Dear All,
Many apologies for the delay in putting up this post. Some of you have emailed me to enquire after it and the truth is Blogger was not letting me put up the post for most of Friday for some reason. So, again, apologies. Happy to know that some of you miss it when it isn't up!
A good session with a great amount of techniques and skills learnt and applied creatively to practice. The progression of the table work from the knee reliant horizontal position to the raised pyramid position to the standing vertical position was a great deal to cover in one session. But you achieved this with a good sense of focus and determination. This lent the final section of 'play' a great deal of dynamism and excitement.
Questions for this week then:
1. We would like you to reflect on the challenges faced and excitement experienced in your individual transitions your bodies underwent as it traced its journey through the different table positions. Through this, particularly when the tables were allowed to respond and move freely, what did you start to learn about the technique and its creative potential?
2. The play sections are becoming an integral part of our Friday mornings. The palette starts to expand each week and gets richer and more dynamic. What are the main purposes of these open play sessions? What do you as an individual and the ensemble as a whole gain from these sequences?
Looking forward to reading your thoughts this week.
Royona
Bahok, Akram Khan Dance Company
Exploring Liminality
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9 comments:
After a great session on Friday I am looking forward to next week’s session. For myself this has been one of the most focused and energetic sessions we have had for a long time if not the first.
Challenges from Friday’s lesson consisted of physical strength and stamina for me. When we were in the pyramid position and Richard was exploring the table I felt like I needed to stay in that position for as long as possible even though it was very hard to do so. Once we were allowed to move the tables from all four to pyramid this gave a whole new dynamic to the movements and positions which we created with our bodies.
When working with Mikey we came up with some bizarre poses and explored everything to the best extent, we were creating movements and positions which we had not discovered before but were fun in doing so despite landing on my back from a move which we didn’t know what we were doing.
The play sessions are a great end to every lecture when we are allowed to explore all of the techniques learned and put them into practice to create a small performance for the lecturers. For me the main importance of the play session is to get use to performing and learning the amount of focus which is needed when we are performing to the public. I believe I gain the ability to work with different people at the end of the play session so the whole group interacts with each other a lot more than before.
Looking forward to next week’s session.
Personally when I went through the transition of changing from the table on all fours to then with the legs stretched out it was quite hard for me to stay stable, it hadn’t got anything to do with my partner it was to do with my stamina and overall strength. So this is a problem that I need to fix myself. When you allowed the table to interact with their partners it felt like the reigns had been taken off and we were allowed to do whatever we felt the impulse to do also it allowed us to build a relationship with our partners, which in previous weeks when working with the table exercise we weren’t allowed. I feel it gave us freedom to act on how our body was feeling at the time, and with this freedom it let the techniques to flow and mould into a small performance between the individual partners. The play sections for me enable me to let go. To build relationships and stories that I haven’t been able to in the skill learning part of the session. The play sessions also allow each individual to use the skills learnt by putting them into practice and not just by doing technique after technique but incorporating them into a performance. The play sections for me are by far my favourite part of the session. (Yes, I know that if we didn’t learn different skills we wouldn’t have anything to work with) Like I said in the previous question it feels as though the reigns have been taken off and we are able to do whatever we want. Especially this week I felt an extra bit of enjoyment when we were allowed to go from one person to another because by doing that I worked with people I hadn’t all module. And its quite interesting to see that when you switch from one person to another the variety of stories you can build and how you can build stories while going from one partner to another.
I really enjoyed Fridays session. I think after initially learing the first part of the table technique, being able to raise the table and then let it freely move, alot was gained. It felt like I could be more expressive when the table could respond. I felt it more satifying being the table, and once the table could move a more descriptive dialogue could be created.Although after a while it does start, after time nd practice it will obviously get easier. nd i must say I was utterly use less on Saturday at work as I could carry any plates on my arms, or move anything of any kind.
I found it much more smooth and easier on the body to go from kneeling to raised with Gavin's weight already on me. Once the table could move a connection cold then become more evident, and that was from doing , and also watch others.
2)I love the play sessions, and every week once you have learnt another technique the play becomes even more interesting.
I feel a great connection when I work with Gavin and this has become evident throughout the play sessions. It is interesting to explore and use all the techniques we have learnt, and through that a story naturally begins to develop. I sense a connection in the play bewteen me and Gavin, I think a good performace relationship has been created, and the techniques in the play are not forced, the work feels natural.
I am happy to work with anybody, and discover new things, but the past few weeks I feel I have developed and gained more than I ever have before, and I think it could lead to some creative work.
Looking forward to Friday
xxxxx
1) The first challenge I faced and I think everybody else faced was that of strength and stamina. Taking the support off our knees added far more pressure on our thigh and arm muscles. For me, however, I found that it was more my arm muscles that hurt more as my thigh muscles are relatively strong due to my years of dance. The exploration process, when the table position changed, was very exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Exciting, because for the first time; I put all of my weight onto Amelia’s back. This is something I have not yet done, even during the very first table activity. However, I am still finding it very difficult to throw myself completely into the activities, as I am still finding my weight to be a constant issue; although maybe because I have realised that people can take my weight, this will give me the confidence needed to progress. When the tables began to respond, I found it very interesting and if I must be honest, slightly easier to work with, because I felt as though I could feed of their movement, which I then felt could lead to more exciting work and a deeper dialogue between me and my partner.
