Here are some video links to inspire your visual, physical and intellectual understanding of the genre we are working in. These will hopefully be useful especially having had the history and context related lecture today.
Please copy and paste links below onto browser to watch and remember to turn the sound on!
All comments welcome:
1. Pina Bausch's Cafe Muller
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dtqrqjERhkQ
2. Pina Bausch's Masurca Fogo
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DD8ragxwOMI&feature=related
3. Vincent Dance Theatre's Broken Chords
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-5_OxPlBvxY
4. Jasmin Vardimon's Showcase
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6iunk83-TNk
5. Jasmin Vardimon's Justitia
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VtW_H5Y4aGw&feature=rela
Bahok, Akram Khan Dance Company
Exploring Liminality
Friday 31 October 2008
History, Context & Aesthetics - 31st October 2008
Dear All,
It was a tough session today for several reasons. I would still like to think that the session was appropriately timed and that the content delivered was vital in order for you to have a holistic engagement with the genre. It is also essential to remember and accept that theory and practice in this genre are inseparable.
We considered the influential roots of physical theatre. We looked at its features from 'theatre' and what it owes to 'dance'. We considered the notion of a hybrid performance language; a third entity that arises from the mixture of dance and theatre. We considered the practice of key practitioners and their creative approaches. We viewed clips ranging from the professional world to our own student archives; demonstrating where the work is at and where it is able to journey.
Questions for this week then:
1. What is the relationship between Physical Theatre and the theoretical frameworks of 'gender' and postmodernism'. Consider the overlaps between the study on Investigations 2 and the content we looked at today in P&P.
2. How is the history of changes in early 20th century western dance and theatre evident in the current practice of Physical Theatre. Please use key examples to answer this question.
Looking forward to your answers. Please remember these questions are designed to make you think intellectually about your practice and are also examples of questions you will be graded on in semester 2. Use quotes and reference them.
Let's all hope for a consistently positive journey beyond today's session with equal focus and commitment on both practice and intellectualising the practice.
Royona
It was a tough session today for several reasons. I would still like to think that the session was appropriately timed and that the content delivered was vital in order for you to have a holistic engagement with the genre. It is also essential to remember and accept that theory and practice in this genre are inseparable.
We considered the influential roots of physical theatre. We looked at its features from 'theatre' and what it owes to 'dance'. We considered the notion of a hybrid performance language; a third entity that arises from the mixture of dance and theatre. We considered the practice of key practitioners and their creative approaches. We viewed clips ranging from the professional world to our own student archives; demonstrating where the work is at and where it is able to journey.
Questions for this week then:
1. What is the relationship between Physical Theatre and the theoretical frameworks of 'gender' and postmodernism'. Consider the overlaps between the study on Investigations 2 and the content we looked at today in P&P.
2. How is the history of changes in early 20th century western dance and theatre evident in the current practice of Physical Theatre. Please use key examples to answer this question.
Looking forward to your answers. Please remember these questions are designed to make you think intellectually about your practice and are also examples of questions you will be graded on in semester 2. Use quotes and reference them.
Let's all hope for a consistently positive journey beyond today's session with equal focus and commitment on both practice and intellectualising the practice.
Royona
Friday 24 October 2008
Body & Technique - 24th October 2008
Dear All,
Apologies for the delay in putting up this post.
Thanks again for a very productive session. It is now clear to us that your focus and commitment is beginning to grow week by week. With a near full class this morning, a lot of bodies to manoeuvre and a lot of discipline to maintain, we were pleased that you all did so well. Yes, talking and giggling did break out, but you seemed better at controlling yourself with the discipline. It was also clear that often discussions about the work were taking place in a productive manner. This is helpful, but can be distracting too. So keep this under control as much as you can in the future.
We worked on some significant techniques today. All of them were based on the following key principles:
1. Key points of contact
2. Reading bodies through these key points of contact
3. Distribution of weight
4. Pelvic centre of gravity
5. Carrying body weight
What is beginning to happen now with all of you is an inner understanding of how a technique is carried out is developing, over and above how 'good' or 'easy' or 'difficult' something looks.
So, questions for this week then:
1. Can gravity become our friend? If so, how can we achieve this? Once we befriend gravity how does our relationship with it change? How many of you feel you are being able to achieve this slowly and surely?
2. Analyse the quote below from Ken Martin on a key aspect of contact improvisation that we have started to slowly discover in our practice, and discuss it in relation to your own growth in the work so far.
