Wednesday 14 March 2012

SRT-Week Seven

Curling and uncurling: Starting in parallel I began to curl the spine, playing with different levels and sizes. I found new ways to melt into the ground and explore this further.

Axis:lying on the floor I slowly moved my head from side to side thinking about it moving from its axis. This lead me into rolling from side to side and onto my front again. Introducing the arms, I placed them in different positions and tried to position the legs onto the same axis. Took the idea of the axis creating a shadow with me as I moved.

Partner Graphic
1.My partner lifted my rib cage up as I leant backwards. Rising up of her knee, I began skating across the floor. I noticed that my feet didn't need to be positioned as far apart in order to travel across the floor.

2.As the rib cage was still being held up I found the pulse in my pelvis that took me in and out of the floor without my knees having to do the work. This lead onto small jumps across the floor and travelling whilst changing the direction of the pelvis.

3.Reminder of the three spheres-the skull, the rib cage and the pelvis

4.Swaying from side to side my partner created a figure of eight starting from the bottom of the feet. I moved on my own, with a strong focus on my pelvis than I normally do. I played with the size of the sways and tilted backwards and sidewards.

Leah's Workshop

Moving as we wanted to, I put a central focus on the feet and how I could move them. I played with the idea of them taking my whole body weight and creating different rhythms. From this I was able to come up with two different movement features. The first was playing with giving and taking weight off my hands and feet from a crouch position. The second was to sweep my feet against the floor, creating different sounds.

In the park we had to choose 5 different places of interest and observe how it influenced our moving.
1. Rocks next to the pond:They could take my weight in different ways. I played with dividing my body weight over more than one rock and observed which ones I trusted the most.

2. Trees:I investigated two different trees. The first was the smaller and thinner of the two. I leant against it and noticed how the bark on it was quite smooth. I didn't stay here for long as I felt it didn't have much of an impact on my movement. The second tree was a main feature of the park, as a result of its size. I used both the branches and the trunk to take my weight and found that I could explore this to a greater level than I could on the last tree.

3.Steps:Swaying from side to side, tilting, walking up them and down them. I was also able to play with the rhythms that I had created in the studio against the smooth stone.

4.Archway:I thought that the old archway refelcted the past of Coventry, whilst the new archway positioned above it was pointing towards the future of Coventry. I was able to sit in the archway as if I was part of its history.

Friday 9 March 2012

Unwritten Dance Press Release

Unwritten Dance

forwardinmotion2011@hotmail.co.uk

Forward In Motion Dance Festival 2011


SECOND YEAR PERFORMANCE PROJECT – CHOREOGRAPHY BY ANDREA BUCKLEY

Unwritten Dance – Shifting Time


Unwritten Dance is a company of second year dance students, studying at Coventry University. As part of their Performance Project module they have been given the opportunity to work with an independent dance artist and choreographer to create a unique piece, of work within a professional setting. This piece of work is to be showcased as part of The Forward in Motion Dance Festival 2011, alongside other work shown by Influx and Rooted Dance Company.

Shifting Time is what we have named our creative process. It has given us permission to expand our perception and step out side of our routines and habits

Time and space have become our playmates

Using postcards, objects, improvised workshops, body parts and contact work, Andrea Buckley helped us to create a twenty minute performance piece. Themes through this set improvised piece include the concept of chance and fate, time passing through space and the idea of orbiting. This piece will allow an audience member the opportunity to question everyday movement in improvised timings.


Andrea Buckley Biography
Andrea Buckley works as an independent dance artist. Her experience extends over 20 years, performing teaching and creating work in various professional contexts to include the wider community.

Her primary research draws upon an extensive range of improvisation and contact skills as a way to continue to develop an awareness of the moving body and expand a repertoire of composition.

She has performed with many independent artists touring UK, Ireland, Europe and parts of America. These include; Kirstie Simson, Nancy Stark–Smith, MacLennan Dance & Company, Rosemary Lee, Gill Clarke and Deborah Hay. Most recently she has been working with Siobhan Davies Dance in a performance project ROTOR touring 2009/10.

With regards to her own recent work Walking Within was created and performed first in 2009 in collaboration with film artist Daniel Williams and Composer/musician Jamie McCarthy. She continues the performance of this work in various settings as a way to keep alive the collaborative process and performance aspect that fuels her desire to move.

Andrea is now a certified Rolfer. It is with this knowledge and curiosity that she is inspired to explore something new that captures an investigative process.

www.walkingwithin.com

Forward in Motion Dance Festival takes place between 5th and 9th December 2011. Unwritten Dance will perform Wednesday 7th and Friday 9th at 7:30 pm in The Ellen Terry Dance and Theatre Performance Space.

