WORKSHOP 5 - Asheville Butoh

WORKSHOP REPORT – Wednesday, November 12 2014
10am – 1pm
Asheville Butoh Studio
475 Fletcher Road, Alexander NC

Participating in the workshop were: Sara Baird (Artistic Director – Anemone Dance Theater), Julie Becton Gillum (Artistic Director – Legacy Butoh), Jenni Cockrell (dancer), Diana Brewster (graphic designer).

Physical Exercises: 
Combined abbreviated Vibrations / Joint Spirals warm-up
Body Soundz
Breath

Journaling and feedback from these three exercises.
Video documentation of Breath exercise.

Body Soundz:
Hanging forward, humming into head resonators, vibrating, rolling up & opening to “Aah” sound while still vibrating the body. Repeat with progressively higher pitches.
Deep breathing – exhale on “sshh”, “sss” & blowing through lips.
Plosives. Plosive rhythms.
Wow-wee.
Body drumming – add voice – interactive body drumming.

Breath:
This exercise has several sections that progressively build up, starting very simply and advancing to more complex instructions. Ideally, in a series of classes or workshops, the exercise can be developed gradually over time.
In this workshop session, we spent about an hour on a “crash course” on each section, and then documented the whole progression running straight from one section into another.

A full description and demonstration of the Breath exercise can be found in my PHYSICAL EXERCISES – SoloSketches blog page.

Workshop Video Link:

 http://youtu.be/giQKzPcGf8k

Discussion & Feedback: 
Sara – 
Commented on the mental and physical discipline necessary for maintaining focus throughout the exercises.
Enjoyed the Body Soundz vocal exercises using vibration and pitch (frequency) and breath control – felt that there was a connection with the use of breath in the Body Soundz work and in the Breath exercise (where the breath is the initiating factor for movement).
In early stages of the Breath exercise, she felt limited when only initiating motion inside the torso, as though trapped inside the torso – however, once movement initiation was introduced into other areas of the body – felt more freedom. Although she did also comment that, even when only in the X shape at the beginning, there was still a lot going on inside the body (responding to visualization) before physical motion was introduced.
She enjoyed the shift of scale (between small & large movement / areas of the body in motion) and the unexpected, random movements influenced by breathing into different parts of the body.

She discovered the ability to let go and not dictate the movement.
impulse vs. sustained
rhythms vs. fluidity
surprise vs. consistent/predictable 
Jenni – 
Was in constant dialogue with self … to let go of the concept of time … to let go of being task-oriented … to stop “trying” to do things.
She found subtle moments by not forcing anything – if there was an impulse, she would follow, but would not force anything to happen … to the point of sometimes giving herself permission to do nothing. She found details of fingers, bones and delicate moments of subtlety.
She commented on the grounding of the tailbone in relation to the opening lightness of the crown of the head.
She became aware of the ribs as protector – the ribcage physically protecting the organs, but also the emotional idea of protecting the heart.
She quoted an Improv dance teacher she has worked with – Chris Aiken – “avoid the tyranny of doing something interesting”! 
Diana – 
Regarding the warm-up (using vibrations/joint spirals) - she would have liked more time for slow, controlled energy for the spirals.
Breath exercise – lying on her back, the X shape felt like too much of a stretch on her chest / front of shoulders area, so she brought her arms down to the Yoga “corpse” position. She had some confusion initially with my instructions regarding the cycle/rhythm of the breath, as she was used to a certain Yoga breathing technique, but after listening to my instructions for a while, realized what I was trying to communicate.
She very much enjoyed the Body Soundz exercises, as she felt these were more group oriented and social, exploring sound and the body in a fun, childlike manner. She appreciated the power of group chanting.
Her general comment was of feeling a bit isolated in many of the movement explorations, as they are quite a private and internalized process. 
Julie – 
Began by noting body parts that “don’t work like they used to” and felt a constant judgment of the body in the more physically focused work (as opposed to when the focus becomes creative).
She suggested a book by Cecily Berry – a theatre based artist who has developed vocal techniques. She thought this would be relevant for my Body Soundz vocal work. She noted Butoh exercises that use the breath cycle for imagery – such as living a whole life span (birth to death) within one breath. Or of each breath bringing a different character or elemental image.
During the Breath exercise, she visualized an octopus propelling through water (shooting dye – squid?) on the exhale.
Other general comments were in regards to ideas of vibrations from nature, sounds and earth actions.

