Month: November 2016

This week we began to work and focus around using the pelvis and how we connect with each other through this point of contact. Firstly we connected over pelvis through tucking around our partners and rocking from side to side. I found this helped the connectivity not just through this movement but as we proceeded on I seemed to find my pelvis a lot more than I used to. Experimenting with new ways to come in and out of this to create new positions and movements. I also found this rocking sensation to be a good swing of momentum to push into new material and movement gilding in and out and it gives a good lead into interesting positions. Another positon of working with the pelvis is in an upwards table top seeing where the tailbone can be placed to where the body can roll and if we can rise up into seating. I found I needed to engage my core in order to get my body around it different potions and to experiment more, if the core wasn’t engaged the body would flop and the movement becomes restricted.
To continue, we looked at working around frames seeing which frames worked in order to create new places of lifting and weight taking. I found his challenging too do with my partner as I think not just me but others have become habitual with the frames we are comfortable and used to doing. Although some of this felt habitual you can sense just how much everyone is trusting each other to catch them and develop into new experimental phrases and lifts. It’s nice to watch and see how confidence has grown not just in myself but others, I feel like there is a lot more braveness and compared to week one everyone is a lot more daring knowing others will catch and support them throughout.
Contact jam
During this week’s contact jam I found that I was in the jam a lot of the time and I was really focusing on new ways to move my body not just with a partner but by myself as well. I found that I came up with new experimental ways that I hadn’t felt in my body yet. At one point I was improvising with Natasha and we both went into upwards table top whilst one was the base and the others head rested on the pelvis. This had never happened before and something about it really intrigued me and I felt like we could really experiment and see how far we could take this, it was exciting to figure out how were we going to get out this and what the next move was going to be.

DANCE4 / FEET OFF THE GORUND

.Dance4 is a well-known company and space based in Nottingham which create pieces of travelling work as well as having workshops based around many styles of dance. Today I got the opportunity to visit the space along with the rest of peers getting the opportunity to do a workshop with Feet off the Ground Dance Company who are well known for their contact improvisation. During this session I became “exposed to gravity” (Curtis, B , Ptashek, A, 1988,156) and made aware of so many new connects I made with my body and gravity itself. For example during the rep phrase we learnt I found I was either in the air gravity taking me up or my gravity was lowering me to the floor, grounding me down to support my partner. I feel like throughout this learning of the rep the physical environment around helped provide a new experience to gravity as it felt a lot more open and bright. By having the new environment I felt my movement changed and I explored new things I never have done before with my body the sensations and movement I managed to accomplish really made me feel excited and my body felt comfortable and enjoyed the new experience I was being given. I found my body wasn’t apprehensive to try new things and the space we were given at Dance4 gave me a new experience to contact improvisation that I could bring back into class. However, being exposed to this new environment I found my body left the movement in that new positive space and when bringing the rep back into class which is an environment I am very used to, I found my body had left the movement within the Dance4 stuido and I didn’t feel as relaxed and released as I did when doing so in the university studio. Maybe it’s because I’m used to the environment? Or that the rep had disappeared from my body, the feelings and sensations needed to come back into my body.
RESEARCH LABS

How does movement enhance small dance?

My second research lab group based our workshop on small dance and how can it enhance and effect our movement. Within this workshop we asked yes or no questions and had eight stages of how can it affect us moving as well as standing by one’s self and connecting with each other. These stages we gave were;
1. Half sitting and half laying down, eyes closed and complete stillness
2. Staying either sitting and laying down, sensations are brought into the body allowing the subconscious movement to begin
3. Standing up bringing awareness to the subconscious movement, eyes are still closed and standing still, during this section we asked them to thin about a quote from the small dance reading by Byron Brown, “Personal responsiveness become the basis for creative play” (Byron Brown)
4. Standing bring awareness to your feet and the weight that is provided, eyes are still closed
5. Standing eyes slowly open and being moving in your own kinesphere
6. Stop moving eyes closed and begin to bring awareness back into our body
7. Find a partner come to each other’s side is the small dance enhanced
8. At the end come back to the sides you began on forget the sensations that were felt and see if the small dance is enhanced
During these sections after each we would ask one question for each even section and all the odd sections had two questions. These added up to a tally of who felt small dance was heightened in each section and who didn’t:
Section
1    Do you feel the movement within your inner self was visual to the outside eye? Yes- 7  No- 13
Was there any movement whilst you were sitting or lying down?  yes -12 no – 8
2    Do you feel the movement within your inner self was visual to the outside eye? yes – 9  no -11
3    Did you give into the subconscious movement? yes -15  no – 5
4   Do you feel the movement within your inner self was visual to the outside eye? yes – 12   no- 8
5    No question
6   Do you feel the movement within your inner self was visual to the outside eye? yes -4    no- 16
Was the sensation of small dance stronger after moving? yes – 12 no – 8
7   Did you feel a change in balance from not moving and focusing on inner movement to when you improvised and then moved? yes -Side – 17   no -Side – 3,  yes – back -14 no- back – 6
8 Going back to the sides you began on sitting or lying down, block the sensations you have just felt, did the movement feel more enhanced? yes -7      no-13

During our investigation I found we had a mixture of what people thought and how they felt about their small dance some comments we found at the end of the workshop was that when they were asked to come back to their beginning stance it was hard to block out the sensations and movement they were feeling before hand and asking to become till they felt like they wee moving more. For some that movement became a lot more visual to the eye and you could tell they were moving around the place although at points during this it was hard to tell the difference from the start and weather they actually had connected within themselves for the small dance to happen. Aldo once they got into partners you could tell again this was difficult from the visual eye perceptive as you could tell their bodies wanted to sway and they wanted to produce further connection into the movement.