Final Rehearsal

Technical Rehearsal
• Missed out the bouncy ball interruption part
• The orbit cant slow down just because of the music being of a different speed
• Big attention needs to be given to seeing the space
• Don’t prepare for Julia lifting you- Its better than before, but it still needs work
• Remember the order of the objects
• When jumping near the booms, be careful that they don’t shake

Dress Rehearsal
• Don’t think of the ball/ frame change of movement as something that should be done on a diagonal. Find space within the group and move It out more.
• Watch facial expressions when Julia is dragging me
• Don’t stand for too long between the end of the hopping moment and collecting the objects
• Once finished dropping the objects, stand against the wall
• Throughout the piece, keep the idea of arriving in a moment and moving onto the next one with you.
• In the river be aware of your 3D self.

Feedback Session two

•The bigger face out works better than the crawling on the floor
.Need to tighten up the timing on stopping/pausing and talking together
•We all need to run out into the orbit together. If this is done properly it will automatically change the dynamic of the performance as opposed to it being flat.
•Going into the ground is much better. However, getting out of the ground needs to be a much tighter transition. Maybe try spiralling out of the ground.
•Move to the diagonal on the third run a lot quicker
•In the river make sure your legs are well grounded so you can keep your balance. The trio is slightly too long and therefore needs a moment of pause
•When you’re in the line, don’t prepare your arms. Continue to be seeing outwards.

Feedback Session One

There is a sense that everyone knows the choreography

The crawling around piece doesn’t work

In each place in the piece you need to be aware of where you are, what your doing and what your purpose is. It’s not enough to just have a special map with you. Instead you need to bring your own personal experience with you.

Until this is found the performance will remain looking “flat”

The mini diagonal still feels too quick. In the practising of improvisation it’s lost its reality. It needs to feel real: think about the first time you made the investigation

In the orbit the dropping onto the floor needs to happen quicker, within one transition. Think of the imagery of “heads on belly”, this can happen on front, ear on stomach etc

Whole hands are needed on the floor

Diagonal moment is good, but it could slow down. Allow the contact to feel real, and try to frame “special moments”

Keep the river score with you to create layers. The trio is too long and attention needs to be given to levels and speed.

The run needs to be a run and not a polite trot. Watch waves for inspiration. Put a pause in before moving onto the next movement.

Coming out into the space needs to happen with more speed. Lifts need to be given particular attention. There is too much preparation for going into lifts. Don’t “wait” for the person lifting you. What can I bring into the stillness? How can I move for a little longer?

Watch hand tension

Dropping of the ball-Practising the dropping with pauses and includes fast movements to

Final Map of Performance

dance intensive 006 by c_27
dance intensive 006, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Final Map of Performance

dance intensive 005 by c_27
dance intensive 005, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Chess Imagery

board3Dwin1 by c_27
board3Dwin1, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Dance Intensive-Day Five

Warm up
Today we started with the same exercise as yesterday. I still felt that I wanted to work independently from the group. I think this is because I can loose myself a lot easier within my own investigation of work and don’t have to be spacially aware of others.

Group work
When we gradually made our way into contact with other people I found that I had a stronger relationship and sense of awareness of other people compared to the day before. I played with the idea of trying to use the surfaces of the floor to be in contact with my arms and upper body. It was interesting to see how much easier it was than on the lower body, particularly the upper thighs. However, I did create a stronger focus within the feet.

Chess
I enjoyed moving on the low and middle levels as I could travel and explore more. I struggled with the upper level as I didn’t want to travel too far away from my group. However, when we did travel it across the space I felt that I wanted to spend more time arriving into each moment, but in contrast my group wanted to move at a quicker pace.

River
I reflected other people’s movements from across the river as opposed to those who were in my side of it. I also didn’t change angles in the river. I need to open my movements and see the space.

Trio Work
I have my weight to Julia and she drags me across the floor. It’s important to remember to continue seeing the space as I’m being dragged. I also need to use my hands to reach the floor to create a sense of me taking my own weight. Learn to see Julia in the space as I perform section 6. Try to Hold arm position for slightly longer, to arrive in the moment. Blocking Julia needs to be a bit more forceful. Make a transition back into the moving line by using repetitive arm movements.

Map of Performance

Walking and talking

Charlie moment

Possibility of change of angle: 45/90/180 degrees while in silence

Memory imprints- needs to travel up the diagonal. Maybe we don’t have contact with another person

Orbiting three circles- energise the space. Think of the whirlpool imagery. Have a real sense of lying down. Musical queue. Possibility of running backwards and lifting/catching. Clump can not land in the middle of the space.