Summary: 
Something that seems to be similar in each individual’s report is the fact that they are having an inner dialogue about the process. The fact that these exercises give a defined enough concept and also enough space for that dialogue to occur is encouraging to me in itself.
It seems there are comments regarding coming across various physical limitations, various mental blockages or wanderings – these are all good things to become aware of. It also seems that there are ways each individual is discovering about how to deal with these issues for themselves as the process continues.
Their reports are not just about coming across a problem, but how they began to solve it.
- I realize that most of this current aspect of the work is very insular and I do want to get back into some more Creative Response interactions – which I will do in the next session.

Workshop 4 - Asheville Butoh

WORKSHOP REPORT – Wednesday, November 5 2014

10am – 1pm

Asheville Butoh Studio

475 Fletcher Road, Alexander NC

Participating in the workshop were: Sara Baird (Artistic Director – Anemone Dance Theater), Julie Becton Gillum (Artistic Director – Legacy Butoh), Jenni Cockrell (dancer), Diana Brewster (graphic designer).

Note – Julie had to leave early, so is not on video documentation of this workshop.

Physical Exercises:

Vibrations

Joint Spirals

Floor Massage / Cat Stretch

Journaling and feedback plus video documentation of these three Physical Exercises.

 Video Link:

http://youtu.be/HROBeDG8I3M

Originally, I had been working consistently with Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre members on these particular exercises and was planning to video document and gather feedback from them after gaining familiarity with the process over a period of weeks.

However, I decided to use this whole workshop session at the Asheville Butoh Studio to instruct an intensive “crash course” on these exercises, followed immediately by documenting an abbreviated example and receiving feedback.

As you can tell by the attire, it was rather chilly in the studio that morning!

Full descriptions and demonstrations of these three exercises can be found in my PHYSICAL EXERCISES – SoloSketches blog page.

Discussion & Feedback:

Sara:

Vibrations – enjoyed the “micro to macro” aspect of beginning very small & internal in the marrow of the bones & progressively expanding out through the layers of the body & into the surrounding space. Made her think about finding the source of the vibration – where does it originate? Felt freedom in having no deliberate outer form (only a motion concept) & that creates vast movement potential.

She was resistant to the length of time spent (at first) but then realized that duration was the only way to fully have the experience.

Spirals – felt that the imagery of eddies & whirlpools assisted a fluidity of motion & a connection with the spiral action almost as if elemental forces were causing the motion. She would like to spend more time exploring the size & speed of spirals in different parts of the body.  Felt the imagery (of spaciousness, openness, inflating balloons etc) opened up a lot of potential for freedom of motion.

Floor Massage / Cat Stretch – felt this as a exercise of “surrender” – to weight, gravity & release – found her body initially resistant but then was able to let go. Had a sense of full connection with surface (ground).  Cat stretches felt very satisfying & were more fully effective due to coming out of complete release of body-weight to gravity.

Jenni:

Felt some resistance becoming completely present mentally at first, also was aware of protecting injury areas & had a process of bringing herself into focus.

Felt the movement was very organic with a body-mind-centering aspect to it. She found connections with other movement practices such as Release Technique, Chi Gong, Chakra work & Laban / Bartenieff methods. Felt the imagery connected her with the elements – air, water, earth, fire – with images of red sparks coming from the vibrations into space.

Diana:

Was conscious of not having had dance training like the other participants – however, felt that her knowledge of martial arts, Pilates & massage served her well during these exercises.

Vibrations – felt a connection with Afro-Caribbean dance & sensed an understanding of the origins of motion for that movement.

Spirals – felt good for mobility. She took the spirals at a slow, controlled rate – influenced by the music (which had no rhythm). Felt she called on Pilates experience for the floor work when the legs are suspended in the air for some time & had to be careful not to over-stretch.

Floor Massage / Cat Stretch – felt a little uncertain & that she had a limited range of motion & needed to protect her lower back. But enjoyed the sense of massage & stretch.

She commented that people who have no previous movement training of any kind could be at risk of injury if they don’t know how to take care of their bodies.

She also questioned what relationship these exercises have to Performance Art - that she is familiar with the work of certain Performance Artists, such as Marina Abramovich, but does not know how this movement work we are doing connects with that.

