Improvisation research
Performance at Independent dance, 18 June 2010 (2)
Performance at Independent dance, 18 June 2010 (1)
Video from 15 June 2010
Kenzo - after the performance at ID on Friday 18 June 2010
On pleasure
In conversations the idea of pleasure emerged and what follows is an excerpt
from series of an imaginary letters between myself and my practice (in Midgelow,
V (2007) 'Trace: Improvisation in a Box', published by Artfully Bound) On Pleasure and the Body
Dear Practice,
Indulge me I am enjoying myself too much. This sensorial, sensual, moving I
am dissolving in my own pleasure, indulging in the delicate twist of the torso,
engulfed by kineasthetic sensations. Relishing in this staging of my own
(dis)appearance I crawl on all fours, shifting one knee, one hand, one knee,
one hand I slowly move toward the back of the stage, my focus internal, energies
suck inward, I am cocooned. Entranced in my own world. I am a body moving ... I
am a body writing, but can you see the script across the wall? Can you locate
the practices in my body? I carry you (and many other practices) with me. I know
this. Years of practice have been embedded deep within me in my bone, in my
muscle, in my synaptic pathways. But I worry. Will you know? Will you know that
I know? Will you recognise the game? Will you be able to see the practices
within in me? Can you read me?
Yours truly
Dancer Dear Dancer,
I see/feel/sense more than you know! Your pleasure is palpable; as you shift
and slide, your movements become apparent in sinuous succession, like a wry
smile peeling across your body. The pleasure of improvising and of being carried
away by the sensation of moving - transforms what it produces for it seeks to
flow back to itself. Desiring - improvisation traverses and devours emotions,
thoughts, visions, ancestor's all are made and unmade, folded and unfolded,
absorbed and dissolved, switching positions and blending together in the process
of dancing. Sincerely,
Practice Dear Practice,
Like so much dust I seek to unravel myself, brushing away layers of
sedimentation. Hip rolling, knee dropping, head rotating. I fall upwards into
the floor. A deep crease forms in the knee and hip as my torso pitches forward
and the back of the shoulder contacts the floor. The pelvis lifts and the knees
extend and I roll along the length of my spine. As my stomachs contacts the
floor I feel a pulse beating. Deep and resonant the pulse enters my body a
contraction in the stomach leads into a rapid roll ending as my legs sprawl and
arms become trapped under the weight of my own body. Digging, twisting and
uncurling I am dancing myself, improvising dancing.
With all my very best,
Dancer
Rereading this material reminds me of both the risks and possibilities that
arise in such dwelling in pleasure whilst improvising.... Vida
----------------------------------------------
This mail sent through http://www.ukonline.net
from series of an imaginary letters between myself and my practice (in Midgelow,
V (2007) 'Trace: Improvisation in a Box', published by Artfully Bound) On Pleasure and the Body
Dear Practice,
Indulge me I am enjoying myself too much. This sensorial, sensual, moving I
am dissolving in my own pleasure, indulging in the delicate twist of the torso,
engulfed by kineasthetic sensations. Relishing in this staging of my own
(dis)appearance I crawl on all fours, shifting one knee, one hand, one knee,
one hand I slowly move toward the back of the stage, my focus internal, energies
suck inward, I am cocooned. Entranced in my own world. I am a body moving ... I
am a body writing, but can you see the script across the wall? Can you locate
the practices in my body? I carry you (and many other practices) with me. I know
this. Years of practice have been embedded deep within me in my bone, in my
muscle, in my synaptic pathways. But I worry. Will you know? Will you know that
I know? Will you recognise the game? Will you be able to see the practices
within in me? Can you read me?
Yours truly
Dancer Dear Dancer,
I see/feel/sense more than you know! Your pleasure is palpable; as you shift
and slide, your movements become apparent in sinuous succession, like a wry
smile peeling across your body. The pleasure of improvising and of being carried
away by the sensation of moving - transforms what it produces for it seeks to
flow back to itself. Desiring - improvisation traverses and devours emotions,
thoughts, visions, ancestor's all are made and unmade, folded and unfolded,
absorbed and dissolved, switching positions and blending together in the process
of dancing. Sincerely,
Practice Dear Practice,
Like so much dust I seek to unravel myself, brushing away layers of
sedimentation. Hip rolling, knee dropping, head rotating. I fall upwards into
the floor. A deep crease forms in the knee and hip as my torso pitches forward
and the back of the shoulder contacts the floor. The pelvis lifts and the knees
extend and I roll along the length of my spine. As my stomachs contacts the
floor I feel a pulse beating. Deep and resonant the pulse enters my body a
contraction in the stomach leads into a rapid roll ending as my legs sprawl and
arms become trapped under the weight of my own body. Digging, twisting and
uncurling I am dancing myself, improvising dancing.