River-option of 45 or 180 degrees angle

Orbit Score

mercury-orbit by c_27
mercury-orbit, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Take a walk in space

Introduce the option to drop the pelvis-can’t change direction

Option of running-if one person changes direction everyone has to

Option of standing still

Three people always have to be in the outer circle


I found that I enjoyed the speed, energy and sense of urgency it created and as a result found myself always on the outside circle running. Taking over people helped to create and further develop a sense of urgency. Standing still in the middle, was interesting to feel grounded while another force moved around you. Although I was part of the orbit, I wasn’t actually caught up in the urgency and at times chaotic atmosphere.

Memory Score



Working in pairs with Julia we took it in turns to dance around our partner who had their eyes closed. When I was dancing around Julia I played with the idea of moving away, coming close and creating sounds to keep Julia guessing. I found it difficult to guess what Julia was doing and therefore had to have a strong connection of my 3D self to attempt to work it out. The smaller the groups we did it in the easier and more natural it felt. When we moved it along the diagonal, I noticed how I had to adopt my movement depending on the distance of the performance. I struggled to move from the back to the front, and back again.

Snake Pass

coral-snake by c_27
coral-snake, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

We played with the idea of speeds and levels. The lower I went the easier it was to travel with a sense of fluidity and quicker through the line. The tenser I became, the more confused my arms became and it felt as though the test of the group were simply passing me along the line as opposed to catching and transferring my weight.

Dance Intensive-Day Four

Warm Up
Began laying on the floor. Slowly began to move my hands. Working with the imagery of my hands being able to cover all surfaces of the floor, I investigated the idea of how they take my weight in and out of the ground.
Eg: Downward dog/ upward dog
Pelvis into the air
Weight onto head
Upside down movement
As we moved into contact with three other people, I felt as though the investigation lost focus for me. I’ve become more focused on trying to work my way into the group. I noticed that my body began to feel tense, I started to hold my breath and it felt uncomfortable.

Transferring weight
Running backwards and having Emily catch me felt safe and secure. I was therefore more open to explore how fast and far I wanted to go. When I fell into her shoulder it also felt safe. However, when we began to explore the idea of Emily getting lower and me moving in front of her I noticed that my body tensed up and didn’t want to be lifted.

Dance Intensive-Day Three

Set Phrase Points to Remember
1. Need to keep arm straight at the start- Don’t curve it
2. Imagery of a needle and thread
3. Keep the pelvis low whilst turning
4. Keep the hand flat- Draw the letter B in the air
5. Look at your left hand, which should be flat on the ground, before coming up again
6. Find the weight in your arms when dropping them down. Use the imagery of dominos falling to help
7. When swinging arms in air, think of cutting through bushes
8. Keep the pelvis low in the arm swings. Make sure arms are fully extended and hands are flat
9. See Julia in the space
10. Don’t rush movements

Perching Imagery

Gratitude-Rocks%20stones%20(2) by c_27
Gratitude-Rocks%20stones%20(2), a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Dance Intensive-Day Three

Hand on Work
We began the morning with some hands on work to relax the muscles in the legs. As we were now into the third day of the intensive, my legs were starting to feel sore and stiff. I noticed that they took a long time to relax into the ground and I struggled to give my partner my weight. By placing weight and pressure, through sponging, onto the legs the tension began to ease. Combing the legs made them feel elongated and I got a greater sense of the length of the leg from the hip bone down to my toes.

Contact Work
• Walking backwards/Running backwards and catching
• The element of surprise through the length and speed of running
• Trust in partner
• Awareness of 3D self when running backwards
• Upside down moment
• Keep a momentum happening
• Hands firmly on the ground, close to you
• Look behind you, not on the floor
• Pushing partners leg down to increase speed

Perching
• Knowing that perching doesn’t have to be a big movement, and that smaller options can be investigated
• Perching upwards and outwards
• To keep the movement flowing so that it builds up, falls down, crumbles and goes into different directions

Applying The Performance Mind

Section one
Talking and Walking
Form a clump and enter into the space

Change from walking and talking to moving into space and swapping

Energy speeds up

Running around each other 3 times and falling into a clump

Clump happens 3 times:
1st: 3 duets, any combination, therefore on the first go two people will be missing from the clump
2nd: Another duet takes place
3rd: Everyone but Julia who plays with the bouncy ball. That signals for us to arrive at the river-exists, entrances, hands on floor, hands in the air


Section Two
1. Sweep: Moving through the space
Come out into trio’s to perform the phrase
The sweep continues to move through performers
Group three has a clock rotation at either 45 or 180 degrees
2. Clump hovering-Rotate movement solo with Jen

3. Writer and Whisper-ends with bouncy ball trailing off
Clear the space

Dance Intensive-Day Two

Bouncy Ball Game
I found myself trying not to get other people’s eye attention when we first started throwing the balls as I didn’t feel confident enough that I would be able to catch them. When we took out the walk, I felt it easier to get into a rhythm and realised that the more open I allowed my body to be, the more space I used and the more available I made myself, the more confident I became.

