I noticed I began to move away from my habitualised movement and became more exploratory trying hard to create something completely different. When observing Tasha, I noticed her stopping for thinking time. Once she got more relaxed into the exercise she started to become less repetitive and more fluid in her improvisation. When her movement began to look similar or have the same dynamic I would shout ‘change,’ to try and push her movement further.

For the third exercise we came away from our partners and improvised in the space. Kirsty would suggest ways of how to move by giving us imagery to work, this helped when trying to combat habitual tedencies.  Some examples of imagery were : only allowing movement to lead from the head, one arm has to stay on the floor at all times, having to lead from the left hip etc. These restrictions allowed for the improvisation to look less stylised and more new, I felt that my movement wasn’t habitual due to the restrictions of my body and having to think of how to not move certain parts of the body. I also noticed that I started to become more internal and simplistic when improvising. As a spectator, it was very interesting to watch the rest of the class and see how much they had already developed since week one. After thinking I couldn’t ever improvise, this exercise gave me the confidence to tell myself that things will only get better with time and gave me the confidence to not give up on myself.

The final exercise was carried out as a collective. We split the studio into four different stages. In the top right hand corner of the studio our movement was limited, you could only run, walk, turn, kneel and fall ( likewise for the top left hand corner of the studio) The third stage was half of the studio space where you had the option of any movement but you had to develop and continue it. The same score applied for stage four which was the whole of the space. To begin with I was stood at the side being quite timid observing the others and trying to find the right moment to enter into the space. This was what I found most difficult about this exercise. When someone had a moment of stillness I  would  run into the space as I found this a good an opportunity to start improvising. I often found myself copying their movement or complimenting it. I also contrasted peoples movement by performing the movement on a lower level if they were on a higher level and performing the movement with a different body part. Trying to compliment some people’s movement was more difficult than others because their movement was more complex than simplistic/internal. This was a good exercise to find a connection and interact as a trio or quartet with other dancers. If I was to do the exercise again, I would definitely try and be in the space more as the only way to improve in the module is to throw yourself into the exercises and to explore movement as much as you can.

I found the Buckwalter reading particularly interesting when discussing form saying form in dance is the “shape of the body in movement, arrangement of bodies in space, or the shape a dance takes overtime.”( Buckwalter, 2010, 34) I particularly like this idea of ‘space’ which gets discussed and think this will help me in my future improvisation making my movement more abstract and original.

Bibliography

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

De Spain, K. (2014) Landscape of the Now: A topography of movement improvisation. New York: Oxford University Press.

After my first experience of improvisation I was ready to come to class with a more positive outlook. Last week’s lesson inspired me to want to throw myself into the module and put my worries of improvisation behind me.

To begin with, we did some somatic work on the floor focusing on the breath and tensing different body parts on the floor. We also moved the head from left to right to see if there were any restrictions and how it differed from one side of the body to the other. I found that when I turned my head towards the left, there was more tension there than there was in the right which seemed more relaxed. Isolating and tensing a certain body part such as the torso or leg proved difficult as other muscles and body parts began to get involved. This exercise relieved any stress in the body that had been done prior to class and allowed us to focus on our bodies and inner feeling.

The second exercise done in class was with partners, this exercise required a lot of focus as you had to improvise movement and mirror your partner through peripheral vision. To start with I felt like doing movements which relieved tension, particularly focusing on the spine as it felt stiff. Using simplistic improvised movements made this exercise easier to follow, but I did feel in some parts there was a clear leader. Some parts of the body felt heavier than others and I was exploring movement which helped balance this so both sides felt the same. I found it strange relying solely on peripheral vision to make the movement happen, it was hard to keep your eyes focused on something for a long period of time. At the beginning of the exercise I felt restricted when moving because we were seated on the floor, but noticed as we both got used to the exercise the movement gradually got bigger.

When I heard we would be taking part in an ‘improvisation jam,’ my heart literally sank! I find performing in a circle terrifying even more so when you are just improvising for as long as you can until someone swaps over with you. When I went into the centre of the circle I felt as though I was repeating my movement a lot and not exploring smaller internal movements. My movement also became habitual taking things I had learnt from technique classes and previously choreographed dances. I began to think, will I ever break the pattern and move away from habitual movement? It can get frustrating when you want to be able to make movement and you just can’t break away from old tendencies.