With all my very best,
Dancer
Rereading this material reminds me of both the risks and possibilities that
arise in such dwelling in pleasure whilst improvising.... Vida
----------------------------------------------
This mail sent through http://www.ukonline.net
Conversations - Day 1
A short collection of ideas about improvisation emerge whilst hanging out in the
stairwell drinking tea....: Interest - If one of the things an improver might look to do is remain
'interested' and to 'follow interests' - what are the properties of
'interestedness'? Noting the important difference between interest and being
interesting a discussion takes place about resisting the drive to 'be
interesting'. Improvisation as Resonating across the group, from inner to outer, from
individual focus to whole, from moment to moment, and moment to composition .
Perhaps one of the skills of an experienced improviser is to be able to
'resonate more quickly' than others might across such terrains. Pleasure 'what I love about it .' - the pleasures of improvisation ... faces
alight as the idea connects across dancers in recognition. Wherein lies the
pleasure in the interactions, in the physical and mental state? (I have often
tried to discuss the improvisation and pleasure - a theme be returned to for sure). Awareness of the group/composition and the self KS mentions Aikido as an
important practice that shifted her modes of attention and of the organic
process of being able to be less concerned with herself and more interested in
the group (we might also reflect how such a shift for holding of the group is
also part of teaching). Surprises - 'Movement ideas that appear to come to a natural 'solution' and
those that come as surprises' Vida ----------------------------------------------
This mail sent through http://www.ukonline.net
stairwell drinking tea....: Interest - If one of the things an improver might look to do is remain
'interested' and to 'follow interests' - what are the properties of
'interestedness'? Noting the important difference between interest and being
interesting a discussion takes place about resisting the drive to 'be
interesting'. Improvisation as Resonating across the group, from inner to outer, from
individual focus to whole, from moment to moment, and moment to composition .
Perhaps one of the skills of an experienced improviser is to be able to
'resonate more quickly' than others might across such terrains. Pleasure 'what I love about it .' - the pleasures of improvisation ... faces
alight as the idea connects across dancers in recognition. Wherein lies the
pleasure in the interactions, in the physical and mental state? (I have often
tried to discuss the improvisation and pleasure - a theme be returned to for sure). Awareness of the group/composition and the self KS mentions Aikido as an
important practice that shifted her modes of attention and of the organic
process of being able to be less concerned with herself and more interested in
the group (we might also reflect how such a shift for holding of the group is
also part of teaching). Surprises - 'Movement ideas that appear to come to a natural 'solution' and
those that come as surprises' Vida ----------------------------------------------
This mail sent through http://www.ukonline.net
Watching - Day 1
I spent this afternoon 'watching'. Watching a group of dancers work with
Kirstie (Simson), watching them dance together, watching them watch each other.
These interactive gazes, mine included, are as often - possibly more often -
felt and sensed (haptic?) gazes, rather than visual ones. The nature of these
watchings is something I hope to pay attention to throughout this week of
improvising such that it might be possible to begin to address a few nascent
questions:
- what is the interplay between watching and being watched? - how is watching different for performers and audience?
- what are the effects in improvisation? How is it experienced? A few fairly unedited notes: Preparing: Dancers sit, lay, crouch - releasing into the floor, stretching out limbs and
joints, easing into backs, finding subtle lines of co-ordination through and
across the body. The focus is internal - just occasional glances and smiles
flicker between. As a viewer - what are the modes of preparation? How do you (how do audiences)
prepare to watch improvisation?
I note an openness to the room and pay attention to this as I might if dancing -
allowing rather than doing, being rather than acting. I remind myself of these
well trodden but in this moment significant phrases - mantras for ways of being.