Bouncy Ball Rhythm
Using my telephone number, I bounced the ball off the floor whilst having pauses in-between to create a rhythm. I also played with the idea of interrupting the ball from another person and travelling in space with the ball. I found it challenging to listen to the rhythm of my walking through space whilst trying to create an additional rhythm through bouncing the ball.

Walking and Talking Task
I felt really self-conscious as we had to move in between each other talking. It became apparent quite quickly that we were all talking at the same volume and pace which made it feel quite set and boring. We tried to challenge this by adding turns, talking about important issues and seeing the space.

Dance Intensive-Day Two




Final Phrase

Wednesday 7 March 2012

SRT-Class Six

dance gemma collard 006 by c_27
dance gemma collard 006, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Same as last week, only introducing the possibility to tip over and melt into the ground. Felt more comfortable with it this week and as a result was able to stay in the space for longer.

SRT-Class Six

We began lying on the floor with our eyes closed. Gradually I began to move with the imagery of sponges and long legs trailing. This encouraged my upper body to relax and be free of tension. It also created openness within my hip joints and my legs felt longer as they moved.

Partner Graphic- As my partner lifted my rib cage up; I took a deep squat, keeping the feet wide so that the heels reached the ground. From this, I took a rise in space and a tilt sideways. As my partner wasn’t holding me u, I had to remember to lift my own rib cage.

Partner Graphic- The idea of three spheres’
1. Skull
2. Ribs
3. Pelvis
Moving with my partner holding me brought greater attention to the ribs and skull, for me. It enabled me to move in new ways and be more creative when the Gossamer strings were introduced to the hands.

SRT-Class Five

dance gemma collard 004 by c_27
dance gemma collard 004, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Skating And Tiliting Dance. Bringing an awareness to my rib cage helped with my balance.

SRT-Class Five

Moving across the floor with supple feet, my feet and ankles became softer quicker than they had done in previous weeks.

Nudging my partner brought attention to certain body parts and allowed them to melt from that place. We explored with body parts above the waist and below the waist. I noticed that it allowed my bones to be quite free and floppy so that I could melt into the ground. Working in groups of four, there were opportunities for more than one body part to be encouraged to melt.

Partner Graphic- As my partner lifted my rib cage I was still aware of the contact I had over my own weight, however I had a stronger sense of support. This allowed me to tilt sideways, front wards and backwards confidently.

Partner Graphic- My partner squeezed my shoulders releasing the tension in them. Lifting the shoulder and circling it, allowed there to be space in my bones. Pulling at the wrist encouraged the shoulders to be wider and fall down the back.

SRT-Class Three

We began lying on the floor, noticing our breath. Breathing in, filling the lungs, and breathing out again I noticed how the breath created space in the rib cage and breath could settle in different areas of the body. Working with a partner I noticed the different places in the back that I could witness the breath. The more clearer places tended to be the lower back and close to the ribs. Working with the imagery of mist, helped bring an awareness back to the breath and how I can move from it.

Creating movement across the floor, we moved with supple feet. Gradually we began to add a supple arm, a supple change of direction and melting into the floor. I noticed that as my body was free of any tension and quite loose, the changes of direction and melting into the floor could happen quite quickly and be creative too. Working with Dannielle, we took the weight of our partners legs and then roated the hip ten times on each leg. This helped to create an openess and made my legs feel a lot longer, which made travelling across the floor a lot easier during moving.

Gemma Collards Class

Chinese Whisperss
Standing in a diagonal line, we passed a movement from one person to the next. The first movement was successful, as it was a simple jump. The second movement had two parts to it. By the time it reached the end of the line, it only had one part to it.

Working With Words
Standing in a circle and trying not to speak at the same time wasn't too difficult. It took a lot of concentration, seeing and listening. Howvever, walking in space and not speaking at the same time proved to be a lot harder. In order for it to be successful it meant that everyone needed to be aware of their 3D self and really open up an awareness to each other.

Movement with Spoken Word
We improvised for 30 seconds with random words in smaller groups, before getting into a larger group. We had to say a sentence from a story, starting with eitheir fortunately or unfortunately, whilst improvising at the same time.

FORTUNATELY the frog found another pair of gloves to swim with

UNFORTUNATELY
there was a gaint shark who ate the gloves, and the frog was very upset.

