Improvisation and Reflection Practice

As usual, we started off class with a warm up, increasing our heart rates and getting the blood pumping around the body ready for the last session to begin. This also got our brains working ready for the one-hour improvisation jam which we were being assessed on; seen as a challenge at the beginning of class.

 

After this, we worked in pairs, trying to create a conversation with our partner while improvising, reacting to their movement and ‘replying’ with your improvisation travelling down the studio. This got us to think about our bodies, allowing us to use all kinespheres and working with others, all key elements to have in our minds ready for the improvisation jam.

 

Then we got into groups of four, labelling ourselves either material maker, interpreter, manipulator and observer based on Thomas Lehman’s score. I was the interpreter, having to interpret Elycia’s movements while she was being manipulated by Emily Dey. I found this hard as Elycia had to follow Emily’s instructions which then manipulated her movement there fore manipulating my movement. Rachel observing the exercise saw that my movement adjusted and that I played the role successfully. I would interpret the movement by dynamics, levels and sometimes I would use a different body parts, it was a very tricky exercise but it got my mind thinking and I learnt new ways of moving adapting movement from someone else’s background.

 

We then started are improvisation jam all together as a collective. Various points I would come in and out, trying new techniques and styles for example thick skinning, imagery, echoing, impulse and so on. This changed my movement with intention and made my body find new ways of moving through the jam rather than staying with one technique to let my movement become habitual as we had to improvise for a long period of time. The jam was seen as such a struggle before we started and we all was quite worried when we entered the studio as we knew what was coming but actually, I found it really enjoyable and the hour seemed to go so quickly. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the jam.

 

The improvisation jam made me think back to how much we have learnt over the nine weeks we have had with Kirsty. Before I started this module, I was concerned and slightly apprehensive as I have never liked improvisation, it was always seen as a chore when I have touched upon it before. The fact that I had to create movement in the moment was challenging and I thought it wouldn’t be up to my ability but I have learnt from these classes that improvisation is completely different to your habitual movement and you should try break away from your dancing habits.

 

I learnt that improvisation is about moving more internally, thinking about the way your body moves and the sensations that you feel. Using different techniques from improvisation for example imagery or impulse would manipulate your movement choices and on lookers wouldn’t witness any habitual movements as you had something to focus on whether it was a theme or trying to originate from different body parts. Internalisation is the most beneficial thing I have learnt from this module, I have never learnt how to move internally before, dance schools and a-level learnt me to dance expressively and have stereotypical ISTD dance training, I have now learnt to dance within the body and I have found it so useful, its unique and allows so many movement boundaries! It has varied my movement pallet and I now have a wider range of movement content and can ‘feel’ dance in a way I haven’t before. I love it!

 

I have also learnt that time is important when creating movement in improvisation. I have always thought that if I was ever in need of movement when stuck in improvisation, I would either just carry on moving with habitual movement or repeat myself as I was worried about using stillness. Now I know that stillness is vital, it allows you to think about what you can perform next and think of different techniques that we have looked at in our sessions such as;

 

 

Stillness helps you break away from your habitual movement as you have pauses that allow thinking time so you can find new ways of moving and develop your movement pallet. Another technique that relates to this is micro-level. I have always thought that my movement needs to bold and travel through the space, but using micro-level in class, I know now that the smaller the movement, the more interesting it can be and you can find new ways of moving, it may be from the liver or kidney or just a slight movement from the little finger. All movement is useful and makes your movement more interesting to watch; also breaking away from habitual movements again.

 

Empathy is another technique I have learnt to use in our sessions. Working as a collective whether it is whilst using flocking or in our improvisation jams, I have found it really nice to work with my fellow dance course friends and to work as one. In improvisation jams, we work together a lot, whether it is through contact, focus, echoing, impulse or spatial awareness with others while using techniques like backwards blinking, we all work together as a collective and use empathy in every session we have. Empathy is something that will always stay with me in my dance future, working as a team is one of the main elements in the dance industry.

