Day One- Intensive

Monday was our first day working with Marina on our performance project. I'm glad we have had the opportunity to work with Marina in our phrase class since the start of the year because it has enable us to get to know her a little and understand her style of dancing.
 
I did not know what to expect because obviously its the first day and we do not know what ideas the choreographer has. From the readings we were given, I assumed we may be working with sounds and the head. From the questions Marina asked us to answer, I thought she just wanted an insight into why we dance.
 
To begin with, we spent a lot of time talking about the questions we were asked and our individual responses. It brought back emotional connections to things that had happened in my dance career previously. Things that I probably didn't want to talk about and things I had forgotten for a while. However, listening to everyone elses answers, I feel my opinion has also changed. We then began to move:
 
 
Task 1

• Warm up.
• Openness.
• Material about your joy of dancing.
• Music changes.
• Changing energy.
• For the first time this year I felt I was moving how I wanted to move. I found my contemporary style again.

 

Task 2

• Openness with a witness in the space.
• 2 types of open- being open in your movement and being open as a person.
• There is a difference between reaching and opening.
• Open, widen, expand, creating space, opening the heart.
• I was open in my movement whereas Kate wasn't, she was more reserved.
• You need to close before you can open.
• Moving into new spaces.

 

For myself

• Embrace whats new, what I've come to study.
• Tone and quality in voice, "I wasn't supposed to be here." Express that in movement.
• Difficult being here. Showing both positive and negative.
• Lack of fulfilment.
• Desire.

Task 3

• Reflection.
• New beginnings.
• Listening to the body.
• What happens happens.
• You can look back on the past but you can't change it, that's why I need to move on.
• Bringing all that I've learnt in the last year to my movement.
• As one door closes, another opens. That's what has led me to where I am today.
• New paths.
• I can add more strings to my bow. I am learning new things.
• Realising how my body should feel.

Things to carry forward from Task 3

•  Keep the phrases, hands on back stuff, nodding heads, rises.
• Move on from the phrases into positivity.
• Its ok to be obvious between positive and negative.
• Interruptions of negative.
• Make negative moments more of a snapshot/ flashback.

Task 3 (Round 2)

• Continued to work with nodding heads, rises and hands on back however did not progress them any further.
• Movement was more free this time rather than 'static' classwork.
• Flash backs worked well although I couldn't always the define them from the positive.
• Thinking of phrases but not necessarily taking notice of them.
• Thought of positives more than negatives this time.

Task 4

• Softening.
• I felt sometimes obvious and literal in my movements.
• Rocking backwards and forwards.
• Relaxing.
• Trust.
• Skin touch.
• Heaviness.
• Communication.
• Relying upon someone to support you.
• Meeting of two bodies.
• Disorientated when standing.
• I felt I had to breath more deeply.

To do list for Thursday

• Make a story board. Based on improvisation task think about making a phrase of movement. Not directly set but have an idea of what you're doing.
• Book recording equipment to film skin.
• Listen to John Tusa interviewing Anthony Gormley (BBC 3).
• Ask about the possibility of blending sound scapes.
• Get more interviews.
• Take a quote from the days experience.
• Record the sound of the wind.