November Blog Post

24th October- 22nd November

 

Another month has passed far too quickly and there are plenty of things to blog about. So...

 

29th October - Release Based Contemporary

 

My Focus for this lesson was quiet ribs. I always thought that they were generally quiet in class anyway and haven't noticed any changes in other styles of dance either. However, the week before, when jumping, I noticed tension in my shoulders and my chest which changed the way I held my upper body. This week, I wanted to pay particular attention to this area in order to improve it.

 

Landing Exercise One: In this exercise, when leaning backwards over the legs, I have a tendency to arch my back and drop my head backwards. However, after talking about the head to tail connection a lot recently I realised that I needed to keep the connection in this movement also. Since, I keep my tail bone, spine and head in a straight line.

 

 

 

1st November - Experiential Anatomy

 

In this lesson, we focused on the Naval Radiation Pattern (Star Fish Pattern). We were given a task in which we had to lie in the star fish position and visualise a colour dispersing from the centre of the body and out to the limbs. This was a very clear and vivid image for me, and instantly made me think about this video below...

 

 

 

 

 

 



4th November - Improvisation and Instant Composition

Today, both Katye's group and Polly's group worked together. In this lesson, we began working with levels in moving, for example:
Level 1 - Floor
Level 2 - Sitting
Level 3 - Pelvis lifted off floor
Level 4 - Standing

We then worked with the notion of curling and uncurling the spine. I moved in a way that my body arched forwards over the legs and then backwards into a high release. I imagined this, as a flower with two leaves arching in different directions. In my journal I tried to reflect this in my drawing.

 

5th November - Release Based Contemporary

Today, we were asked to reflect on the aspirations we set ourselves at the beginning of the year. I feel that I working consistently in class to maintain my concentration levels. I sometimes feel now that I can't always fully engage, but I still continue the movement to try to recapture this again.

I feel that I want to make the most of my final year of training because classes will be less accessible to me as a dancer when I graduate.




8th November - Experiential Anatomy

In this lesson, we discussed the Mouthing Pattern and how the mouth and digestive system offers a line of support through the body. After moving with an awareness of the digestive system, this is the drawing I created.

 

For me, I see the digestive system as one long line travelling from the mouth, through to the stomach and to the intestine. At the intestine, this line becomes a tangle and a maze inside the body. This is what the picture portrays.




18th November - Skinner Releasing Technique

I received a lot of useful feedback during this session when moving alone and in contact with a partner. This feedback was:

Keep moving forwards, not backwards
Keep eyes closed
Keep chest open, not closed (front surface)
Keep pelvis in contact with partner.

I think that this feedback reflects things I have previously tried to improve but in the moment of dancing, this time, they have slipped my mind. In second year, I began to work with the idea of moving forwards because I received that as feedback then as well. I have always struggled to keep my eyes closed in certain tasks and clearly this is reflected in the feedback I received again today. I have not previously noticed my chest being closed before but when it was pointed out to me today, I could see why this correction had been pointed out to me. In future, I am going to try to be aware of this feedback when working in partners again. I feel like the last snip it of feedback sometimes applies to me but sometimes doesn't. When working in partners, it is important to apply a lot of pressure and receive that pressure back in order for Contact Improv to work. Sometimes, if I do not receive enough weight off my partner, I am reluctant to give them my weight and risk falling over! Depending on how I work with a particular partner depends on how I respond to this sort of task and today, I couldn't give my weight as it did not feel safe to.

In this lesson, we also worked with the arms as sails, from the shoulder to the little finger and down the length of the body. The spine was a rope hanging down the centre. With this imagery, I felt expansive, wide, seeing out, fluid, swirls of energy,
continuous movement...

 

I was given feedback in which it was explained to me that I needed to be able to fold more easily in the hip, knee and ankle joints when moving. I understand this as usually, I tend to fold only at the hip joints.

Reoccurring Theme

Across the variety of classes during the week, I am noticing one particular theme that seems to have transpired throughout. This is the notion of condensing and expanding.