 

Overall, I have learnt so many new techniques that have broadened my movement pallet throughout this module, I have thoroughly enjoyed it even if I was apprehensive at the start. I can not wait to start contact improvisation in the next upcoming year and learn more techniques in improvisation, this module has definitely been my highlight in semester B.

During this week’s session, we started off talking about the reading from ‘From improvisation to Choreography: the critical bridge’ by Larry Lavender and Jennifer Predock-Linnell. It talks about how improvisation is fundamental in a dancer’s life and is the starting ground point for choreography as it varies your movement content. “Interestingly, the literature is virtually silent on just how it is that improvisational work is actually supposed to function as a preparation for choreography.” (Lavender and Predock-Linnell, 2001,197). This quote backs up my statement that training in improvisation is important when starting your dance choreography. It then highlights about self-critical skills and how they should be influential to students’ work to help them improve which we then used later on in this session when receiving feedback from our peers about our score. “…teachers must, first of all, regularly put students in the position of experiencing the creative process as a fundamentally critical one.” (Lavender and Predock-Linnell, 2001, 204). All dancers should be critically evaluated, it is an important process for a dancer.

 

Our first exercise was on the floor, moving in and out of fetal position thinking about the use of breath, extension and loosing any tension in the body and identifying any pains we may have had that this exercise could get rid of. Changing the pace of this exercise really helped loosen tension due to moving so fast that my heart rate dramatically increased so therefore when we stopped moving after the climax, my body was so tired that I let go of any tension and my body was fully relaxed. It allowed me to explore my lower kinesphere and made my body warm ready for all the movement I was then going to do in the class.

 

After this we stayed on the floor, using imagery of twisting, pulling and dragging. This allowed me to find new ways to move as I was performing in these motions which then allowed me to find new areas of my body which I didn’t know I could move from or get into positions that I found while improvising. It was a good exercise as I found new variations allowing me to break away from my habitual movement more.

 

The next exercise was to move around the space while Kirsty was giving us instructions. Some examples of the instructions were:

• Lead with the elbow
• Keep your left foot planted on the floor
• No use of arms
• No use of legs

All of these images made my movement change and differ from my original habitual movements as I had to think off the top of my head but keep with the imagery. I find it much easier to improvise when I have some element of imagery in my mind as I have something to focus on keeping me away from my habitual movements as this is my main aim at the moment! There fore this exercise was very useful to me.

 

I then did as walking exercise which made us all work as a team ready for the next exercise of making scores in groups. We had to increase our pace while walking round the room and making eye contact with people as you pass them. This made me focused as Elycia and I kept making eye contact with each other for long periods of time therefore I had to be aware of the space and dancers around me. This was just a mind focusing exercise which got my head in the right mind set.

 

We then got into our reading groups and had to base a score on underscores also focusing on the RSVP cycle from last week’s session. We decided to base our score on four elements from the theory.

The four elements we decided to choose as a group from all of these examples were collision, contrast, idiot button and confluence. The dancers would improvise each element for two minutes therefore we allowed all the dancers to explore the element for one minute and for the second minute, we wanted to challenge them and see how this effected their movement content.

 

• Collision- firstly we made them deliberately collide with each other and for second minute we wanted them to do this with their eyes shut. This would make the dancers reluctant and uncomfortable as they are not aware when they are going to collide with someone therefore this may make their movement smaller and confined or change is pace as they are apprehensive.
• Contrast-  We wanted them to contrast with someone in the room either through levels, dynamics, pace etc. For the second minute we made them change their pace while improvising. Most dancers improvised at a slow pace to begin with therefore most dancers sped up when we said to change their pace which made the dancers have less thinking time and had to improvise spontaneously which then varied their movement allowing us to see a change, again breaking away from habitual movements.
• Idiot button- We allowed them to do this for the whole two minutes as we really wanted them to focus on this one, bringing it back to the basics, making them think about their breathing and their bodies. This was challenging for the dancers as they had just done improvisation for a minute at a fast pace therefore it was hard for them to relax and take their time to realise what was going on in their bodies.
• Confluence- partnering with someone else in the room and improvising with each other to then break off and find someone else. Once again this changed their movement and allowed them to move away from their habitual movements and also allowed them to think about other theories we have worked on in class such as thick skinning while working with others.