"Contact improvisation [...] is a forum for discovering who we are beneath our skins. It is a place where our self concept is questioned […] It makes us compromise our reality – pushes the boundaries of our self awareness."
Ken Martin. Contacting the Soul, available from: http://nurturedance.org/contactimprov.htm
Looking forward to your responses. The questions are challenging so really think before mechanically responding and make your comments rich and reflective. Remember, so spelling or grammatical errors and no casual mode of expression. Keep it formal and of a high academic standard.
Royona
Apologies for the delay in putting up this post.
Thanks again for a very productive session. It is now clear to us that your focus and commitment is beginning to grow week by week. With a near full class this morning, a lot of bodies to manoeuvre and a lot of discipline to maintain, we were pleased that you all did so well. Yes, talking and giggling did break out, but you seemed better at controlling yourself with the discipline. It was also clear that often discussions about the work were taking place in a productive manner. This is helpful, but can be distracting too. So keep this under control as much as you can in the future.
We worked on some significant techniques today. All of them were based on the following key principles:
1. Key points of contact
2. Reading bodies through these key points of contact
3. Distribution of weight
4. Pelvic centre of gravity
5. Carrying body weight
What is beginning to happen now with all of you is an inner understanding of how a technique is carried out is developing, over and above how 'good' or 'easy' or 'difficult' something looks.
So, questions for this week then:
1. Can gravity become our friend? If so, how can we achieve this? Once we befriend gravity how does our relationship with it change? How many of you feel you are being able to achieve this slowly and surely?
2. Analyse the quote below from Ken Martin on a key aspect of contact improvisation that we have started to slowly discover in our practice, and discuss it in relation to your own growth in the work so far.
"Contact improvisation [...] is a forum for discovering who we are beneath our skins. It is a place where our self concept is questioned […] It makes us compromise our reality – pushes the boundaries of our self awareness."
Ken Martin. Contacting the Soul, available from: http://nurturedance.org/contactimprov.htm
Looking forward to your responses. The questions are challenging so really think before mechanically responding and make your comments rich and reflective. Remember, so spelling or grammatical errors and no casual mode of expression. Keep it formal and of a high academic standard.
Royona
Friday 17 October 2008
Demonstrative Body To Articulate Body - 17th October 2008
Dear All,
A very focused and concentrated session this week with a lot of effort and hard work put in. The results of this could clearly be seen in the last fifteen minutes or so of the session. However, in order to get to the point at which it became possible to initiate the play session, the technique had to become familiar and safe which you achieved to a high level. One thing that was really evident was the ease with which contact is now being made and the level of trust and sensitivity and these were key elements in the way you worked today. It enable the technique to be effective. Without the understanding of the new technique and a real feel for the practice of it, the work at the end would not have been such a delight to witness and so developmental in the execution of it; it was a committed and thoughtful piece of work.
The move from technique to play, to a more performative approach to the work was quite clear. It was very interesting to watch the body memory begin to emerge and past techniques and exercises form part of what you were producing.
Thus the body began to tell stories, to build relationships and to start to express emotions.
We would therefore like you to comment on the following:
1) To what extent did you recognise or experience the shift from the demonstrative body to the articulate body? What part did body memory play in this?
2) Did an emotional layer come into your work and if so how did that manifest itself? If not, then how do you think emotional content would affect the work you did today?
It is also important for me to go away and reflect on my own work today and on why it was that I was unable to relax sufficiently for that one demonstration.
And as a final thought:
How do these two numbers, 50:4, relate to each other?
Looking forward to your comments.
Paul
A very focused and concentrated session this week with a lot of effort and hard work put in. The results of this could clearly be seen in the last fifteen minutes or so of the session. However, in order to get to the point at which it became possible to initiate the play session, the technique had to become familiar and safe which you achieved to a high level. One thing that was really evident was the ease with which contact is now being made and the level of trust and sensitivity and these were key elements in the way you worked today. It enable the technique to be effective. Without the understanding of the new technique and a real feel for the practice of it, the work at the end would not have been such a delight to witness and so developmental in the execution of it; it was a committed and thoughtful piece of work.
The move from technique to play, to a more performative approach to the work was quite clear. It was very interesting to watch the body memory begin to emerge and past techniques and exercises form part of what you were producing.