Gemma Collard's Class

dance gemma collard 003 by c_27
dance gemma collard 003, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Standing Still, eyes closed and sensing the people around you

Gemma Collard's Class

dance gemma collard 001 by c_27
dance gemma collard 001, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Free Writing

Tuesday 6 March 2012

SRT-Class Two

Standing in parallel and with eyes closed, I used my breath to sense my weight in the ground. I could feel the air around me and the cold hard floor on my soft feet.

As I began to walk in space, I noticed a lot of tension in my left shoulder. As I was paying extra attention to this I kept forgetting to keep my pelvis in a neutral position.

The idea of slowing everything down, but being present in the moment

Partner Graphic
1.Take a plie
2.Partner holds onto ribcage
3.Movement with partner bringing an awareness to skull and pelvis

The bigger the plie, the easier it was to maintain my balance as I had more time to engage with the stomach muscles.

There was a real sense of floating the skull through the hands being placed on the axis

Arms were encouraged to slide down the back, releasing the tension in my left shoulder.

Spiralling helped the spine to rotate and float upwards, whilst encouraging the ribcage to lift too.

SRT-Class One

Soft feet
I found that by relaxing the knees I was able to move my feet with very little sound. However, it was quite easy to tense the neck and shoulders. When we began picking up the speed and travelling across the space, I noticed that I had to soften the ankles and the whole foot, in order not to make noise. I also had to make sure I was seeing the space properly in order to travel at speed.

Melting
Lying on the ground I could sense the weight of my body on the floor. I found that my head and upper body melted into the ground quite quickly, but it took a bit of adjusting for my legs to feel comfortable. As I began to roll from side to side, I noticed that it was my head that was leading me in space. However, on coming out of the ground it was the pelvis that was leading. Melting onto another person, I could feel their weight aswell as mine. Melting onto the wall, my body was instantly aware of the cold surfaces and began reacting to that. My back seemed to stay on the wall whilst the rest of the body explored moving across the wall, until I reached the ground.

Marionette Strings
My partner used hands on work to create the strings. She then placed her hand on my back as I tilted my body. I found it easier to tilt as I was aware of her support, however it took a few tries before my head began travelling with me.

Shoulder
Placing one hand on the top of the shoulder and the other on the shoulder girdle itself we lifted the bone up and placed it back a few times. I could instantly feel all the tension leaving my upper body and neck. Combing the arms and fingers made them feel elongated and free to move. We then played with the idea of floppy arms, swinging them backwards and forwards with a sense of freedom and weight.

Skull
Working with a partner, we placed our hands on the forehead and the back of the skull and began to tilt the skull at its axis. This encouraged the skull to float. We continued to do this as our partner moved in space, and then let go as our partners' moved on their own. When my partner let go of my skull I felt relaxed in my walking. I didnt feel as though I was holding onto anything.

Moving Freely
Moving through the room thinking about all that I had learnt, I noticed how easy it was to travel through the space. I also noticed my breath coming with me and how little tension I felt in the body.

Dance Intensive-Day Two

Splitting the Phrase
1. Start to arm reach up
2. Pull back to yoga position
3. walk, walk to swinging arms as if cutting bushes
4. up/down movement to right hand on floor
5. Jump back to lie on floor
6. Swing leg over to the end

Repeat one section three times-section four

Hold one section for three seconds-section two

Dance Intensive-Day Two

Dance Intensive-Day Two

Dance Intensive-Day Two

Dance Intensive-Day Two

Body feels exhausted today physically. The majority of my bones and muscles feel sore and stiff, in particular my back and arms. I do a normal warm up which helps to loosen up most of the muscles in particular the back bone and hip socket. On a more positive note, I feel a lot more relaxed and confident about the day ahead in terms of dancing and what challenges will be thrown at us.

Working with Julia we use certain techniques to warm-up and loosen the arms and hands. I feel that my hands are already relaxed but with my eyes closed I gain a greater sense of where the bones all connect up and how they move independently of each other. The wringing out of the arm helped to loosen it up a bit and make movement a lot easier. My arms felt longer after it and I had a stronger image of the separate parts of the arm-shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, palms, fingers, thumb etc


River

Felt myself thinking about the next move too much rather than just being in the moment.

Used my arms to take me through space

In comparison to playing with the feet, the hands feel a lot more inadequate

Played with the idea of giving weight and travelling

Reflecting other people’s movement helped me to be more creative and challenged my movement vocabulary.

Signature Movement Phrases

Signtaure Scores

Exploring the idea of writing something by sounding out a rhythm

Asnate and Rosalyn Worksop

Moving in a familiar place:
I found this relaxing and my movements were able to flow as I was aware of the trust and security I found from that particular place in the room. I didnt have to think too much about what I was doing, as subconsciously I was alreday aware of the movement vocabularly that I had previously created there.

