Thursday 27 February 2014

Release Based Contemporary

I have enjoyed learning new phrases in this terms Release Based Contemporary lessons. This is just one of the many phrases we have learnt. Since recording this video, we have spent more time during lesson perfecting the technique aspects of the phrase, in particular, the turns to the corner and the falling into the run.

 
Take One



After watching this video, I realised there were some areas I could improve. In particular, I feel I could improve my arm line when leaning backwards after the balance to the back corner. My arms raise too high, they need to be parallel to my extended leg. I also feel I could improve the fall at the end of the sequence.

Here is the second take of the phrase including the improvements I made.

 
Take 2


Sunday 23 February 2014

January Blog Post

6th January - 31st January

6.01.14 - Release Based Contemporary
This was our first lesson back after Christmas and I was a lot more engage than I thought I would be. I began with continuous movement to get started and this really worked for me. Continuous movement doesn't always have to be fast and busy, I prefer a slower and more flowing approach in order to keep moving. I found it easiest to connect with some of the principles we have studied in Experiential Anatomy in particular, naval radiation, yield/ push and reach/ pull.


13.01.14 - Release Based Contemporary
In this lesson, I was working with the connection between the heels, tail and skull. This is a focus I have engaged with the most since the end of Year 2. I don't why, but I can always come back to this notion when I am stuck for movement. I like the feeling of being connected down the back surface of my body, I can really feel a stretch through the back of my legs. I don't necessarily think of my spine in order to find these connections, I think its more of a cellular/ skin feeling. I documented my findings through this movement in the form a family tree. This is the first time I have journalled like this and I would like to use it again because it shows my initial thoughts at the bottom and how these expanded and grew throughout my moving experience.


17.01.14 - Experiential Anatomy
At the start of the lesson we wrote our aspirations for Term 2.
My aspirations are:
- To always arrive in the space early to give time to prepare for class
- To continue to explore new/ unfamiliar ideas to step out of my comfort zone
- To keep up to date with readings, journalling and blogging.
Reviewing these aspirations now, I feel that I have been arriving with enough time to do what I need to before the lesson starts. Sometimes I enjoy just resting in the space and sometimes I feel more active. I do try to explore unfamiliar ideas however, I like to stay with what I know works for me too. In Experiential Anatomy, we have been learning about different movement patters so I have been able to experiment with new ways of moving, for example, homologus, homolateral and contralateral. I haven't really kept up with my readings and blogging because I have focus a lot of time to my dissertation. However now it is completed, I will dedicate more time to this work.
In the main body of the class, we studied the homologus movement pattern, also known as the frog pattern. It marks the distinction between the upper and lower body. The movement to me, is symmetrical with both legs together and then both arms together. The movement mainly uses the sagital/ wheel plane of movement. I enjoyed learning about this, because it is something I have not studied before and I find it interesting.


22.01.14 - Workshop with Cecilia Macfarlane
In this workshop, we learnt about the differences between therapy and therapeutic. From our discussion, I now understand that therapy is a form treatment in which a professional gives therapy to someone on a one to one basis. The term therapeutic is something that relaxes us for example, it could be shopping or watching television, it is something that can be done individually without the help of a professional. In the following Experiential Anatomy lesson (24.01.14), we discussed what we had learnt and taken away from Cecilia's workshop and what questions had been provoked.
- Speaking and listening is a form of therapy
- Energy does not always come from the obvious places
- Dance movement psychotherapy is a form of therapy. It is undertaken in a clinical setting, there is a client and therapist role and it is on a one to one basis.
- Dance artists offer therapeutic creative services. It is undertaken in a group setting and in a dance setting rather than a clinical setting.


24.01.14 - Experiential Anatomy
We started this lesson by creating a homologus movement phrase that we shared with a partner and then with another partnership. We were focusing on where the intention of the movement was initiated from. This was a real turning point and discovery for me personally. I realised that, "you don't have to dance identically to have the same intention in moving."
After this, we studied the homelateral movement pattern, also known as the lizard pattern. This is where the right arm and right leg move together, and the left arm and left leg move together.


31.01.14 - Experiential Anatomy
At the start of the lesson we began working with a partner. I noted the differences between mine and Chelsea's movement. Chelsea worked with the homelateral pattern, balance, folding and vertical plane. On the other hand, I worked with the homologus pattern, sweeping movements and was more grounded to the floor.  
We continued the progression with movement patterns and focused on the contralateral movement pattern. It focuses on the relationship between opposites in the body and is present in mammals. It differentiates between the 4 quadrants of the body. This movement pattern allows us the crawl, walk and run.