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
Bahok, Akram Khan Dance Company
Exploring Liminality
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19 comments:
From today’s session I really feel as though I came along way physically, wearing my knee support really did make a lot of difference and I was pleased that for once I was getting my posture or technique corrected a lot because I was failing to achieve what was asked of me.
1) Can gravity be our friend?
I believe that it is almost certain that we can use gravity to our advantage, through centring our bodies in such a way that gravity is focused toward key points in the body (such as the back) that are strongest. As in a way this gives us an element of control over gravity and its effects, they become predictable and therefore capable of being manipulated by a person to their advantage.
Once this is realised by a person then the relationship with gravity changes from one of an uphill struggle, to a kind of game where you see how far you can push the manipulation of gravity to your own ends.
2) In relation to the quotation I believe it means that using bodily contacts points with another person, when done correctly, gives us an ability to examine ourselves on an extremely deep level. Also because this new level of self examination is so deep it’s not very easily understandable.
In relation to my experience on the course so far I find the prospect of finding myself through contact improvisation quite daunting. I can honestly say from my experience of contact today I didn’t find myself examining my inner self when in contact with other bodies, but rather having a strange feeling that their body was an extension of my own.
Alex
Alex,
Firstly it's great to have such honesty in your reflections, not only on the blog but also in class. I am pleased you have managed to successfully break down the barriers that were keeping you from fully embracing the work to begin with. The journey has only just begun...
A very rich post that I felt I ought to comment on. Your intellectual and physical understanding of gravity is promising. It is clear from the post that you are beginning to understand the importance of overcoming the uphill struggle to make it a game where you manipulate what gravity has to offer to your own desires and ends. This understanding is key as it banishes all fears for gravity and makes you attack it head on.
The quote and your understanding of it is rich. Yes, it is perhaps a little early for the little work we have done on contact for it to have allowed a greater in-depth revelation of yourself. But that it has enabled you to experience another's body as an extension of your own is perhaps the very first stage of what contact improv has to offer. When another body becomes an extension of one's own, the boundaries of communication through points in one's own body becomes limitless. This is turn can generate physical dialogue at levels one never considered possible.
Makes sense?
Question - how did it feel to experience another body as an extension of your own? Did it feel like your head had expanded into another entity? Did it feel like you could sense the other's shoulder and limbs through that one solid point of contact on the head? Think and express a little more detail...
And thanks again for starting off this week's post.
Royona
“My relationship to gravity is permanently altered.”
Steven Jesse Bernstein, available from:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/stevenjess221817.html
Yes, I believe gravity can become our friend. The reason I say this is because at the beginning of our journey we were unable to control our body and the rate at which it fell to the floor, but now on week five we have built up enough skills which enable us to have complete control over our bodies and how gravity affects us when completing the tasks. Once we have befriended gravity we are able to play with it a little, and test our ability of the skills we have learnt. I feel that now on week five I have more control over gravity and how it affects me when working; an example of this is the task when we are holding ourselves up by our arms. When we first did this I immediately fell flat on the floor but gradually over the weeks I have been able to control the rate at which I lower my body to the floor. Therefore I believe gravity is my friend.
I agree with what Ken Martin has to say, at the beginning of the module I had a preconceived idea of what it was going to entail. I was wrong, I never imagined getting upset over not being able to complete a task but I did. This module has completely opened my eyes and allowed me to do things I never thought imaginable.
“…pushes the boundaries.” Indeed it does, many people have different boundaries to overcome within this module, but I believe that each individual can defeat them whatever they are but only if they put in 100%.
I know that the journey will only get harder and I am willing to put in everything I’ve got, because I know if I don’t, I won’t reach the highest standard of outcome.
Ken Martin. Contacting the Soul, available from: http://nurturedance.org/contactimprov.htm
After today’s session I left feeling refreshed and in some what a questioning state of mind.
From today’s session I believe that gravity can be a friend but it can also be an enemy just as much as a friend.
When we began holding our partners on our back we needed to make sure that our centre of gravity was correct else the person on your back could have slid off or equally the person carrying could of fell flat on the floor causing some injury to both performers.
I believe that once we have our bodily contacts and positioning correct then gravity surely does become our friend because this grounds us to the floor.