CONTACT JAM –  Thursday 17th November 2016

During our contact jam this week I found my response to gravity to be a lot more positive then the previous weeks as I have better understanding of the movement quality and the sensations of how’s ones body being lifted feels and one lifting another’s body.  Compared to being lifted, lifting someone requires to search for your core and the strength within your body finding the connection between your body and another’s,  otherwise if not this can become a safety hazard for you and your partner ending in a fall. having the body to body connection when taking someone’s gravity away form them is key otherwise the support and balance will disappear and in some cases depending on the positioning could end with the partner falling. In comparison, being lifted requires you to have full trust within your partner and asks you to put your weight onto their body and releasing through. Again you need to have that body to body connection and communication between you and your partner in order for the lift to take flight and for gravity to be taken away from you. When I am lifting I am always conscious of my partner and their body taking in any need they require to get to the position our bodies are communicating to each other. getting the correct balance and level of concentration between us for the lifts to work or any for of counter balance or weight take, during lifting I like my body to have the sensation of being supported and having a good stance to support my partner during the period they are in the air for. When I am being lifted I like my body to have a key connection with my partner and for it to be able to communicate the lead of where it is heading to in order for both of us to engage. When I am in the air now I have become more comfortable with this sensation of the different lifts I find myself to be experimenting more with new partners and how they lift and where I can place my centre of gravity onto their s in order for the to take gravity away from my feet.

All in all for me this week brought me to places I had never thought I would go from experimenting to the new lifts and working with bodies I don’t usually work with, its allowed me to really experiment and see what my body can do. I’m also starting to find myself going into the jams a lot more finding new ways for my body to move and realising just how other people move and how much its reflecting on my body and me. Sometimes I am getting the sensations of faster and slower paced people and moving at those different places makes me realise just where my body can go a disappear to into these new places. I find the sensations stick with me for instance the slower pace I like to be able to place that upon a faster paced mover and see how our bodies can move and connect together. I am beginning to realise how amazing and intriguing it is to work with these different bodies because I being to learn new and exciting things and I am always excited to see who I am going to work with and what my body is going to get up to with the next person I improvise with.

Bliblography;
Curtis, B. (1988). Exposed to Gravity. Contact Quarterly/ Contact Improvisation Sourcebook I, Vol. 13. Pp.156-162.
Brown, B. Is Contact a Small Dance? Contact Improvisation Sourcebook I. Vol. 6 Pp. 72-75

This week we watched two videos based around contact improvisation finding the differences and looking at how well they connect with one and other. During the first video The play of weight, Martin Lleogh and Niege Chris Tenso play a lot with balance and how it links them to each other. The dancers they use in the video both take a very slow pace allowing one and other to feel how the other is moving. Even though they connected this only lasted whilst they began to use gravity and take weight, which was clearly led by the male, in contact there should be no obvious leader. However, there was always a constant support between the two when using gravity and weight, but this would always move into a floor sequence or they would lose this connecting chain between them going into an individual improvisation which looked very habitual points. To contrast, the second video Contact improvisation Mikea Molekinen and Otto Akkamen, looked a lot more fluid and their centre of gravity was more equal. As well as this they each took one and others weight and lifted as it fitted rather than stopping and starting to go into them, they both went with the flow and allowed their bodies to feel what the other was saying. This pair was always moving the connection between them allowed them to move at a faster pace adding more momentum. If they lost the contact they would automatically come back into some form of contact. Whereas when we contact we tend to break away and just leave the circle waiting for another opportunity. Also they use down to go up thinking about the support you give your partner. If you don’t go down to come up and up to go down even though you are supporting the partner it could end up with them landing heavily or the lift going wrong.
“We change centre of gravity when we change shop, and often compensate so automatically that we aren’t even aware of it.” (Ann Woodhull) Jumping back into our partners hands I could the gravity and momentum bringing me up into the air to come down. I felt supported in the moment although my landing out of the jump could be smoother from this. Jumping back like this has made me more aware of my centre of gravity and I may come in or out of a lift. I found it helpful for momentum and realising that the flow and pace of which you do this can help with the accuracy of lifting and good for focusing and what point your gravity will be at. “Wherever this point is above this point is above the point of support, the shape will be balanced.” (Ann Woodhull).
During class today I really enjoyed being told to work and experiment with new bodies and found that some bodies within the class I really linked well together with and wished id worked with them sooner. When we began body surfing we decided to take it at a slower pace and our bodies had to keep completely relaxed also thinking about the pelvis to pelvis connection. By taking this slow I found it helped me focus on the fixed points of contact and really think about two bodies as one, how they move together. After finding this in our bodies we then began bringing it up from body surfing to our middle and high kinesphere this experimenting brought me to paces I have never been and brought me to new and experimental positons in which I had to really think about moving in and out of. When experimenting you had to really think about “the further your centre is above your base of support, the less stable you are.” When going up into middle and high kinesphere the centre of gravity is always there and the connection is constant trusting the support and gravity is there.
Contact Jam
During this week contact jam I felt very confident within myself and went in much more this week, this I found as I have become more comfortable with the process of lifting and weight baring with people. I have realised now where I can place them and trying to find new ways of coming in and out of them. During the jam it felt interesting but exciting to be able to place them in, when the momentum and the gravity took over I felt like I flew and flowed because I knew how to get in and out of them I found myself feeling very relaxed. Moreover, as we experimented with new people at the beginning when it came to being in the jam I felt like I could just go up to anyone and pull them into the jam. During this it didn’t matter if it was the smallest point of contact or if I was using gravity, weight or thinking about were my centre of gravity was. The point was it was all contact even if it’s bigger or small it all looked good, I got into using other contact devices and I enjoyed the new sensations I felt and my body was feeling.