These ideas resonant in my body enabling a state of awareness (attentiveness)
to come into play. Adapting the qualities and skills of the improviser in generating preparedness
to view, to experience, to share, to write..... I note a corporeal empathy with those who share the space with me/i with them -
as alignments are found and joints opened and rotated - I note in myself a
familiarity (but as a viewer also an odd dislocation) questions to self:
What does physical empathy mean/do to the processes of viewing?
how is attentiveness part of 'watching'?
how might an SRT 'watchful state' resonate here?
A shift -
The group begin to open their attentions - the shift from inner to outer is
palpable (and some are more ready than others). Improvisation 1
An improvisation as a continuation of warming up.
KS suggests that the group dance together in order to start to get to know one
another. What is it, I wonder, that through dancing we come to know something
of the other? And do we not know?
Like satellites - shifting in and out of connections
Relationships - searching for intimacies, following impulses, imitations and
echoes. Movement Functional, everyday, extended, individuals embodied 'styles' and
qualities
Creating Movement/Sound Worlds As an experienced group of improviser's ways of interacting quickly arise
levels of acceptance are high. The first moment of laughter and vocal exchange
whilst dancing gives rise to a moment of uncertainty that quickly passes. Watching overt, implicit, performed, everyday
'The edges' of the improvisation become both distinct and blurred as the
qualities of watching emerge.
As watcher, where am I in the improvisation? What is the impact of my presence
to the emerging interactions and compositions? I let my modes of attention shift from visual to aural, singular to open. A deep rumble of sound rolls through the room click, shhhooooo
What do I know of these people dancing after an hour of watching?
Humor, individual movement patterns and qualities, camp/play/extravagant, male
and female energies, quiet presences Endings are hard to find/come to!!! Vida ----------------------------------------------
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Images from Day 1 - 14 June 2010
paying attention
The group met yesterday (Sunday) to talk over the week ... This concern of 'watching and being watched' seems important. Ninh
described it as 'paying attention' (both on the part of the spectator
and the dancer/performer). This seemed a more multi-sensory way of
considering the situation. Kirstie mentioned an experience of seeing
Ninh perform in which she felt 'left alone' – that she wasn't being
asked to think or feel something specific, that she was afforded space
by the musicians to simply be. Marika mentioned her reading and interest in mirror neurons
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neurons), and in particular in
relation to 'intentional actions'. In some ways perhaps this is
related to K's interest (desire?) to be 'left alone' or given space as
an audience member. That is, by 'intentional actions' Marika does not
mean making meaning transparent, or in having the desire to
communicate something particular, but rather it is a quality of
engagement with action that creates space for an audience to come to
the work. Kirstie talked briefly about the 'trauma of being watched' – of her
hearing dancers describe their fears in relation to performing. She is
keen to consider this in relation to our work in the studio. I added a bit about Marina Abramovic's "Drill" exercise in Manchester
last year in which she spent 45 - 60 minutes sensitising the audience
to what we were about to experience. It felt very generous, and acted
as a 'transit' between the real world and the performed world. Ninh talked about the 'aether' between performers and audience, of
considering ways in which this fluid space might expand, contract or
be cleansed even. And so we are about to begin ...
described it as 'paying attention' (both on the part of the spectator
and the dancer/performer). This seemed a more multi-sensory way of
considering the situation. Kirstie mentioned an experience of seeing
Ninh perform in which she felt 'left alone' – that she wasn't being
asked to think or feel something specific, that she was afforded space
by the musicians to simply be. Marika mentioned her reading and interest in mirror neurons
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neurons), and in particular in
relation to 'intentional actions'. In some ways perhaps this is
related to K's interest (desire?) to be 'left alone' or given space as
an audience member. That is, by 'intentional actions' Marika does not
mean making meaning transparent, or in having the desire to
communicate something particular, but rather it is a quality of
engagement with action that creates space for an audience to come to
the work. Kirstie talked briefly about the 'trauma of being watched' – of her
hearing dancers describe their fears in relation to performing. She is
keen to consider this in relation to our work in the studio. I added a bit about Marina Abramovic's "Drill" exercise in Manchester
last year in which she spent 45 - 60 minutes sensitising the audience
to what we were about to experience. It felt very generous, and acted
as a 'transit' between the real world and the performed world. Ninh talked about the 'aether' between performers and audience, of
considering ways in which this fluid space might expand, contract or
be cleansed even. And so we are about to begin ...