I think that we have to understand how gravity works to help us as performers and we are slowly understanding this week by week because of the different lifts and movements that we are producing.
Ken's quote is quite an eye opener for me for a few simple reasons.
“Contact improvisation [...] is a forum for discovering who we are beneath our skins.
This is a valid issue made and fits in quite well with the type of work that we are currently undergoing, not many of us have used contact improvisation to discover who we are but this does help mainly because I have never looked at my body in this way before and it certainly has made me question personal boundaries that I thought I might of had. From week 1 to week 5 there has certainly been a noticeable change in the groups personal boundaries, the reason I say this is from week 1 whenever I touched someone’s foot by accident or another member touched my leg it was instant reaction to apologise but this is no longer the case, we move on with the task at hand which is good because this no longer breaks the concentration which we have achieved and clearly shows that any personal boundaries which we though we might have got have flown straight out of the window.
I finish this entry thinking positively about my understanding of physical theatre and the struggles which may arise in the near future.
1.Gravity can without doubt become our friend. Our bodies can manipulate gravity so that it is focused towards body parts that are stronger and more centred. As a result of this, we are able to move in a manner that we've been previously unable to. By controlling our body, discovering our centre and how it changes we can easily befriend gravity to enable us to challenge ourselves to create more complex movements and in a way, test our relationship with gravity.
Once we establish a relationship with gravity, it alters as we try to test our limitations and gravity's limitations. I also feel a sense of appreciation I never had before for how my body works with gravity in everyday life and how I can change that or challenge it.
I do feel as though I am achieving a relationship with gravity and as though my body memory works to my advantage within this relationship: My body knows how it should feel to be centred, to be safe when working with gravity.
2) Ken Martin describes contact improvisation as a 'forum for discovering who we are beneath our skins'.
I could not agree with this more! Every session I grow more and learn more about myself than I ever thought possible. I've also found that through specific contact improvisation tasks- such as the blind partner tasks in one of the early sessions- that I learn about whomever I'm working with that day. I learn their weaknesses, strengths and fears all in a matter of minutes by simple contact. You can easily discover if a person is anxious, has a phobia of a certain body part, if they trust easily, are stressed, relaxed and so on.
Even when I held Anna on my back, I could sense if she was actually relaxed or if she was tense or worried. Contact improvisation appears at present to be not only the forum for discovering who we are, but a mode of signifying details of our personality to the audience in something they read as a story.
1)After todays session I believe that gravity can become our friend. Up until recently I think we have all been a little aprehensive in trusting gravity to work, as we are fairly new to the genre. Never having to encoutered so much physical work that depends upon trust, balance, centering the body etc… we have not fully realised how much freedom gravity can give to the bodies potential.
But I think in order to achieve this we have to trust that gravity is going to do its job. Only when we fully understand and know the limits of gravity can this be achieved.
Once we have established that gravity is on our side we can start to use it to our advantage and so much can be gained. We can enable our bodies to work in ways which were never thought were possible. The ease in which gravity allows you, once manipulated is amazing. I really enjoyed the tasks on Friday, and I really felt at ease working with Rian. Our bodies seemed to immediately connect and understand what the other was doing, in all of the tasks. It wasn’t until the back task that I realised how much gravity can allow you to do, I felt at ease in both taking the weight and depending upon it.
I feel now I understand more about what gravity can do, I can push my body to gravities limits.
2)" Contact improvisation [...] is a forum for discovering who we are beneath our skins."
Honestly, I think the quote is a little deep for the work we have done on the matter, but it does depend on the individual and how far advanced you are in your thoughts. But I think you can discover things about yourself that you never knew.
As the point of contact technique opened my eyes as to how you can read somones body through so little contact. Again I felt Rian and I responded well to the task , as I felt a good connection with my partner, which I think is important.
1. At the start of this journey i felt that gravity was more of an enemy than a friend. When we were asked to hold a postion, i felt that gravity was pulling me down and i had no stength to fight against it. Where as now i feel, because i understand how to control the body that gravity can be used alongside my body memory.