Bliblography
Woodhull A. Center of Gravity. Contact Quarterly/ Contact Improvisation Sourcebook I Vol. 4. Pp. 43-48
Chirstenson Neige. 2009. The play of weight. [accessed 13th November 2016] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltq6y06E8ew
Omegbranch. 2011. Contact improvisation Mirva Makinen & Otto Akkanen [accessed 13th November 2016] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMLbWxujoGw

During this session “responding to its physical environment” (Daniel Lepkoff, 2008) is key as when we are lifting and weight baring you have to be focused and keep that connection with your partner. I found when taking weight we had to respond to the touch and senses we are being given in order to give the partner we are working with a safe environment. When lifting the person over my back I found that “shifting the bodies’ centre of weight” (Daniel Lepkoff, 1999) changed the way their body melted into mine. I found depending on how I moved my body their body would react and connect in a different way to how I was moving. Whilst doing this you have to make sure you are guiding them safely. When getting onto my partners back I was thinking “where is my centre?” (Daniel Lepkoff, 1999), “Which of these surfaces offer support?” (Daniel Lepkoff, 1999), “What am I aware of?” ( Daniel Lepkoff, 1999). These I was aware of whilst being upon my partners back as well as allowing my body to release and relax throughout this movement. It was interesting doing this as I found that I could move around enough to change my position, keeping my body released throughout the process. Even though I am over someone’s back it is easy to aikido roll out of it or safety roll so no damage is given to either body.
To continue, counterbalance across the room whilst pulling and then jumping with each other, during this you had to use the “act of dancing” (Daniel Lepkoff, 2008) to enable that connection and to come back to the same position each time. When in this position we must think about always coming back to straight arms and an anchored second so when we a pulling through we are being safe. During this there was a lot of moment and anchoring, the momentum made you feel like you were flying and you had a constructive landing to come to that as soon as the jump ended you had to anchor yourself down, enabling to pull your partner through. Not all the momentum came from flying the pulling action gave you the build-up and the running give the momentum. The momentum you get has to be a build-up in order to get you to the positon you are aiming for.
Monday 31st Oct 2016 – contact jam
This contact jam after coming out of the lifting I went in once the experience I had was good within the circle however, even though we had just learnt some lifts and weight baring skills I still found it difficult to incorporate. When coming out the circle I was disappointed within myself that I didn’t go in more as I know I can do the movement I just never found the right intention and became apprehensive. I need to be able to start “focusing on the physical sensation” (Daniel Lepkoff, 1999) between mine and others bodies, yes I have that connection but now we are able to lift I need to find that sensation between my body and theirs when it happens. Also I think what slightly stopped me was knowing when it was appropriate as you never know what your partner was thinking. However, when I was in I found there was good connection and understanding between myself and my partner.
To improve, next time I am going to go in a lot more so I can experiment with bodies I have not yet contacted with, make my body experience with new ways and possibilities I haven’t met yet. Also I need to just make myself go in even if it means improvising myself find new ways to improvise and ways my body can move. Then I can find that communication with someone to connect and being contacting with them. If this leads into weight taking and lifting then it does but if it doesn’t it doesn’t matter because I have still made contact. This will change every time I’m with someone new and I have come to release that when making contact don’t force myself into trying to do it if my partner encourages it to then go for it, if not wait and see what happens.

Bliblography;
Lepkoff, D.(1999). What is release technique?.http://www.daniellepkoff.com/Writings/What%20is%20Release.php
Lepkoff, D.(2008). Contact Improvisation: A question http://www.daniellepkoff.com/Writings/CI%20A%20question.php