The next exercise we did was a tracking exercise. With this exercise you are constantly thinking of movement that has happened before and then carrying that movement on. I found this exercise difficult and often found myself stopping for thinking time, rather than it being continuous. We then got into partners and assessed how our bodies were moving in the space, taking note of any patterns, habitual movement and repetitions etc. From the feedback I got given, I realised I was repeatedly using my upper body and kept rolling my shoulders and rolling over my body.  My movement was also very placed rather than free flowing.

“Movement- subtle or extreme, gestural or locomotor, intentional or accidental- is the medium through which the improvisation is experienced by both the improviser and the audience. It is also the lens through which that audience can view the inner world of the mover.”

(Spain, K, 2014, 93)

After reading ‘Landscape of the now a toptography of movement improvisation,’ I took this quote which inspired me to think of other ways of moving my body. I took that movement is what you make it, it doesn’t have to be complexed it can be something simple, pedestrian, and can be whatever you choose for it to be. It can even be something you dislike and something that wasn’t meant to happen. This quote has inspired me in upcoming weeks to look more at simple/small movements, maybe experimenting with a body part I don’t use often and actually just going with what my mind is telling me to do. Hopefully my movement will start becoming less habitual and more original.

Bibliography

Prior to the class, I had never had any proper experience of improvisation, it usually consisted of being told to improvise to a piece of music chosen by the dance teacher. However,  it is inevitable that we have all improvised in the creative process of our work and that we all  improvise in everyday life. I was interested to learn more about it and be taught about it properly, as it is fundamental in dance.

To begin, we began to work internally closing our eyes and exploring how different parts of the body felt, if there was any tension within the body and how certain body parts felt moving in different ways. This made the body relaxed giving us time to think of how to take care of ourselves identifying any difficulties or problems. It  prepared us for moving around in the space. We then began to improvise on the floor…

To start with I felt nervous about what other people thought of my movement, but learnt that in improvisation you cant be phased by others around you, they themselves are too focused on their own movement to have time to look at yours. With reference to the Midgelow reading it says you have to go “out in the space and believe something will happen,” (Midgelow, 2012, 10) which gave me the confidence to stop being so nervous and just throw myself into improvising.  I didn’t know what to expect from this exercise and  without the help of choreographic terms, I would have found this exercise extremely challenging. The terms used were ‘folding,’ ‘pressing,’ ‘rotating,’ and ‘pulling.’ These terms acted as a stimuli to initiate movement in the body, I found it particularly interesting how I was trying to fold body parts I wouldn’t normally fold and body parts that felt awkward and difficult to fold. When pressing into the floor the most obvious body part to apply pressure to would be the arms or legs but you had to think of other less obvious body parts to explore with. For example I began adding pressure to my fingers and hips.  I also began to travel more within the space when I got used to the thought of improvising and when I started to increase the size of my movements. I did however, notice that I began to become repetitive doing things a number of times because I couldn’t think of other movements to do. Hopefully this may decrease in the upcoming weeks. Moving along the floor to quite slow relaxing music was quite therapeutic and made me feel at ease. I enjoyed this exercise and it was a good exercise to ease our way into the module.

As part of the second exercise we had to find a partner and label ourselves A and B. A was the person that would move around in the space and B was the one who had to tap different body parts to instigate A’s movement. This exercise proved difficult at first, as we began working quite slowly and I often found myself pausing a lot to think about what to do next, this didn’t allow my movement to flow naturally causing random breaks. The aim of this exercise was to only move the body part touched which was also difficult as I found myself creating more of a sequence, snapping into old stylized habitual movement. As we sped this exercise up, I found it slightly easier as you just had to keep moving; the pace of the movement was so fast there was no time to stop or even think! Interestingly, a quote I took from Hamilton linked into this exercise, “every movement has within it the seeds of what needs to come next,” (Midgelow, 2012, 12) I took from this that you will always have ideas on how to move its just having the confidence to find them. Similarly, in the Midgelow reading it speaks about letting yourself go “a letting go of control, a letting go of the known, a letting go of thinking processes, a letting go of the mind in order to free the body!” (Midgelow, 2012, 13) This quote inspired me to just let my movement take me anywhere and hopefully in upcoming sessions I will be able to free the body and feel more comfortable to improvise in the space.

Bibliography

Midgelow, Vidla L. (2012) Dear Practice… : The experience of improvising. Northampton: Intellect

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