 
In Released Based Contemporary, we have been working with condensing and expanding. At the start of the lesson, we have been asked to move with this in mind.  It also feeds in to the phrases we have been doing. Continuously through the phrase there are moments when the one will counter act the other.

 
In Experiential Anatomy, we have been working with the naval radiation pattern (starfish). Alike the start of the Release Based Contemporary classes, we have been asked to condense and expand passing through the star fish position.


In Improvisation/ Instant Composition, we have breifly touched on curling and uncurling which to me, is very similar to condesing and expanding and evokes a similar approach to moving.

October Blog Post

Monday 30th September - Thursday 24th October

This term is going too fast already! We have covered so much in our Movement Studies practice so far and I am going to highlight some of the key areas that have been beneficial for myself.

 

4/10/13

In our first Experiential Anatomy lesson, we were asked to note our aspirations for our final year and also to reflect upon our previous year. This task really helped me to think about how I personally want to benefit from practical classes as well as targets to aim for.

 

Aspirations:

·         To continue or better the level of concentration I was working with last year.

 

·         To develop my intellectual knowledge to coincide with my physical practice.

·         To find more ideas that I particularly enjoy working with and exploring.

 

How can I do this?

·         Read more publications/ articles that are related to areas covered during physical practice.

·         To be prepared for classes so I can fully engage.

 

What am I bringing from Yr 2?

·         Connection between the skull, tail, and the feet.

 

In the same lesson, we were asked to define, ‘What is a Somatic Practice?’ Considering it is what I have been studying for the last two years, I would assume I could explain it. However, when actually asked, it was much harder than I thought! Over the coming weeks, I hoped had hoped to develop my understanding of this area.

 

 

4/10/13

We have not studied Feldenkrais before so this was going to be a next experience for us all. I did some basic research into this subject in order for me to understand why we were doing it.

 

What is Feldenkrais?

·         It is a somatic educational system designed by Moshe Feldenkrais.

·         It aims to reduce pain or limitations in movement to improve physical function.

·         It expands movement repertoire.

·         It works with kinaesthetic and proprioceptive self-awareness.

 

 

8/10/13

At the start of Release Based Contemporary, we were asked to think of something we would be working with for the duration of the class. I said that I would be thinking of the connection between the spine, shoulders, arms, hands and to the fingers. I had a very clear image in my head of the wing span of a bird and consequently, I drew this in my journal.

 

 

18/10/13

During this Experiential Anatomy class, we spoke about the systems of the body and how they are categories differently depending on who is looking at them. In particular, we focused on the anatomical and BMC categorisations.

 

 

We also had to move for a time and then draw which body system we were most aware of whilst moving. I could feel the blood pumping and racing around my body and therefore, I drew the circulatory system.

 

 


21/10/13

In SRT, I began with a connection with the bone and the joints, especially in my arms. Over time, this did start to drain through my body into my knees. We were then asked to think about the connection between the base of the skull and heels which married nicely with my already present thoughts about bone.


We moved on and worked in partners. I can’t quite explain how, but I could feel forces opposing… resistant… pushing… repelling… resilient. The energy and effort required was very intense. My partner compared it to magnets which I thought was a great image to explain the sensation.

 

 

21/10/13

 For Improvisation and Instant Composition, we were set a homework task in partners to investigate the hand. Having completed the task, here are the thoughts that I was left with.

 

 


 

Overall, I feel I am already meeting some of the aspirations that I set at the start of the term. Having being offered several reading about Somatic Practices, I feel I am now much more able to explain what they are. These readings have also helped with my dissertation research as I am looking into SRT, a Somatic Practice.

 

The Beginning of the End

After a long summer away from uni, I had a really refreshing start to my 3rd and final year back in Coventry. So far I am feeling motivated and keeping on top of the work we are being given.