Gravity can be used to our advantage especially when we rely on our bodies becoming centred. When using our bodies to support others we need to depend on gravity, like a friend, so we can take the weight and balance either together or individually. Using gravity as a friend allows the body to become more stable and allows us to experiment with what we have learnt from the previous sessions. Once a relationship has been formed we have further understanding to how it works, especially to our advantage. Once you understand how this can be done we can then move onto a further level and push the boundaries where we can challenge gravity.
2.
"It is a place where our self concept is questioned [...]"
I can relate to the quote by Ken Martin because at the begining of the module i didnt realise that everybody would be examining every part of my body. In the first few sessions i was aware of everyone around me and their focus, feeling like it was on me. When new techniques are learnt i feel as though im still questioning myself, thinking "Am i doing it right? does everyone else look like this or just me?"
His quotation relates to the sessions so far and how it "Pushes the boundaries."Each session is completly different, one week you feel confident and the other you feel liek you have taken a step back.
Each week is completly different and comming back in to the session after i missed the week before i felt like my body memory had to work harder and as though i had missed a section of the journey. Each lesson is a stepping stone to get to the performance and i feel that becasue i missed one session i want to put all my focus in to catch up and face more challenges.
1.I feel that i have befriended gravity. Gravity is with us in every part of life but i can only seem to feel it and use it to my advantage in this module.
My relationship with gravity has totally changed, especially since last session. My contact with the floor and also using it to guide my centre so i feel neutral, to be ready for anybodys weight to be put on me. As this relationship has got stronger it has made me feel increadibly comfortable in this genre.
2. This quote by Ken Martin seems to sums up my journey and process so far. Obviously my journey is not complete,i have been struggling to put what i am going through into words but this quote has done it for me. In every session i am questioning myself, not as a negative but questioning myself to see how far i can push myself and to see what boundaries i can overcome.
By putting the skills we have learnt together to carry out contact improvisation it does help you to descover who you are. As Ken Martin quotes "descovery of who we are beneath the skin", even though we are touching each others bodys on the outside we do relate to the inner person when carrying out excercises, it is a feeling that overcomes you.
I really enjoyed fridays session and felt like we all put 100% effort in.
1. I do think that gravity can be our friend, as were begining to be able to control our bodies after five weeks of training and using our body memory i believe using our bodies as tools we can make any thing possible. Over coming our fears of distributing weight is slowly dissapearing as we are realising it isn't the body weight but finding your centre to distribute it evenly.I believe if we continue with high levels of attendence and commitment we will be able as a group to safely feel as though we can achieve our goals.
2. I completely agree with what Ken Martin says in this quote as for me this session has completely pushed my boundaries and made me feel quite exposed at times which is a scary feeling, however when you overcome your fears or worries the feeling is intense and amazing which is worth it. As the weeks go on i find more out about myself and abilities which is pleasing and how my body memoriy improves each week with practice.
1) Gravity I believe is a force that pulls matters together, the heavier the matter, the stronger gravity becomes.
I don’t necessarily believe gravity can be our friend but I feel that it can be on our side mentally or we ourselves can be gravity’s friend. When I say this I suggest that gravity is what it is and will always exist. The earth’s gravity pulls us and helps us stand upright. Gravity suggests that what goes up most come back down. Which from experience I have found is true; if you through a book in the air, it will come down.
I say this because Gravity will not change, but our mindsets and thinking towards gravity can.
If we want gravity to be our friend I would suggest it could, but not the other way round, gravity will not just stop to be ours.
If we as performers do not feel threatened with gravity and treat it as a friend, where we are not scared to fall or hurt ourselves then Yes, Gravity then could be seen as a friend. This will not be achieved through fear of gravity, but a gentleness and awareness that gravity can’t hurt us. If we fall as Royona rightly said ‘You know how to catch yourself.’
In terms of myself I feel that I have not yet quite found a friend in such with gravity.
I am still afraid of falling and have an unknown fear of what’s going to happen, as when fall your control is gone and left to natural causes or gravity.
However as I mentioned earlier I do know that I can catch myself, so should not feel troubled. But there is still a strong element in mind scared of this which will take time to go but I believe will eventually.
2) The quote from Ken Martin is very deep and brings a few questions within its answer to contact improvisation.