Moving in an unfamiliar place:
I found this difficult to get into and I could feel more tension in my upper body than before. Becoming more aware of my breathing and trying to slow it down, I relaxed into my movements. By the end of moving I realised that having the opportunity to move in that particular place in the room, will have broken down a mental barrier for me. As opposed to thinking about what I dont like about the space, I can now challenge myself to think about what I actually like about it.

Surfaces:
I found myself being attracted to the black velevt curtains. They created a sense of warmth on my own skin and I felt as though they could take my body weight. I explored moving in front, behind and inside them.

Closing Eyes:
This allowed me to move in more adventuruous ways than I've done before. As a result of not being able to see what I was doing, I had to trust those around me and trust the knowledge that if I was able to get myself into an unfamiliar position, then I could get out of it again.

Moving with an Awareness of taste:
I tried to embody how I feel when I taste things, rather than physically try to taste the area around me. I danced in between the other senses', as in order to taste something you need all your senses'. I played with the idea of repetition, advancing and retreating towards something, and various speeds at which you taste something.

James' Workshop

I found myself taking a special interest in the box shape in the room as it felt secretive and out of the way. I rested against the door and took some time observing my surroundings. I noticed that I had picked the most non-claustrophobic space in the room. I followed the outline of the box until it led me a little into the floor. I lay flat on my back to feel the new surroundings and then sat up so I could see every part of the room.

Travelling across the floor and speaking at the same time allowed my movements to come quite naturally without a great deal of thought having to come into it. Sentences were all of a different structure and were quite random, not following any rhythm or being forced to make sense.

Movements that Reflect me:
1.Using my right arm to take me through space allows me to travel at speed. I enjoy living life at a fast pace as there is so much to do.
2.Spinning allows me to change direction when I want to. I can retrace an old path or create a new one. It allows me to feel surprised in my movement choices.
3.Jumping-I enjoy the sense of height and the release of tension it creates in the body. I can arch and articulate my feet well and remember my dance origins.
4.Lying on the ground-Creates a sense of my body weight in space, the lenghth of the skeleton, and encourages me to relax and let go of any unnecessary tension in the body. Contrast to moving quickly through life.
5.Leg Swings-Freeing the hips, allows the legs to move quickly and fluidly. Creates new ways of building momentum to explore new ways of moving out of the floor.

DDC Workshop

cccfvxcxcx 005 by c_27
cccfvxcxcx 005, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

This was quite difficult to do, especially whilst travelling in a room full of people; however, it opened my 3D self awareness. Working with a partner, we began playing with the idea of keeping our hand at arms length and then up close. It made me think of how a mobile phone can impair our movement when we try to use it while walking, and the importance of our own vision to get us about during the day.

DDC Workshop

cccfvxcxcx 004 by c_27
cccfvxcxcx 004, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

We began laying on the floor and bringing awareness to our whole self. We then took our attention to our hand and began to slowly move it. I noticed how small my hands were, yet how I could create quite intricate details with them due to the many bones in the hand. I allowed the hands to come into contact with the surfaces of the ground. As the ground was cold, my hands responded by moving quicker along the ground to create a sense of warmth. Gradually moving to my feet, I kept eye contact with the hand at all times.

Direction Dance Company Workshop

As part of their FMP, Direction Dance Company are investigating the impact that social media , in particular twitter and facebook, and the use of communication through mobile phones has on our everyday lives. It has become apparent that we live in a society obsessed with means of non verbal communication.

Movement

cccfvxcxcx 001 by c_27
cccfvxcxcx 001, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

I wasn’t aware of the group as we crossed paths as I was enjoying moving how I wanted to. However, I did notice that there always seemed to be one person on the floor and one person always upright. As a group, we didn’t really enjoy going back to the past and tended to avoid that section of the grid. I found it hard to change the mentality and focus from contemporary to Irish Dancing. However, the Irish dancing that I did seemed to be freer and relaxed than what I’m used to. I didn’t use the wildcard option but did explore using my left arm a lot to challenge myself.

Dance Intensive-Day One

Expectations/ Feelings:
Excited
Curious
Nervous
Want to become more confident in improvisation and contact work
Hoping to gain a better understanding of contemporary dance performanceMy Hip felt slightly stiff from Pilates and it didn’t have as much freedom to move as it did the day before.


Warm Up
•Moved in a way that I needed to but with a central focus on the feet
•Played with the idea of how much body weight my feet can take, in particular the very top of the toes
•Investigated the idea of moving quickly through the space as quietly as I could. My knees and ankles had to be soft and supple for this to work
•With the remainder that there are 26 bones in the feet, I tried to bend and move them in unusual and unfamiliar ways to create this image. I tried to cover the whole surface of the foot onto the floor.
•I tend to focus on my right foot more than my left.