Additional comments from Julie via e-mail:

i was struck by the "shaking" exercise's similarities to Noguchi gymnastics practice related to "water bag" body. 

you spoke of vibration from inside the bones, energy generated by the body and traveling outward into the universe. Asian practices of Noguchi and butoh speak of gathering energy from the earth through the feet and allowing the vibrational waves to energize up through the body and out into the world. i enjoyed the personal power i experienced from generating my own energetic vibration and following its idiosyncratic path outward.

The reminder that my feet have connections to both earth and sky was a great insight for me.  thank you.

Summary:

It is interesting for me to note that, on the one hand – most trained dancers will feel that they are having to let go of much of their dance technique when doing this work, while on the other hand – those without dance training might feel ill-equipped. (Although I think this probably depends on the individual, as I have taught workshops to non-dancers who feel very free to explore this kind of organic movement.)

Also note-worthy are comments regarding the length of the exercises. As each exercise builds on in progression, one has to immerse oneself in an almost meditational sense in order to gain the experience that the exercise has to offer. This requires a certain amount of commitment. I myself usually feel that we are only just getting somewhere by the time it has ended - & that I would like another hour to truly explore & let movement unfold & develop into fruition.

This particular workshop was very intensive, as I needed to cover a lot in a short time. Ideally, I would want to spend several sessions building the exercises up more gradually. (I think Diana might have felt more comfortable had it been taken at a more gradual pace over several sessions.) However, I felt that they all grasped the concepts of each exercise & manifested them physically in a very clear way.

Critique Response 1 - November 6 2014

Critique Response 1 – November 6 2014

Originally, when establishing this group (Critique Group B), there had been a little concern from the group leader in regards to my practice being movement and performance based, while all the others in the group are painters who are not really incorporating any performance element into their work.

However, after receiving my first critique session, I can happily state that I found all the comments to be extremely sensitive, insightful and pertinent to my project.

(Although I’m not sure if the same could be said for my attempts at critiquing theirs!)

An unexpected comment that arose from some of my peers was in regards to the statement (in my project proposal) that - if I have to give an underlying theme for my work, it is that of Transformation, Metamorphosis & Transcendence.

They were asking me to consider these ideas more thoroughly in their separate (yet related) nuances of meaning – rather than lumping them altogether as meaning the same thing. They were also noting that, although they agreed they could see those influences in the work, I was not really addressing it directly.

I think it was unexpected to me to hear this because this definition has been included into my statement as a later addition, after emphatic prompting from Jean Marie Casbarian that I must define what my work is about! I was quite resistant to this at first, as I like to think of my work as a neutral platform that is able to embrace and present any subject matter. However, I took her wise advice and, with the help of Mary Sherman during a crit session in Berlin, defined this common thread that, once stated, I certainly resonated with.

However – it is still rather an after-thought that has not been woven into conscious recognition within my project – so it was extremely astute of my crit-group peers to dig this out!

Other questions that arose from most people were to do with the pedagogical structure of the project. There were questions concerning the final curriculum that will be created, its form and versatility.

I realize that I have laid out a curriculum plan that contains four distinct catagories and have numbered them 1 2 3 4 – but not yet given any indication towards my intentions for how this will come into play.  For example – Will we go systematically through each category or will we draw an exercise from each category in each lesson? Or perhaps focus more on one or two categories in one lesson, then on another category in the next lesson? Etc.

Also – what is necessary to establish first in order to build? Or is it even necessary to have the traditional “consecutive building” approach? Can information, exercises, play and assignments be more randomly “thrown into the mix”? Can information and exercises from each of the four categories be unified by a common subject matter for a lesson or workshop plan?

It was suggested that I research recent papers written on pedagogical structures and theories of learning. I’m sure it will be incredibly informative for me to do this as a formal research exercise that has no direct relationship to performance or art in order to understand more about the shape a curriculum can take.

Also in question was: “Who” is this curriculum designed for?

Ideally, my aim is to create a pedagogy that is extremely fluid and versatile in it’s accessibility – yet maintaining a distinct methodology.

I have been reading Gomez-Pena’s “Exercises For Rebel Artists” and am excited to note how his approach resonates so completely with my own.

Other comments that I very much appreciated were in regards to my “creating a language”. I do feel I am formulating a language of the body itself and a language that addresses a way of thinking about the body and the psyche of being present in the body. The Self as medium.