I agree with the first part of the quote ‘Contact improvisation [...] is a forum for discovering who we are beneath our skins’ Contact Improvisations definitely I believe gives us chance to discover and explore our body. Even more so under the skins, I found this true whilst doing the rolling exercise on the floor in partners.
Even though there was only one point of contact- the head I discovered that I felt connected and as one with my partner. Imagine if we started to play with that and begin to use different parts of the body for contact. You would definitely then begin to discover new ideas about your self on the surface and also beneath the skins.
‘It is a place where our self concept is questioned […] It makes us compromise our reality’
Contact improvisation to an extent I believe questions our self concept. As I mentioned in the paragraph before, through improvisation you start discover new ideas about your self, I feel this is correct but I don’t believe this as a whole of it being a place to question our self concept and making us compromise our reality.
If you know who you are as a person before hand, what your traits are, qualities, physical characteristics, ability, how your body moves and carries it self etc.
Then contact improvisation will just reinforce those ideas and not necessarily create new ones. I believe it depends on the individual on their status of mind, belief and their particular journey
‘Pushes the boundaries of our self awareness.’
I agree with this as contact improvisation does push the boundaries of our self awareness. Where we find that we can now do things that we never once could do. Likewise you may find that doing the contact improvisation made you aware that your not as physically fit or strong than you thought you were.
An example of this for me was in the exercise where we had to lift our partner. I found that I needed to work on the strength of my hamstrings and was not as strong as I thought it was. So in order to work on this I have started to go to the gym.
I found last week’s lecture to be one of the most productive. The tasks given where not easy but I was able to achieve them quicker then I have any of the others. To answer the first question, I do believe gravity can be our friend. Once I had the leg stability and strength gravity helped me to hold Amy on my back. As if we where not in the correct position Amy would have completely fallen from m, however once we found the connection through our spine and positioned correctly gravity actually made it more comfortable to stay there and helped balance. My work with gravity is improving even if I am still finding it hard to do the exercise of being rolled up someone, it’s very difficult to explain how I feel when I’m trying to do this exercise but it is something I will work on.
When we played the other week I have to admit that I didn’t feel the same as I think most people did. Yes I did feel a sense of play and emotion but I have to admit I did find it hard to just improvise with the tools we’re learning and just let the contact flow. I’m not sure if this is because the previous part to the lecture was not very successful for me or if I’m still not comfortable experimenting with others. This ‘contact improvisation’ that Martin mentions is what I need to feel free to work with. This week I think I found a partner to whom I did have a strong connection with. When doing the head exercise Amy and I both a oneness and as the quote states ‘makes us compromise our reality – pushes the boundaries of self awareness’ we where able to move together without talking just knowing when to move by the head connection we had, and for me it was the first time since the beginning exercises of moving over and feeling the body that I actually lost my self awareness and became content with the connection and could have explored it further.
For me last week was one of the most productive and I think that’s because I found a partner that I could connect to well. I would like to ask people’s opinions on partners, is it to early to stay with one person that we feel a strong connection with? Every week I have changed to be with different people I think this has been beneficial for my development but I wanted to ask if it’s too early to work with one person or if anyone has felt the same as me in that they feel they may benefit by staying with one person or that changing is still better.
When centred and prepared for work gravity can become your friend. I found this when practising lifting Nicola and Roxanne up on my back in the back to back exercise. I could happily maintain that position, while they felt relaxed, for a long time because I was grounded and comfortable with the exercise. However, when I was required to do a similar exercise, front to back with Gina, I stuggled to centre myself and therefore gravity proved itself as foe. We weren’t as able to work on this as we were on the previous exercise. The more controlled the movement the easier it is to develop a solid relationship with gravity.
The first exercise allowed me to be controlled and therefore I could lower Nicola and Roxanne easily without them or myself getting hurt. With the second exercise both Gina and I suffered with gravity in both roles. For example when lifting Gina up she couldn’t touch the floor to crawl off me and the balance was lossed. I also feel that strength has its part to play in these exercises although weight may not. In the first exercise i may have found it easier as leg muscles were used more than arms and my legs are stronger. Where as the second exercise require more arm strength which may have contributed to the lack of centre and therefore the struggle we faced with gravity.