Walk In Space
•Thinking about how the foot sends us forward in space. I had to exaggerate the movement to feel this.
•Picked a spot on the wall and focused on it. I focused on a crack in the paint work on the wall. As I could see a hint of the old colour of paint it reminded me of something that was built up from layers. One side was bumpier than the other.
•I also picked the side of the wall. It had a smooth surface with pointed corners and felt very cold.
•Walking with our eyes to the ceiling, to the floor, curving to the right and curving to the left
•Closing our eyes and having an awareness of where other people were in the room. The idea of survival instincts

Witness Point of View

•Found it interesting to see me act as support with the frame
•Lots of explorations and investigations are able to be made because of the choice of frame
•Use of levels
•Entrances and Exits

Phrase Class

Warming up as you want to:
• Tension in shoulder
• Right hip locked
• Covering all surfaces with the body

Movement
• Moving quickly through space
• Supple feet
• Heels
• Jumping
• Spinning
• Natural eyes
• Taking the head in one direction and the feet in another
• Falling off balance
• Awareness of how the shoulders and arms can get involved and how much they get involved
• Sits bones
• Sliding across the floor
• Clear movements across the floor
• Cross over feet
• Upside down movements
• Working with the unfamiliar

Hip Joint

•Taking the leg into the air and bringing it back down again
•The fold is a lot lower than I imagined and has a stronger connection with the ball and socket than I previously though.
•The leg cannot extend fully until the ball and socket has become engaged. It also sometimes requires the stomach muscles to engage too.
•Lying on my back and lifting the legs inti the air, emphasise how small and intricate movements can be initiated from this fold eg: Bending the legs/ Crouch position


Partner Graphic
1.begin lying on the floor
2.take the weight of the leg and rotate the hip
3.move the legs down to the hips to create the fold
4.move the legs like “spaghetti”
5.slowly walking the feet down to the ground
6.brushing both legs out

I noticed how much work the hips actually do in order for legs to move fluidly. There was a stronger sense of connection between the hip and the pelvis, and the overall strength of that area in supporting the body.

Weight Changes

I began standing in parallel. I slowly moved forwards and backwards, and side to side with small exchanges of weight. I noticed that as my movements got bigger, I really had to engage my stomach muscles to maintain the balance, and having an awareness of a floating skull helped. The more playful my movements became and the more levels I explored, I found it difficult to do with my eyes closed and so began working with letting light into the eyes when I was struggling.

Travelling across the Floor
1.Travelling across the floor staying close together but not looking at each other. I found that it took me ages to cross the floor as I really had to concentrate on not seeing my partner. A strong sense of the 3D self was needed

2.Travelling across the floor, keeping eye contact at all times. I found this easier and much more relaxed and playful than the previous task. It was clear that the movement travelled much more freely and at a quicker speed.

3.Score- Eye contact at the start.
Hannah tries to find my eye contact,I try to look away
Put two pauses in-Don’t have to be at the same time
Play with distance

Term Two-Class One

Physical Activities from your past:
• Irish Dancing
• Hip Hop
• Latin/ Ballroom and salsa dancing

Ways in which you enjoy making:
• Exploring rhythms through body parts
• Intricate details of the feet
• Floor work
• Eyes open
• Set material- the idea of perfecting it
• Jumping

What I find challenging:
• Use of voice in movement
• Upside down movements
• Letting other people take my body weight
• Forceful and aggressive movements
• Left arm- Don’t use and tend to ignore it
• Dancing outwardly
• To stop apologising for how I move

Wildest Dreams:
To own properties in Chicago and London
To travel around Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand
Learn another language
Learn as many different types of dance as possible
To share my passion for dance with the world
To perform with Riverdance before it stops touring
Adopt a polar Bear

Term Two-Class One

What are your interests as an artist and an improviser?
•Layering material to create a bigger improvisation
•Starting with something small and then resulting in having two or three things with you to take into the performance space
•Helps to explore and create opportunities of movement and allows for an element of surprise to occur
•Surprise for the audience, as well as a surprise for the person dancing
•Letting go of boundaries
•Activity and receptivity- within that is the idea of how we live in the world


Movement
I preferred to work in a duet as opposed to on my own as it helped me to be more creative and extends my movement vocabulary. The option to work using contact created a sense of closeness and a strong connection with my partner. It also brought more attention to the body parts that had just been given hands on work to.

Hands-On-Work
•Always imagined my rib cage was a lot bigger than what it actually is. Helped ot create a stronger image of my frame.
•Pulling and pushing of the ankles helped make the leg feel longer and made me more aware of the connection from the hip/ pelvis the whole way down to the ankle
•An awareness of the skull helped me to think of the length of the body and also helped to relax the tension in my jaw.
•Thinking about the shoulder blades and the arm as a whole makes me realise that they are stronger than I imagine and can support my body weight.