Link to Critique Group B request and comments:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NkUo6MSmolfT8oVbsUe4G7sIicpVYBSMSW81e2TiPr8/edit?usp=sharing

 

Journal Entry - October 28 2014

In my "Life Outside Transart World", my partner (David Linton - audio/visual artist) and I run an art space - The Mission For Temporal Art - in the very sleepy rural little town of Marshall NC, about twenty miles North of Asheville (the art mecca of Western NC!)

http://themissionfortemporalart.blogspot.com

 
This past week, we were also part of a Butoh dance production in Asheville - "UWABE" - an outdoor extravaganza sponsored by Asheville Area Arts Council, Asheville Art in the Park and the Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center. It was presented by two local collaborating Butoh companies Anemone Dance Theater and Legacy Butoh.
David was the TD for this event and I was the MC. I developed a character who embodied the essence of Butoh in a way that would help it become accessible to a general audience.

http://www.ashevillebutoh.com/

BUT NOW .... back to Transart World!

I had a little bit of a set-back in regards to my workshop series with Asheville Contemporary Dance Theater company.
Originally, they had generously agreed to be my "guinea-pig" students during their Sunday rehearsal time going up to mid-November. However, after three workshops they decided to cancel the remaining sessions due to needing the time for a heavier rehearsal schedule than they had anticipated.
Unfortunately we were in the middle of a process with individual assignments - so it's very disappointing not to be able to follow those through to completion.
Never-the-less, I did gain quite a rich source of feedback from most of my "experiments" with them, so I have some valuable material to continue with.

The good news is ... that the Butoh dancers I was working with over the past week are interested in my MFA project and have expressed a desire to help me continue the process. So we are now making arrangements for some workshop sessions at their studio space (which is in an old school building in Alexander NC - half way between Asheville and Marshall).
I'm very much looking forward to this, as I know that they are deeply process oriented and unafraid of the abyss of exploration!

Besides the workshop groups, I continue to amass my Solo Sketches on the PHYSICAL EXERCISES page. I have been completing one per week. It is a collection of exercises I have been developing with the intention of transforming the "self" into a medium for art.
My vision is one of the self becoming something raw, pliable, alert, ready to transform into anything. In the same way an artist needs their material (be it clay, paint, wood, fabric, sound, words) to be available for use in creating whatever their vision might be - the performer IS medium. The artist is also aware of the inherent traits of each medium and chooses accordingly what best serves their purpose. The performer is required to be a versatile medium.

Advisor meeting report 2 - Autumn semester

Skype meeting on Thursday October 16th 2014 at 10am EST
with Laura Gonzales - Studio Advisor & Laura Bissell - Research Advisor

The purpose of this meeting was to connect the three of us in order to establish that we are all "on the same page" in regards to my goals for this (studio) semester and how that informs the next (research) semester.

Laura Gonzales was very encouraging about the direction I have been taking my workshops with Asheville Contemporary Dance Theater.
She had some suggestions to make in regards to the video documentation. I have been using the camera as a "sketch book" to take note of what transpires through the workshop process. She commented that this is an appealing choice of the use of the camera and suggested I continue to develop this more consciously as part of the work.

Laura Bissell has compiled a bibliography of suggested reading material (some of which I already have) and suggested I begin to search for articles once I have further narrowed down my specific points of interest.

Her suggested reading is as follows:

Suggested Bibliography

Allsopp, Ric, and Scott deLahunta, eds. The Connected Body: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Body and Performance. Amsterdam: Amsterdam School of the Arts, 1996.

Aston, Elaine, and Geraldine Harris. Performance, Practice and Process: Contemporary [Women] Practitioners. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Banes, Sally, and Andre Lepecki, eds. The Senses in Performance. New York: Routledge 2007.

Blocker, Jane. What the Body Cost: Desire, History and Performance. Minneapolis; London: University of Minnesota Press, 2004.

Desmond, Jane C. ed. Meaning in Motion. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1997.

Forte, Jeanie. “Women‘s Performance Art: Feminism and Postmodernism”, Theatre Journal, 40.2 (1988): pp.217-235.

Fraser, Mariam, and Monica Greco, eds. The Body: A Reader. Oxon: Routledge, 2005.