 

We then asked questions, receiving feedback about our score and how they felt about it. The majority said it was challenging, as it wasn’t something we had done before and they felt thrown into it. They especially found it difficult to improvise with the idea of collision as they felt rather uncomfortable, especially with their eyes shut. They found it awkward to collide with others in the room and react to it, but I think this was because it was something completely new and out of their comfort zones. They also commented on how his oart of the score should have been more to the end as they would have been more into the score and would of felt more comfortable therefore this has made me think about how to organise a score in future. Although there was disadvantages in the score, they all commented on how they enjoyed it as it was different and they said that they learnt a lot from it. I definitely learnt a lot from the score and witnessing it in action. The way certain imagery and ideas manipulate your movement is insane and seeing It on other bodies really makes you realise it. I really found this exercise useful and I thoroughly enjoyed making it and seeing it on other dancing bodies.

 

These are some examples of our score and some of the elements in the theory.

This was confluence, working together in pairs, improvising with them and then breaking away to find someone else in the studio to partner with and move together with.

This is the idiot button. Bringing it back to basics, thinking about the miner detail and feeling the sensations when dancing.

Overall, this week was very useful especially witnessing other dancers in action working on scores.

Bibliography:

Lavender, L and Predock-Linnell, J. (2001). From Improvisation to Choreography: the critical bridge. UK: Routledge

 

 

 

Firstly, we started off with a warm up exercise which was a clapping game. This got my brain in check and prepared me to start our lesson with a focused mind enabling myself to concentrate on improvising.

 

The next exercise we performed was based on a sea of bodies. This made my body use different movement pathways as we didn’t know where and when the body was coming from, therefore I had to quickly change my movement pathway without thinking. It also made us work as a collective as we had to move all as one and close the opening as soon as possible, which incorporated team work. It also made me think about spatial awareness since the bodies were coming through at quite a quick speed and as we were very confined in space with one another, I had to make sure I wasn’t going to injure another dancer and watch the space around me.

 

After this, we used the idea of a flock and had to travel across the studio in our two flocks, integrating between each other whilst getting to the other side in a certain amount of counts. This was our score that we had to work by; a common element in improvisation. This mainly made me think about speed as the faster we did this exercise, the harder it was to integrate and we ended up failing. If we took our time and concentrated, we would succeed. There fore I learnt that speed can vary your movement and end results which I can refer to with my improvisation; my movement doesn’t always need to be fast and quick off the top of my head. I can take my time which may make my movement more internal as I have more time to try new things.

 

We then started an exercise working on different planes and kinespheres. We had to try be as non habitual as we could, travelling to the opposite side of the studio on different planes using different kinespheres; low, middle or high. We had to imagine our head was connected to our tail bone which then brought new movements into action and I found my movement became very internal. We had to think about stillness, speed and dynamics to vary our improvisation which I found helped a lot as it was a very difficult exercise for me therefore I had something to base my improvisation around. We then had to just focus on one kinesphere and I found this very exposing and and hard as it restrained my movement and pushed my limits. It was an exercise which I learnt from but put me out of my comfort zone a little due to difficulty.

 

The last exercise was to create your own score in a group. “… scores act as a starting point to stimulate and channel the group’s expression in the direction of an overall intention but without determining the end result.” (Worth, L. & Poynor, H. 2004, pg.113)

 

My group came up with two questions;

• Will broadening my movement pallet help boost my confidence?
• How do I improvise successfully without thinking time?

