The Spine- 10/10/12

We began the lesson by curling and uncurling the spine.

I imagined.. stretch, waking up, fingers, spine, arch, curve, bend, lengthen, release, tension, toes, flexing, growing, reaching, rolling, relief, folding, unfolding, yawn, awaken, eyes closed, light, grounded...

After discussing the anatomy of the spine and ways in which it moves, I have created my own image. When I think of the spine, I see a line of pebbles or a row of piano keys. This helps me not only to see the spine as a whole but to visualise the individual vertebrae.
 
The picture I created represents pebbles creating the vertebrae of the spine.

 

 

 

Improv 10/10/12

We started by working in pairs with a connection between our spines. We had to feel each others breath through the back. We then had to move but keeping this connection through the spine. I was working with Hannah Gray. After the task we spoke about how I was very engaged in the task and therefore I wanted to explore more. On the other hand, Hannah did not feel as ready as I did and therefore she was more reluctant to try bigger movements.
 
The task progressed and we came into larger groups. It was an odd feeling as we couldn't see who we were working with and therefore we had no judgements of how they were moving and how I should move around them. I feel if I had known before who I was connecting with, I wouldn't have been as open and willing in my movement.
 
After this, we regrouped into our pairs for the next task. This was to find a neglected, empty space within Ellen Terry to sit and observe. We needed to write down what we noticed in the space but individually. After, we could compare our notes.
 
Here is what I noticed:

 



We found that Hannah wrote more literal notes whereas mine were less obvious. I feel that I did this conciously so that I could find deeper things rather than just scraping the surface.

I really enjoyed this lesson more than expected. I think since last year, my preconceptions of this lesson have changed and now I can fully understand and appreciate them. I can find a deeper meaning to things and use this to benefit my individual dance practise.

Company Name Ideas

 

These are some of the ideas we came up with after reading a piece of writing we were given and after researching into Marina's background.

 

Our final decision was... Small Boat Dance Company

My Job Description and Person Specification

Technical Support Team

The technical support team is usually comprised of a stage manager and an assistant. They are responsible for the operation of sound and lighting within the theatre space during technical rehearsals and performances. They are also responsible for the preparation of the space before it is ready for artists to use safely. Some previous technical knowledge would help in order to use the equipment efficiently and to create sound and lighting ques.

All technical equipment will have to be checked by the technical team in order to ensure that the space meets health and safety standards and will not cause any hazards to the performers and the audience. A risk assessment will also need to be completed for this reason.

The technical support team will need to have some understanding of both the technical and artistic elements of a performance in order for it to be delivered exactly to the director’s requests. This will mean the team will need to collaborate and communicate with the director, performers and possibly, costume design.

 

The skills that are required for this role are:

·         Good with heights and ladder work

·         Working as part of a team

·         Good listening skills

·         Following orders

·         Organised

·         Tidy

·         Health and Safety aware

Company and Roles

Small Boat Dance Company

Choreographer:
Marina Collard

Dancers:
Greta Jokubauskaite, Tara Holt, Abbie Hannaby, Emma Woolley, Katie Elliot, Crizzel Ward.

Company Roles:
Greta: Company Manager and Rehearsal Coordinator

Tara: Fundraising Manager

Abbie: Costume Design and Marketing

Emma: Technical Support

Katie: Technical Support

Crizzel: Front of House Manager and Marketing

More Research on Marina Collard...

These are some videos I found on Youtube of Marina Collard performing.

 

 

Obverse (2012) - Place Prize commission sponsored by Bloomberg

 

This work was choreographed by Jo Moran as her video application for the 2012 Place Prize. Marina Collard is one of the three dancers alongside Neil Fleming Brown and Louise Tanoto.

Video Description: "Obverse is a new trio. It presents a refreshing, unusual and disjointed physical language that foregrounds the virtuosity of dancers to visibly transform their state of being, from moment to moment, in both body and thinking."

Marina Collard

 

This video is an example of the work and technique that Marina Collard uses when teaching a class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Survey (2010) by Joe Moran

 

part 1

 part 2

 part 3

 

 

Video Description: "Survey is a solo choreographed by Joe Moran for dancer Marina Collard. It is informed by a series of conversations with other artists about ideas and questions related to formalism, abstraction and the failure of form."

 





My Research on Marina Collard

Marina Collard B.C.S.T. I.A.B.T. registered member of C.S.T.A

Marina Collard is a freelance dancer, teacher and dance maker. She specialises in release technique as well as creative practice, both of which are informed by a deep understanding of the body and its fundamental functions.

She has danced for several independent choreographers and companies such as Carol Brown Dances, Cando Co, Siobhan Davies Dance Company and more recently for Dog Kennel Hill, Joe Moran and Ersatz Dance.

Collard has broad experience in teaching having delivered company class and professional class both nationally and internationally. She is a frequent teacher at Independent Dance, Laban and London Contemporary Dance School.

Having worked in dance for nearly 20 year, she qualified as a Biodynamic Craniosacral Practitioner working in London and Oxford. She trained at The Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust under the guidance of Michael Kern, Steve Haines, Katherine Ukleja amongst others.

Her treatment approach is informed by her career in dance and her own experience of receiving a wide range of treatments throughout that time. Marina enjoys working in both as a dance artist and therapist as she finds that each of those practices inform one another and enrich, as well as deepen, her curiosity about the body.
Marina Collard has also had the opportunity to work outside her usual settings as an assistant for Breathing SpaceMaudsley NHS Trust psychiatric unit.




Resources:

• http://www.independentdance.co.uk/who/teacher.php?teacher_num=14
• http://www.marinacraniosacral.co.uk/marinacollard.html

Lauren Moore- Body Stories

I found it interesting to see an MA piece of dance work because this is something I could always progress to in the future once I have finished my degree. We only saw one half of the piece because it was intended as a duet. It was based on as the title suggests, body stories and emotions recollected from childhood. The movement was initially improvised with the use of layering and repetition.

The creative process and research that Lauren had done seemed very deep and thought provoking. It took her quite a time into her making process to actually come up with the final ideas. She also made a lot of choreography that she did not use in the finalised piece. She discussed how the piece reflects memories from her childhood and the emotions she felt. She explored these different emotions through her movement. She was trying to make the movements feel literal to how she had felt. It seems harder to explain than how Lauren explained it but of course, she has dedicated a lot of her time into studying this.

The style of movement that Lauren performed was very fluid and easy to watch. I feel it will influence me in my own choreography and movement because I would like to dance with the same quality of movement that she had. I aspire to make work in a similar style to this because I feel there is a lot to explore and it is contrasting to what I have done previously. The movements were sometimes intricate and sometimes much more bold. She portrayed the emotion of vulnerability well not only through her movement but her expressions too.

I would have liked to have seen the piece as a whole with both dancers because Lauren said she could feed off her partner. I wonder whether she would have performed differently in that situation?