When coming back into moving, I could still relate to my head, tail and heel connection that I work with a lot towards the end of last year. This has continued to develop, and now I am thinking of the spine and the back of the legs that connect these all together rather than just separate areas. Last year, I used to find journaling quite a chore but since returning, I am enjoying writing. At present, I am interested in free writing and just letting words spill on to the paper. Whether these will mean anything to me in the future I am unsure however, at the moment this is a very useful method for me.

Again...

I always seem to be posting about SRT classes!

This week, we focused on the spheres and globes around the body. The are situated around the skull, ribs and hips as shown on the journal picture. We worked on a partner graphic to trace these spheres of the body. The lines were continual and intertwining between one another. I felt this represented how they all work together in unison.

Our attention was also brought to the solar plexus and how deep it sits within the body. I pictured mine and a black hole swirling around within my ribcage.

Imagery

Here is an excerpt taken from my journal from a SRT class. The pictures I have used are there to represent how I felt and what I experienced therefore sometimes I don't feel the need to fill my pages with words. Often, less is more.

Trip to Bedford

By the time it came to perform in Bedford, a lot of us were going to be glad to see the end of the Performance Projects module because it had been so demanding of us. However, we needed to perform one last time for their students.

I spent the afternoon helping to set up the technical aspects of the performance because this had been my second role back in Coventry. I really enjoyed  this role again and observing the differences between the facilities at Bedford compared to Coventry. I was surprised to hear that the students at Bedford are not given the opportunity to operate the sound and lighting equipment for themselves. We are lucky that we can take these additional skills with us when we graduate from Coventry University.

For the performance, Small Boat all pulled together to give our piece a good send off!! We regained all those qualities we had found for the original performances back in Coventry. The change in space was challenging to begin with because it was a lot smaller than what we were used to, but we managed.

22nd Jan

Contact Improvisation

In this lesson we normally swap partners throughout the duration, however in this particular lesson
we stayed with the same partner. This has both its advantages and disadvantages I find.

Advantage- You can grasp the aim of the lesson and really understand the technique without having to then figure the same thing out with another partner. It also gives you the opportunity to experience others preferences when doing CI.

Disadvantage- You are only able to experience how one person likes to work rather than several. I feel it makes you less able to adapt to others as quickly because you have become set in your ways.



In this lesson I worked with Ben. He always educates me when I work with him and helps me improve on my technique. I have learnt that I need to keep my pelvis attached to my partner all of the time if I am going to be successful in contact improvisation. I have also learnt that I need to give even more weight into my partner so that it makes it easier for the both of us to move. Once I had improved these, we were able to move so freely and smoothly together. We both became so involved in the movement, once we started, we found it hard to stop.

Working Together

In this lesson, all 3 year groups were put together. I  think it was the first lesson with all of us and therefore I was looking forward to working with people I hadn't worked with before. I made a conscious effort to work with as many people as I could in order to gain new experiences. a lot of the work was similar to what I had done before but I realised that each time brings new challenges and obstacles. Even if it has been done before you can still learn from it. I think that was the most poignant moment for me, not the movement itself but the realisation.

We tried helping each other to the floor by hold the hips and falling to the floor. I was trying to do this at arms length which made it difficult. To make it easier for myself and a partner I had to be closer to their body. Once I had grasped this, it was much easier and the movement was more fluid.

Hip Sockets

The post that I am currently writing are taken from quite a while back and I just haven't had time to type them on to my blog. The majority of post will be taken from my journal and expanded on.

I always feel that SRT is very clear to me and I can vividly see the images we are creating from the partner graphics and the moving. In this particular lesson I was drawn to the imagery I created when thinking about the hip sockets opening when working alone. I pictured them to be like butterfly wings opening and closing. I could feel the valley spaces widening between my bones and joints.

This feeling was reinforced when we carried out a partner graphic on the legs. My legs felt like they were hanging from the torso. It felt like there was nothing between my legs and my torso, my hips felt weightless.

Pathways

In Oliver's lesson this week we learnt about pathways, ways to meet and make contact with a partner.