Goldberg, Roselee. Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present. New York: Thames and Hudson Inc, 2001.

Goldberg, Roselee. Performance: Live Art since the 60s. London: Thames and Hudson, 2004.

Grosz, Elizabeth. Space, Time and Perversion: Essays on the Politics of Bodies. New York; London: Routledge, 1994

Jones, Amelia. Self/Image: Technology, Representation and the Contemporary Subject. Oxon: Routledge, 2006.

Jones, Amelia. Body Art: Performing the Subject. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1998.

Jones, Amelia, and Andrew Stephenson. Performing the Body/Performing the Text. London and New York: Routledge, 1999.

Kelin Li, Daniel and Kathryn Dawson The Reflexive Teaching Artist: Collected Wisdom from the Drama/Theatre Field. 2014

Kozel, Susan. Closer: Performance, Technologies, Phenomenology. Cambridge and Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2007.

Mansfield, Nick. Subjectivity: Theories of the Self from Freud to Haraway. New York: New York University Press, 2000.

Marks, Laura U. Touch: Sensuous Theory and Multisensory Media. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.

Nelson, Robin. Practice as Research in the Arts: Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances. 2013

Guillermo Gómez Peña. Exercises for Rebel Artists: Radical Performance Pedagogy. 2011

Phelan, Peggy. Unmarked: The Politics of Performance. London: Routledge, 1993.

Schechner, Richard. Performance Studies.

Shepard, Simon. Theatre, Body and Pleasure. Routledge: London, 2005.

Todres, Les. Embodied Enquiry: Phenomenological Touchstones for Research, Psychotherapy and Spirituality. 2007.

Vergine, Lea. Body Art and Performance: The Body as Language. Milan: Skira, 2000.

Welton, Donn. Body and Flesh: A Philosophical Reader. Massachusetts; Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2001.

WORKSHOP 3 ACDT

WORKSHOP REPORT - Sunday, October 12 2014

4.30 – 7pm

Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre 

20 Commerce Street, Asheville NC

Participating in the workshop were: ACDT Founding Director Giles Collard, plus Company members – Sara Keller, Sharon Cooper, Alexis Miller, Caroline Althof and Megan Jackson.

Physical exercises:

Vibrations / Joint Spirals

I combined the vibrate/shake/throw exercise with the Joint Spirals exercise – as they are now familiar with both exercises, it was nice to combine the two in a way that felt natural to the body and could be achieved in a fluid manner that kept the motion moving along as a quick yet effective warm-up.

Voice

1.     Deep breathing with exhalation on “sshhh”, “sss”, blowing through lips – then short, quick bursts blowing through lips. Then a series of short exhalations through the nose. Then exhaling on “hahaha” like a laugh.

2.     Hanging forward and humming into the nasal resonators.

3.     Open from “mmmmm” to “aaah” while shaking arms with fists.

4.     Facial gestures with sounds “wow-wee-(kiss sound)-blah”.

Breath – (Natural cycle / Rhythmical)

Beginning on the floor, expanding and releasing the body within the natural cycle of the breath. Then consciously altering the rhythmical pattern of the breath and exploring resulting responses of the body.

(A full description of this exercise is given on my PHYSICAL EXERCISES page.)

(No discussion or feedback for the above physical exercises was given at this workshop session – but will be a focus of discussion in a future session.)

Creative Response exercise:

Creative Synesthesia

Assignments:

Further developments on “Place” assignment.

Video documentation of Creative Synesthesia exercise / game

and of Place assignment.

VIDEO LINK

http://youtu.be/O65mJqmlGiU

Detailed report on documented section of workshop.

Creative Synesthesia

The goal of this Creative Response exercise / game is to explore the effect of sensory stimuli on creating a performative action.

In this particular exercise, the action choices were Motion, Sound and Word.

The qualities being responded to were those of: shape, color, sound, texture, smell, taste, word and association (meaning a literal association with the function of the object – or even a personal association, perhaps connected to memory).

There were a number of objects, each holding at least two of the above qualities.

For example: dried flowers, a dictionary, construction paper & chalk, tea-tree oil, coffee beans, dark chocolate, a foam disc, a stick, Christmas ornaments, a rubber duck, a squishy rubber toy, a stripy fabric tube etc.

I invented several structures in which to play the game – ranging from simple to complex. We tried three of them.