Thus the body began to tell stories, to build relationships and to start to express emotions.
We would therefore like you to comment on the following:
1) To what extent did you recognise or experience the shift from the demonstrative body to the articulate body? What part did body memory play in this?
2) Did an emotional layer come into your work and if so how did that manifest itself? If not, then how do you think emotional content would affect the work you did today?
It is also important for me to go away and reflect on my own work today and on why it was that I was unable to relax sufficiently for that one demonstration.
And as a final thought:
How do these two numbers, 50:4, relate to each other?
Looking forward to your comments.
Paul
Saturday 11 October 2008
Centres & Weight Sharing - 10th October 2008
Dear All,
Apologies for the delay in getting the post up from yesterday's session. Since I have already put up a post regarding Yesterday I want to keep this one quite brief. It was a great session yesterday, despite the lack of focus and disruptions in class. This makes us wonder how much further you could have all travelled without the focus. So, do keep this in mind.
It was a challenging session in many ways. You were encountering completely new skills and learning the importance of accuracy of technique to avoid injuries and to allow this new language to settle into your body memories. You were forced into close physical contact with the additional nerves of dealing with concepts of 'weight'- sharing. All of these made the session edgier as your own body's capacities and limitations became more exposed.
In the light of the above please reflect on the following question:
1. What did you learn about your own body's capacity to:
a. learn precise physical technique
b. encounter issues of body weight
c. shift its relationship to gravity
d. understand the significance of touch as a means of communication
I leave you with a quote from Steve Paxton, the revolutionary movement artist of 1960-70's America to whom contact improvisation is attributed. Paxton says of touch,
(2004 : 61)
Looking forward to your responses on this post and the one on Yesterday.
Royona
Apologies for the delay in getting the post up from yesterday's session. Since I have already put up a post regarding Yesterday I want to keep this one quite brief. It was a great session yesterday, despite the lack of focus and disruptions in class. This makes us wonder how much further you could have all travelled without the focus. So, do keep this in mind.
It was a challenging session in many ways. You were encountering completely new skills and learning the importance of accuracy of technique to avoid injuries and to allow this new language to settle into your body memories. You were forced into close physical contact with the additional nerves of dealing with concepts of 'weight'- sharing. All of these made the session edgier as your own body's capacities and limitations became more exposed.
In the light of the above please reflect on the following question:
1. What did you learn about your own body's capacity to:
a. learn precise physical technique
b. encounter issues of body weight
c. shift its relationship to gravity
d. understand the significance of touch as a means of communication
I leave you with a quote from Steve Paxton, the revolutionary movement artist of 1960-70's America to whom contact improvisation is attributed. Paxton says of touch,
"Touch sensitises, promotes awareness... Touch, along with the other senses, integrates out physicality…It is difficult to imagine that while grazing each other’s minds in touch and movement we would not bump into some of its manifestations."
Looking forward to your responses on this post and the one on Yesterday.
Royona
Friday 10 October 2008
Yesterday by Jasmin Vardimon
Dear All,
Below is a link to a review for Yesterday by Jasmin Vardimon which we all watched last night. Please read it first and then attempt to follow the questions below aimed at generating thoughts about the work itself.
The Guardian Review : www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/sep/14/dance
1. How did the work challenge your understanding of physical theatre?
2. How did the issues raised in the piece challenge you as an individual?
3. What made it feel like a dance piece and what transformed it into physical theatre?
I look forward to your responses.
Royona
Below is a link to a review for Yesterday by Jasmin Vardimon which we all watched last night. Please read it first and then attempt to follow the questions below aimed at generating thoughts about the work itself.
The Guardian Review : www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2008/sep/14/dance
1. How did the work challenge your understanding of physical theatre?
2. How did the issues raised in the piece challenge you as an individual?
3. What made it feel like a dance piece and what transformed it into physical theatre?
I look forward to your responses.
Royona
Monday 6 October 2008
Jasmin Vardimon & Body Memory
I have just discovered by sheer coincidence this video interview with Jasmin Vardimon about the making of Yesterday, that we are all watching this Thursday in Birmingham. And amazingly she talks about 'body memory'.
It's a beautiful interview with seductive footage from Yesterday.
Here is the link. Please copy and paste onto browser to watch.
http://www.article19.co.uk/06/video_jasminyes.php
Would love to hear your thoughts on the footage and the interview.
Royona
It's a beautiful interview with seductive footage from Yesterday.