There fore we created a score which was divided into four. Each corner had an object in which the dancers had to use to improvise with. The first corner had a basket ball were they had to use the basketball in their movement or in their imagery whether it was the shape, the texture, or the action of a basket ball, all doing this while passing the ball around to the other people in that corner. The next corner had a hula hoop were two dancers had to have contact with the object at all times and improvise with it and the other people had to use imagery once again and show a hula hoop within their movement. The third corner had bean bags were they had to throw the bean bags around at a fast pace while moving. And the last corner had a xylophone which we had control of and they had to improvise to the speed and rhythm of our instrument. They would all swap round after two minutes so they would get to experience each score. All of this put the dancers out of their comfort zones, making them dance with different objects which would manipulate their movement broadening their movement pallet. They had to change score quickly having no time to think what they were going to improvise and all of this made their movement unique and I couldn’t personally see any habitual movement. I hope they learnt something from our score as I definitely have making it and seeing a difference it makes in people’s improvisation.

 

One score that I thoroughly enjoyed was the last groups score. They got us to improvise with no rule or score and then added in imagery after improvising for a short time for example dancing with legs as led, walking on broken glass and using resources such as a ball. All of this manipulated my movement and my improvisation became varied.  I experimented a lot with different ways to move and I found new movements that I didn’t know I could perform which then I became more internal. We then had to improvise after doing all the different elements to see if our movement had changed and mine certainly did. I wasn’t doing my stereotypical improvisation, I experimented more and took my time, finding new ways to move and changing my dynamics and movement. I found this a very useful score and I really enjoyed seeing the difference it made.

 

Overall, this week was challenging but my improvisation is constantly changing and I am still learning new ways to improvise!

 

Bibliography:

 

Worth, L. & Poynor, H. (2004). Anna Halprin. New York: Routledge

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week’s session was based around empathy; the link we have with other dancers and how we interact with each other through choreography. (Ribero, M and AGAR, F, 2011, 81) We also used communication with one another within the process of improvisation in class.

 

Firstly, we started off with a swipe exercise, using different planes and using space. This also brought elements of unison and synchronisation with your partner which got my mind thinking how we dance as a collective ready for exercises further on in the session.

 

We then did this exercise travelling with the ‘swiper’ having their eyes closed. This made the ‘swiper’ uncomfortable and tense while the other dancer had to travel and dodge the swipes on different levels, using impulse. I found my movement became more internal and less habitual as I had to get into certain levels that maybe I usually wouldn’t be comfortable in, therefore my body reacted and became more internal. Traveling was hard, as the ‘swiper’ has no sense of direction and your reactions had to be quick, keeping your mind working. I found this a useful exercise as I was aware of space as we used different planes and I was aware of time as my reactions had to be quick – two elements of empathy and improvisation process.

 

We then did an exercise were you had to echo the person in front of you, trying to be as internal as you could, breaking your normal boundaries and to try and make your partner perform movements they wouldn’t usually do. Kirsty, my tutor, partnered with me and I had to follow her movement. As Kirsty is a very qualified dancer, she performed movements that were totally out of my comfort zone and she really made me try to move my body in ways I wouldn’t before. This really opened up my eyes to new ways of moving and challenged me which I thoroughly enjoyed. It may have put me out of my comfort zone but I felt I learnt a lot from working with her and in further exercises, I saw new ways to move my body internally moving away from habitual movement!

 

Another exercise I felt I learnt a lot from was the impulse exercise. There was a rule that you could only start your movement from where your partner makes contact with you for example your shoulder. Motivity is a big element in this exercise, there was always an idea that allows the action to arise. Firstly, we started off with the idea of seaweed as imagery. “… education techniques, developed by dancers interested in creating ease in movement, use imagery to suggest alternate and more functional pathways of movement in order to release excess effort.” (Buckwalter, M, 2010, 97) There fore me and my partner Elycia, thought that seaweed is clingy there fore my movement from the impulses became fluid and slow and as Elycia would touch part of my body, she would cling to me, not allowing her hand to loose contact with me and would emphasise my movements, maybe sometimes guiding me on where to go. This becomes an element of mirror neurons as we establish a direct connection between the sender and receptor and also intentionalised listening as we both made a collective decision making our improvisation this way. We then used the idea of a kitten, which made my movement very different. As Elycia would touch me, my impulse would be quick and dynamic, showing my playfulness as a kitten and my movement would become quite scatty using more space showing animalistic aspects. This is an example of embodied cognition as I have an understanding that takes place in the body which allows me to move in a certain way i.e. a kitten. (Ribero, M and AGAR, F, 2011, 74 – 80) I feel that I learnt a lot from this exercise as you witness how imagery can manipulate your movement and change your dynamics, pace and spatial elements.