1.     Sit in a circle, one item is passed around to each person and one single instruction is given. For example: Pass around chocolate – Respond in Motion to the Taste. OR: Pass around a pink rubber duck – Respond with Words to the Color.

2.     Sit in a line (as audience). All objects are placed in a line in front of “audience”. One person is handed an object and given specific instructions to carry out. For example: White tissue paper – Respond in Motion and Sound to the Texture. (Then that person creates instructions for the next performer.)

3.     An interactive group improvisation. In this case, the rules were:

No more than 3 people performing at a time.

Enter and leave the scene at will.

Audience can place into or remove objects from the scene at any time.

Performers respond to any of the qualities of the objects they wish.

Performers can use Motion, Sound and / or Word as they wish.

Assignments (PLACE)

So far, the assignment has been:

1.     Go to a place and spend time absorbing sensory impressions without analyzing.

2.     Gather together any objects that represent those sensory impressions in some way.

Last week, the participants described the sensory impressions of the place they had been to. This week, they brought in objects and explained why the objects represented those sensory impressions.

This week, during the workshop, I gave them instructions to use the Creative Synesthesia game for inspiration on how to use their own sensory objects to create Motion and Sound related to the Place. I gave them about fifteen minutes to create a short Motion and Sound phrase that contained sensory elements of the Place, using this Creative Response method.

We ended the session with a showing of these explorations.

Summary

There was not enough time for Discussion and Feedback during this workshop session, as I felt it more important to move immediately into connecting the Assignment work with the Creative Response exercise while it was still fresh.

For the “Creative Synesthesia” game, I had invented a number of structures of varying degrees of complexity. I feel they all have the potential to work well, but I need to clarify the delivery of my instructions better.

I am also open to more ideas on how to structure the game and will ask the participants for their input on this.

I also want to change some of the vocabulary for better clarity.

In Actions – I want to say “Language” instead of “Word” (as a word can also be used as an abstract sound with no intentional meaning)

For the PLACE Assignments, I want to now try to encourage the performers to use the objects they have collected for sensory triggers as a tool to find more abstract and less literal modes of movement and sound exploration.

There is rather a tendency to “mime” in order to communicate an idea – which I would like to now try and steer them away from.

WORKSHOP 2 ACDT

WORKSHOP REPORT – Sunday, October 5 2014

4.30 – 7pm

Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre 

20 Commerce Street, Asheville NC

Participating in the workshop were: ACDT Founding Directors Susan & Giles Collard, company members – Jaime McDowell, Sara Keller, Sharon Cooper, Mary LaBianca, Caroline Althof, Megan Jackson, Raj Bowers Racine, plus former company member – Coco Palmer Dolce.

Physical exercises:

Vibrations

I used an abbreviated form of the vibrate / shake / throw exercise as a warm-up to release tension and energize the body.

Voice

1.     Deep breathing, exhaling on a variety of sounds engaging the lips & tongue.

2.     Hanging forward and humming into the nasal resonators.

3.     Opening to an “Aaah” with shaking to release a big relaxed sound.

4.     Facial expression with sounds.

5.     Patting on the chest rhythmically while “conversing” with open vowel sounds.

Floor Massage

Releasing the weight of the body into the floor while rolling and “melting” to give the body a massage – also adding stretch (in a cat-like manner).

(No discussion or feedback for the above physical exercises was given at this workshop session – but will be a focus of discussion in a future session.)

Transfer of Weight

Journaling, discussion and feedback about Transfer of Weight exercise

Creative Response exercise:

Finding The Essence 

Video documentation of Transfer of Weight plus discussion & feedback.

Also of brief movement response from Finding The Essence exercise.

Assignments:

Reports of experiences from last week’s assignment.

For next week: Find movements, sounds, words, colors, textures, objects, shapes, images, smells, tastes, items of clothing and anything that gives a sensory impression of the essence of the place you went to.

 Video Link: http://youtu.be/p4_lzM6s2gA

Detailed report on documented section of workshop.

Transfer of Weight

The goals of this exercise are: to develop a heightened sense of awareness of  the incremental shifts of weight when transferring weight from one part of the body to another, to allow and take note of resulting responses throughout the whole body, to establish a deep connection with “surface” – beginning with the idea of “earth connection” and to establish balance & stability while maintaining a sense of plasticity.