Here is the link. Please copy and paste onto browser to watch.
http://www.article19.co.uk/06/video_jasminyes.php
Would love to hear your thoughts on the footage and the interview.
Royona
Friday 3 October 2008
Trust & Personal Boundaries - 3rd October 2008
Dear All,
Another great session - thanks to you all.
I think it is worth reflecting first of all on your commitment and engagement with the work. Regardless of reservations, dislikes and problems with some exercises, you all still maintained a level of focus and commitment that was a real pleasure to witness and very encouraging for Royona and I.
Today's session was difficult, it moved some of you out of your comfort zones and exposed you in a different way to last week. Most of you felt that last week you were working without a thought to the aesthetic, but in reality, subconsciously that notion of the aesthetic body was still operating. Today because of being allowed vision you could see what you were doing and subconsciously got driven by the sense of aesthetic again. As a result the work became less challenging and in some cases you found it uninteresting. Continue to think about the aesthetic in this work. Find a comfortable balance between an awareness of the 'placement' of the body, its detailed individual parts and a freedom to access creativity without limitations and inhibitions about how this body appears to the outside eye. If a body is honest, it is captivating to watch - it's as simple as that.
Think about how you easily began to work in the 'body reading' exercise and how the chair became an intervention or an aid in the relationship between you and your partner.
Challenges and set backs will happen - and they should be embraced as part of your growth and reflection, not treated as frustrations and hindrances. They make you more aware, more conscious of your limitations and hopefully more determined to overcome them. You will encounter limitations, from the warm-up exercises to the techniques we teach you. Accept this and set goals to overcome them. Be patient above all.
Look at the picture at the top of the blog. Look at the points of contact the performer has with the floor. Imagine how her body feels, how her muscles are working and more importantly how the position and influence of her spine. Imagine how she feels and imagine the effect gravity is having on her current position and where she might move next.
Think back to your own floor exercises and find the parallels to the image on the top of the blog, captured in time.
The questions we would like you to consider this week are:
1) What does the term 'Body Memory' imply in this genre of working?
Discuss whether you were able to access your own body memory during any part of the session reflecting on learnt principles and techniques from week 1.
2) How did the floor exercise develop your understanding of your spine's relationship with the floor? What role did gravity play in your explorations?
Discuss with detailed examples
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and reflections.
Paul
Another great session - thanks to you all.
I think it is worth reflecting first of all on your commitment and engagement with the work. Regardless of reservations, dislikes and problems with some exercises, you all still maintained a level of focus and commitment that was a real pleasure to witness and very encouraging for Royona and I.
Today's session was difficult, it moved some of you out of your comfort zones and exposed you in a different way to last week. Most of you felt that last week you were working without a thought to the aesthetic, but in reality, subconsciously that notion of the aesthetic body was still operating. Today because of being allowed vision you could see what you were doing and subconsciously got driven by the sense of aesthetic again. As a result the work became less challenging and in some cases you found it uninteresting. Continue to think about the aesthetic in this work. Find a comfortable balance between an awareness of the 'placement' of the body, its detailed individual parts and a freedom to access creativity without limitations and inhibitions about how this body appears to the outside eye. If a body is honest, it is captivating to watch - it's as simple as that.
Think about how you easily began to work in the 'body reading' exercise and how the chair became an intervention or an aid in the relationship between you and your partner.
Challenges and set backs will happen - and they should be embraced as part of your growth and reflection, not treated as frustrations and hindrances. They make you more aware, more conscious of your limitations and hopefully more determined to overcome them. You will encounter limitations, from the warm-up exercises to the techniques we teach you. Accept this and set goals to overcome them. Be patient above all.
Look at the picture at the top of the blog. Look at the points of contact the performer has with the floor. Imagine how her body feels, how her muscles are working and more importantly how the position and influence of her spine. Imagine how she feels and imagine the effect gravity is having on her current position and where she might move next.
Think back to your own floor exercises and find the parallels to the image on the top of the blog, captured in time.
The questions we would like you to consider this week are:
1) What does the term 'Body Memory' imply in this genre of working?
Discuss whether you were able to access your own body memory during any part of the session reflecting on learnt principles and techniques from week 1.
2) How did the floor exercise develop your understanding of your spine's relationship with the floor? What role did gravity play in your explorations?
Discuss with detailed examples
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and reflections.
Paul
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