Many of us have admitted to having our bounderies pushed whether emotional or physical we all have had them or are overcoming them. I believe now my inhibitions are slowly being conquered – especially the last session when working with Nicola as I was apprehensive of her lifting me up considering the weight difference. I am now more concerned with my strength, particularly with my arms, and i’m working on that at the gym. I’m suprised with how much we’ve all developed skills as a group and I doubt I could’ve done the exercises we’ve been working on for the past few weeks without attending all the lectures.
I haven’t yet reached the stage where I know what my partners doing through one point of contact as in the head to head exercise. Having said that though, I am getting more able to read whether my partner and I, are in the right position through contact of the spine. I feel like every week I progress, especially when I don’t get things right as it makes me think about what I am doing wrong, how I can improve and how this effects my body and my partners.
Once again I didn’t have any pain –I hope to have some this week.
Sarah
Edward's Comments:
I think that gravity has to become our friend, weather we like it or not! As I am sure we have all found out that when we first start an exercise, we all tend to fall flat on the floor! But we then pick ourselves up and try again and the constant practice of the techniques we begin to get it right. This may be because we understand the technique, but also because we are slowly begging to learn that gravity aids us in getting the activity correct.
‘It is a place where our self concept is questioned’, this quote from Ken Martin I find incredibly true. From week to week I am finding that my own body can do more than it initially thought it could do. Admittedly during Fridays workshop, I found the second part of the weight sharing activity difficult and I began getting incredibly frustrated with myself and, unfortunately, I kept thinking well if I cant do this there is no way I can do other things, so I am trying to get out of that head space. But overall I am achieving things that I honestly never thought I could never do.
Natalie's Comments:
Most definitely gravity can be our friend. I am certainly a witness of this, from the start of our journey in process and performance I feel that my relationship with gravity has really improved and developed. By this I mean that after a couple of weeks carrying body weight, distribution of weight my balancing and gravity has become easier to manage. So as the weeks continue I’m sure it will become even easier to achieve.
In response to the quote I would say that it explaining the development that I am begging to achieve. I am now begging to see who I am physically, skin deep and emotionally. I am discovering parts of the body that I haven’t really used. My reality has really been compromised as there I certain things that i have to push my self to and boundaries that I really have to push myself to over come in order to achieve the result I want.
I think that gravity is the thing that we have always believed is there to hold us down. When we first begin work in process, we feel that gravity prevents us from doing what we want-we want to lift things or balance things and it stops us. However, there are ways around gravity! With the right process and technique, gravity does suddenly become our friend.
During the first exercise, I was very nervous about putting my weight onto Lauren. Our weights are very different and I did not believe her frame could take my weight. At first, it did not but because she was not in the right position. As soon as she positioned herself underneath my bottom, she lifted me like a feather. It is amazing that suddenly when you are either holding or being held, you no longer feel like two separate bodies. Lauren just became a part of my body and I could have held her all day.
When we changed partners and I lifted Luke, he also was comfortably on my back with no problems! All of a sudden, you want to thank gravity because it made me feel anything was possible and made me confident to out my weight onto others!
Working with Sarah, we encountered many problems trying to lift each other, yet we knew what we were doing wrong. We worked and worked to get our beginning position right before trying to lift, and then when we succeeded, it felt well deserved! Sometimes, you have to get it wrong to appreciate the task!
“Contact improvisation…pushes boundaries of our self awareness” is probably the most important part of the quote for me. My boundaries were plenty when I began this module, and they are slowly but surely decreasing. I have started to adopt this attitude that my worries and concerns are meaningless in the bigger picture. My self awareness is starting to change from being self conscious to self assured. Through this contact, you come to realise that there are techniques and skills designed to make this work-you just have to learn them correctly. I have definitely “compromise[d]” my “reality” and am beginning to learn more about myself and my values. I definitely agree that we discover “who we are beneath our skin” because you learn about your body and who you really are.