Collaboration with Music Students

•Change in my movement as a result of the changing speeds and rhythms

•Tended to react more towards the use of voice or the sound of a guitar

•Movement felt more easy and less controlled with the use of music

•Wanted to stay in the space and move as opposed to be an observer on the outside of the space

•Constantly inspired and as a result new movements are created

•Sense of creativity and togetherness in a larger group

Skull, Jaw and Hyoid Bone

.The skull is the top body weight, balanced effectively on the spine

•It is comprised of the 8 bones of the cranium to hold and to protect the brain and the 14 bones of the face

•Tension can cause muscles of the scalp to constant the structures, blocking the responsiveness of the skull

•Structure massages in hands on work can relax the muscles and thus alleviate pressure built up within the skull and allow realignment of the plates in relation to each other.

•In a relaxed state, the jaw would hang open, pulled by gravity

•Keeping your mouth shut necessitates constant contraction of the masseter muscles, which can be felt by massaging your jaw and cheek.

•The hyoid bone is a delicate free floating bone on the front of the neck shaped like a small horseshoe. Changes in spinal patterns often involve work with this small, but important, bone of the axial skeleton

Process

Years ago, I was overlooked for a role in dance because I did not have classically curved arms. This decision motivated my visit to a body worker to begin addressing the tension in my shoulder girdle. After a one hour session of gentle manipulation and re-patterning, I felt relaxed and seemingly unaffected. The next day my arm was very sore. As that subsided, my neck went into a spasm which lasted a week. When that passed, my left arm began to ache. I began to realise that the work was travelling through my body. For several months, my left leg would go numb whenever I was tense. Eventually, this too left and the process was complete; it had moved through the skeleton and reached the ground.

Shoulder Girdle

•The shoulder girdle helps us reach, hold and push away. It is a series of
bones wrapped around but separate from our rib cage.

•Proximal initiation is movement initiated by the bones or joints closest to the centre of the body. It will bring your movement to your centre

•Distal initiation is movement initiated by the bones furthest from centre and will take you into space.

•If you initiate a movement from your shoulder, your movement stays close to the body; if you initiate from your hand, the movement takes you into space.

Shoulders and Arms

•The forearms are composed of two bones, the radius and the ulna.

•Weight or pressure from the hand is levered through the wrist to the radius

•The radius is the primary bone at the wrist and the ulna the primary bone at the elbow

•This structure gives the forearm lightness and mobility, and provides attachment sites for the many muscles of the hands.

Side View of Foot Bones

foot_anatomy_bones05 by c_27
foot_anatomy_bones05, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Top View of Foot Bone

ftbns_tpvw by c_27
ftbns_tpvw, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Feet

•The feet are our base of support and our connection to the ground. They contain many nerve endings for sensing and responding

•There are seven tarsal bones in the ankle. They allow circular movement with maximum stability and a minimum of musculature

•The foot has a role in communication and emotional stability as well as its functional support

•Proper care and attention to the feet can affect such far reaching problems as pain at the knee, hip, sacroiliac joint, or spine, organ stress, headaches and general malaise.

.Our feet constantly inform us of the stability of our base.

Pelvis Diagram

pelvis by c_27
pelvis, a photo by c_27 on Flickr.

Partner Work

In comparison to last year I noticed that I automatically gave my weight to my partner more easily and freely than I would have done before. I think this is partly due to knowing the group and my partner as an individual a lot more and as a result I had a greater sense of trust. I also feel more confident with the knowledge and information that I have on my hip injury. I knew that even though my partner had my weight and was moving the hip, I still had some control over the rotation.

On my right leg, it felt as though my partner was moving quite quickly and that my hip was taking a bit more time to make a full rotation. In contrast the left leg could rotate fully and at a quicker pace. My partner commented on how she was surprised at the range of movement I had in my hip, as she had expected it to be quite stiff. I think the hip was quite free as a result of doing some physio exercises the night before and as a result my hips had remained free and open.

When my partner helped me move in space I noticed how dependent I have become on my skull to lead me in space, when in reality my pelvis can do the same job too, just as effectively. I also noticed how important the pelvis is and how strong it has to be when helping to aid my transition from lying and rolling on the ground to sitting up.

Pelvis

The pelvis is a bowl composed of circles, holes and arches.

The pelvic bowl is free swinging around the two femur heads of the legs, and connects at the back to the sacrum and spine.

It is one of the three primary body weights, aligning with the skull and thorax around a vertical axis for efficient posture.

It is a highly mobile structure, constantly responding to activity below and above.

The pelvic floor is a horizontal diaphragm formed of ligaments and muscle tissue.