 

Overall, I feel I learnt a lot from these exercises, making my body more aware of my movement, space, time, empathy and communication. It really has helped me and I feel my knowledge in improvisation is starting to grow and my body is getting used to improvising. I thoroughly enjoy each lesson!

 

Bibliography:

 

Monica M. Ribero & Agar Fonseca (2011) The empathy and the structuring sharing modes of movement sequences in the improvisation of contemporary dance, Research in Dance Education.

 

Buckwalter, M. (2010) Composing while dancing: An improviser’s companion. Madison, Wis: The University of Wisconsin Press.

After having reading week, I felt it was difficult to come back and get straight into improvisation again, therefore our first exercise was to get the brain thinking, getting our minds back in gear. We started off with a mind tricking jumping exercise. This got our brains working on counts, thinking about moments of stillness and working as a collective; key in improvisation.

 

Next, we did an imagery exercise. I found this very interesting but quite challenging at the same time. We had to imagine knives as legs, spaghetti arms, cells racing through the body and your nose touching your tail bone. I found that imagery determines your movement and dynamics. “… education techniques, developed by dancers interested in creating ease in movement, use imagery to suggest alternate and more functional pathways of movement in order to release excess effort.” (Buckwalter, M, 2010, 97) For example I resembled the knife with sharp and strong dynamics, my legs were always extended and rigid and my movement was quite fast and sustained whereas with spaghetti, my movement was soft and free flowing, and wasn’t as placed. When improvising with the cells, people’s movement became very fast and rushed! I learnt that just because we used the word racing, it doesn’t mean our movement has to be rushed and external, you can be slower and be more internal with your movement, identifying smaller parts of the body racing rather than the whole body. This keeps you away from your habitual movement as external movement tends to refer back to it. “From skinners viewpoint, this provides the possibility for new patterns of movement and, with them, a new feeling of an integrated self rather than a self in relation to a body.” (Buckwalter, M, 2010, 97) Therefore, I feel Imagery can be a good tool for improvisation!

 

We then learnt about thick skinning in an improvisation jam. I found thick skinning very hard but so fun. You have to make sure you are comfortable with each other and their bodies which I was. It was hard to not break out of concentration as some people were not as comfortable which they would then break out of concentration due to awkwardness. I learnt that time is a big thing and thick skinning doesn’t work at a fast pace. I learnt that you have to keep at a slow pace as you may get in twinned with each other and also it allows time for you to find new ways of interacting and experimenting with each other. I thoroughly enjoyed this exercise!

 

The last exercise was another improv jam using restriction barriers. Our first restriction was you had to enter the space in a tidal wave meaning you had to interact with your fellow dancers so you could enter the space with others. This was quite tricky as you couldn’t just enter when you wanted to. We then had other restrictions i.e. Accumulation, diminishment, retrograde, echoing or thick skinning. This made people apprehensive so I found myself going into the space a lot as people didn’t want to. I found that restrictions really limit your improvisation but it also gives you inspiration and I quite like having them. Once the restrictions were taken away, more people came into the space and a lot more contact work was created.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s session and I learnt that I am comfortable with scores and that your pace doesn’t always have to be fast, you can afford to have pauses and stillness, making your movement more internal rather than external and have more thought behind it.

 

Bibliography:

Buckwalter, M. (2010) Composing while dancing: An improviser’s companion. Madison, Wis: The University of Wisconsin Press.