1. I am almost certain that gravity can be befriended and overcome. I think the best ways to achieve that are weight lifting and centres sharing exercises. They make us aware of various gravity effects on our and our partner’s body. Lifting a body is also dealing with gravity and a trial to make a stance stable and well balanced - agreed with gravity. In my opinion swapping partners for exercises is a very wise idea allowing us to feel different bodies (different weights) what means adjusting our bodies to specific gravities. I think there is only one specific and unique gravity between two bodies and different between other two, with agreement to Bernstein’s words: “My relationship to gravity is permanently altered.” used by Lauren. We are gradually strengthening our bodies, feeling more confident but as far as I am concerned we will always need a longer or a shorter while to adjust to gravity created between me and my new partner. The most helpful tool in this situation is our body memory, the better the exercise trained, the shorter the process of adjusting to gravity between bodies is. I think that befriended gravity unveils in self-confidence of our bodies, their stability, their good balance and feeling of trust between partners. Once gravity is befriended, our relationship with it is like a compromise and a feeling of win from our side, as well.
I am sure that we are all doing well and we all know the moment of being agreed with gravity. It can be only achieved by repeating exercises, erasing mistakes and involving work from previous sessions.
‘When an apple fell on his head, Newton was inspired to describe the three laws of motion, that carry his name. ... In his attempt to be objective, Newton overlooked the question of how it feels to be the apple. When we put our bodymass in motion, we raise above the law of gravity and go towards the swinging, circulating attraction of the centrifugal force. Dancers ride upon, and play with these forces.’
Steve Paxton (1987)
2. I thoroughly agree with Ken Martin’s words. Contact improvisation, touch, connecting two body memories is like entering a different world, beyond our self awareness. I still remember the task of supporting partners with having our eyes closed. It was such an amazing experience! Honestly when I close my eyes and strongly focus on a task I think I can reach a better result and unite deeply with the work I am doing. The non –verbal connection of two bodies, reached only by touch is an indescribably rich experience. You can almost feel or even catch this indeterminate beam of connection, impulses between our bodies and its memories. In my opinion it can be also a highly emotional process.
Gravity is something we often fear, and is because of our fears why the body is unable to achieve its best work. If we think back to infancy, the body and mind had no limits, infact in most cases the more dangerous the better. If we perhaps recreate that, then gravity is defiantly able to become a friend. The how to use gravity, is to allow the natural impulses and manipulation it has over our bodies, and in doing so, the body becomes less mechanical and more fluent hence creating ‘language’. I feel I’m able to achieve best when I allow myself to trust that I cannot control the movement because gravity should be doing that for me.
1. Achieving balance is quite hard, especially if it is your first time. For my first time trying to balance someone on me, I found it difficult but slowly got use to it. I felt that I was more worried about the weight my knees could handle then trying to achieve my relationship with the point of contact and just trying to get comfortable. My problems with touching someone else’s head on the point of contact and moving at the same time was also a difficulty because I kept thinking when the person would move and lost the real purpose of the task. Overall I felt that I was getting into the right posture and felt more confident about the way I worked and this is slowly progressing.
2. On my understanding of the quote, what it is trying to say is that our body can do much more then we think and if we push our consciousness we can achieve the impossible in physical movement.
Sorry for the late post.
Yes gravity can be our friend, but in order to do so, you must put your own trust in gravity. I have found that through the progression of the process sessions and the growth in my own inner trust, I have begun to understand the need to have gravity as a friend. Obviously it will work against you sometimes, but if you take your time and think about what you’re actually doing, rather than pre-empting what was going to happen. It takes time; it isn’t going to happen over night, we are still in the early stages of the process, but it is about our own personal development. Once I have gotten to grips with using gravity to my advantage, my relationship has changed with it because I am no longer worried about falling to the floor; I actually enjoy it, because it gives me something to work on, and personal goals for the next session.
When working on contact improvisation I found that it allowed me ‘to push the boundaries of self awareness’ (Martini K, 1996) when working on the point of contact via your head, I was really aware of where my body was in comparison to my partners, and found it very easy to re-position myself when I was not in the right position. It was very easy to know this because the fluidity of the roll was not consistent, if you did not have full head contact with your partner. I found that if your initial positioning was not right then, it was very hard to have consistency in our movements. My self concept was questioned via the idea that even though my partner and I only had a small amount of contact between us move, I could feel the energy from her transferring to me, which made me feel at one with her. That it was not two separate people moving, it was just an extension of my own body.
MARTINI, K. 1996. Contacting the Soul [WWW] Available from: http://nurturedance.org/contactimprov.htm
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