 

 

We began this by initiating contact through the hand, down the arm and round to the back. This process would then be reversed when either partner wanted to move on. Before, I would have found it hard to initiate contact with a partner, but learning this has given me a way into contact. We then progressed this so that once you had made contact with a partner, it could become table top like we practised last lesson.

 

 

What I have learnt about contact improv is to be open. Everyone responds differently to this work and therefore you need to be aware of that and adapt to others you are moving with. Obviously, some partners are more willing than others. 

The Last 6 Inches

I apologise that its been a long time since I have blogged, but now essays are out of the way I can spend more time uploading posts!

Our first timetabled lesson of the new year was with Oliver Scott. He is an artist working in the Coventry area and he is teaching us contact improvisation. I was looking forward to developing my skills in this area because I feel this is one of my weaker techniques at the moment.

We spent this first lesson learning about the last 6 inches, this is the last six inches just above the floor. To begin with, we were experimenting with focus. For example, how close does your face have to be to the floor before you loose focus of what you are looking at. I suppose this made me think of distances and how we perceive things we look at. We can change our own focus by looking at things closely and looking at things further away. Our eyes work on a similar principle to a camera lens in a way.

After this, we learnt about table tops. We have learnt a little about this in first year but this time we went into more detail. The key was to keep balanced and remain in control of your own body. I found the best way to control my body was by moving and changing the position of my head. I also found that keeping a connection between the pelvis was really helpful!

I really enjoy our first lesson and am looking forward to how this will develop over the term. I feel that I have now learnt some of the basic principles of contact improv and as long as I remember them in future they will help me.

Dress Rehearsal





This footage was taken of Small Boat Dance Company during the dress rehearsal on Thursday 6th December 2012, before the first evening performance.

Unfortunately, this is the only full length, costumed, light copy of the piece we have. The filming of the first real performance failed and the second was only taken on a small camera which could not cope with the professional lights and therefore is of poor quality.

So enjoy!!

 

My Second Role

This was the day of our first performance and Imminent Dance Company were helping put up the projection screen for our piece

 

Just some pictures of the lighting booms at the side of the space and the lighting rig above it. I took these pictures to put in my artist journal to coincide with my second role of technical support.

 

 

 

And this is the lighting desk in the box. This controls all the light set up in the space and it was my job to control this during Imminent's performance.

Day 5- Intensive

The last intensive rehearsal all seemed a bit of a blur really, we just muddled our way though the day just doing what we needed too. I am glad we had our last rehearsal day so close the the performance because this really gave us time to polish and perfect the piece.

We started by finishing the piece off and finding the right place to end. Rather than just all stopping and creating an almost forced ending, we finished with all of the group trailing off one or two at a time until the last two dancers came to a gradual stop. I feel this was the rightful ending that our piece needed, like we had done it justice and now it was time to end. Once this became the definite end for the piece, we began to go through and clean the piece.

We went through it slowly making sure that no stone was left unturned and that each movement was done with the intention of how it was created, from how it came from out own individual thoughts about what dance means to us. I suppose when I think about it, it has been a personal experience for all of us. And like I previously said, in order to convey the piece I feel that I need to put everything in to show my true feelings about dance. And only from this can I now understand that I have lied to myself about why I do it and how it makes me feel. I cannot believe how this has changed things for me.

Anyway, we corrected any problems and got the piece looking really good. We continued to run the piece several times so that we were really comfortable with it and then we left it before it sent us mad!!

Final Costume Design

So these were all the clothes that we brought in so we could come up with a matching colour scheme in order for us to look like a unit...

 

 

 

 

 

...And this is what we came up with!!

 

So its been rather a long time since I last posted on my blog! Oops!! However, I'm going to attempt to catch up on some of the stuff that I haven't put on here that I feel is important. I am still yet to write about our Performance Project Performances!!!!! And also the things that we have started to do after Christmas too!

So here goes...