A full description of this exercise is given on my PHYSICAL EXERCISES page.

For this workshop, I lead the participants through all the exploratory stages of the exercise, and then set a group dance improvisation that would allow them some freedom to play and creatively elaborate on the given concepts.

Discussion and Feedback

Coco – Recovering from an ankle and foot injury and is going through a rediscovery of the body that has included going back to basics. This exercise was good for going into the basic, fundamental action of transferring weight smoothly.

Raj – Natural individual way of moving is always frenetic and explosive, so being forced to slow down and mindfully consider weight and balance is a valuable exercise. Fascinated by the feeling of increased weight in the body when trying to incrementally propel without momentum and the amount of effort needed to balance when walking slowly.

Mary – “notice, sustain, draw out, subtle, observe, tactile, cold floor, balance”. Needed more clarity of direction, felt my instructions sometimes seemed ambiguous. Need to introduce new ideas into the exercise more comprehensively.

Megan – “balance, release, control, pushing, catching, pressing, rocking” “felt smooth, soft, hard, muscular, contracting, centered, free, natural”.

Would like to try transferring weight exercise using floor patterns to give direction in space. Felt tuned-in to weight sinking to each bone of the foot and being able to study her own gait.

Giles – “gravity will enforce the landing” – feeling as though constantly in a state of falling. “loss of balance – infinity – new stability”. “teetering on the edge of the white cliffs of dover”. “the drunken master is the master”.

Sara – Aware of inconsistencies in the joints. Aware of muscles and their weight and the energy needed to move each one. Movement felt organic. Aware of textures. “heartbeat, waves, swings, hills, pendulum”. Wanted to build more on gaining range and speed.

Jamie – Feet are the easiest transfer of weight, once shifting to other body parts in becomes more difficult. Tempo becomes important, as there are some shifts of weight that become impossible without momentum. Gravity and falling force a weight transfer. Felt very wobbly with closed eyes for the beginning of the exercise.

Caroline – Enjoyed the arc of the whole exercise (& how I use this in most exercises) – in that, in the end, it returned, retrograding back to how it started. Loved the open improvisation at the end – how would one encourage non-dancers to freely move this way? She suggested a format where participants can enter and leave the improv throughout its duration. Music facilitates the exercise well – what happens when there’s a juxtaposition of music and movement qualities?

Sharon – Aware of body – especially ankles rolling. Would like to have done faster shifting. Improvisation would be nice with smaller groups and being able to watch each other. The exercise inspired new ideas for locomotion through space.

Finding The Essence 

This is a creative exercise based on a theatrical character development exercise for actors. It evolved through the techniques of Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko with Constantin Stanislavski and was absorbed into Stanislavski’s method of acting.

In order to better understand a particular character, one poses the question “If this character were a ____ , what kind of ____ would they be?”

For example “If Carmen Miranda were a flavor of ice-cream, what flavor would it be?”

Most people would probably agree that it would be a wild, tropical fruit mix. (This is an obvious one, for clear demonstration!)

In this workshop, we began with asking this kind of question about each other.

1. Q - If Giles were a cocktail, what kind of cocktail would he be?

A - A cocktail with a variety of exotic ingredients, quite fruity and with accessories – like curly straws and garnishes.

2. Q - If Sharon were a perfume, what kind of perfume would she be?

A – Something earthy and musky, maybe with a note of spice – like nutmeg and even a hint of tobacco.

3. Q – If Raj were a package deal destination vacation, what would it be?

A – (A variety of answers with the same kind of essence) – New Year at Times Square, Rio at Carnival, some Icelandic festival etc.

…. From this, I asked for individual creative responses that were brief and spontaneous.

For the Giles Cocktail, I asked each person for a hand-&-face dance (shown in documentation video)

For the Raj vacation, I asked for a vocal sound.

Summary

In the Transfer of Weight exercise, it was clear from the participants feedback that I need to guide in a way that has more stages to it, rather than leaving such big gaps for them to bridge by themselves. I need to introduce everything with the assumption that each idea is totally new to the student.

I have noticed with some of the feedback, that they seem to need my “permission” to explore an aspect of the exercise further – such as variations in tempo or directly associating it with a previous exercise.

They really enjoyed the Finding the Essence exercise – with this group it felt rather like a party game, so it was a lot of fun!