2) Firstly I just want to say, when the ‘play’ sessions begin, I dread them. This is because my brain switches on and starts to say ‘WHAT DO I DO? WHAT IF I CAN NOT DO IT? WHAT IF I WORK WITH SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO EXPLORE MORE THINGS THAN I AM COMFORTABLE DOING?’ However, after the past two ‘play’ sessions, I feel as though I am beginning to understand this whole idea of dialogue between performers and the enjoyment that everyone else seems to be having with this module. At this, I think that purposes of the ‘play’ sessions are for us all to put into practice the palette of skills and techniques we have learnt and to expand on them. I also feel the ‘play’ sessions are for us to build up our confidence. As many of us may feel that week by week we are adding to our palette, but we don’t really know how to use them in a performance environment, so our confidence begins to drop, but the ‘play’ sessions, rebuild our confidence because our palette of skills and techniques are being put into practice and we begin to realise ‘WOW, I CAN ACTUALLY DO THIS AND I NOW KNOW WHERE THAT EXERCISE FITS IN TO PRACTICE.’
Fridays session was awesome! I felt challenged yet was given the room to feel free and explore.
I felt that learning the one table before learning the others was a successful way of teaching us. This gave us the chance to learn and explore the all four table (with knees on floor first), before leading on the more complex transitions of hands and feet then to standing. I enjoyed this task of being able to move freely from one position to the next as you didn’t feel pinned to one movement. You was given the chance move on impulse and talk to the other body, Which I feel is important in physical theatre. Without the other body communicating and talking back to your body there is a sense of dead dialogue. Which can be exciting to watch for a time however would after while would loose that and become dead and dull. Therefore constantly there needs to be that dialect, that close point contact and a sense of movement between the two bodies.
The play session I really look forward to but at the same time sometimes feel anxious. However by the end am shocked and surprised by the material my body comes up with and feel proud of the work created.
Firstly, I would like to apolagise for not using the blog for the past couple of weeks. I'm such a hypocrite.
1.
My body faced certain challenges throughout the different table possitions. The excersise seemed to get harder and harder for my body the higher the table got. However, I wanted to push my body to its limits meaning exploring quite a varied amount of positions with my partner, Daniel. This was both fun and unusual as I am not used to carrying a whole body on mine, especially in some the the positions we were in. I also realised how the floor can be both your friend and you foe. It can be your friend while using it for stability in these positions but can also be your foe, when we would accidently fall.
2.
I absolutly love the play sessions. especially when we can use the whole of our pallet and explore different partners. This means we can explore and PRACTICE all the things we have learnt and with different people. This both hightens confidence and most importantly lets a story develope within the play session. We all get a sense of accomplishment with the play session as we perform the excersises we have learnt using our body memory without having to think to much about them, meaning we can focus on a story that developes between characters.
1) Apologies for having to sit out last week everyone; there was a real problem on the train tracks, which meant I was stuck on it for 45 minutes!
Anyway, I have now caught up the best I could today with the help of Daniel and Ellen, so thank you both! I found the pyramid table very difficult to work with. I felt it was easier to hold Dan’s weight rather than to put my weight onto him. When I leant on him, I could feel him shaking and then his arms went out from underneath him.
This can be quite a knock back for the person placing the weight, as you suddenly feel people are unable to take your weight. I also felt uneasy being the table, as I felt unstable in my position, feeling your body shake makes everyone feel uncomfortable.
When you do start to change between kneeling and the pyramid though, it suddenly becomes a lot freer. Even as an observer this is apparent, that you all became more confident and experimental, as did I. When the table is allowed to respond and move with you, it becomes a story. To watch this was quite a transition from fear and worry, to being able to connect with each other and make a story.
Suddenly, a technique begins to evolve. Sarah and Gavin I noticed particularly rendered a technique. Sarah experimented not just on her knees or in the air, but also lying flat on the floor, which was very effective to see. They repeated certain motifs that had worked and were obviously effective or useful, and this was good to see. As an observer, you begin to realise that people who let go had a creative potential that was very high.
2) Having missed the actual session physically, I was not able to participate in the play section. This is very disheartening, and feels like a huge part of the process has been missed. Tomorrow, I will not have that part of the journey that everyone mastered last week, to whichever extent. However, watching the play last week, it really has become so much richer and more dynamic. To see people swapping partners and moving from one person to the next was amazing. People are suddenly looking at each other as a ‘table’ for example, rather than who they are. Everyone is there to work with each other and progress as far as they can.
The open play sessions allows everyone to use what they have learnt that day in a more dynamic way. It enables us to use our body memories to revisit past skills and techniques, keeping them alive rather than leaving them behind. It means that we become a lot more experimental and willing to use each other to go that little bit further. We are allowed to come straight into that circle and become someone else-Royona says ‘you are constantly in a performance’ and this means we do not enter the space as ourselves. Our personalities, our worries and our problems are left behind…and we can play.
Although a good session with the learning of new techniques, I felt with the 1st skill; I did not progress in my journey. This may have been because I was thinking too much about what I was doing, and could not get over tiredness that my legs felt. I created that mental block that I could then not remove from my mind. Paul told me to breathe and focus on the floor to see if that helped. I have to admit, this did help and I managed to hold myself up in the pyramid for longer, but as soon as I started to think about the pain I had to stop. This is a factor that I solely have to work upon, because when my partner was putting weight on me I could not feel her weight, which is probably due to our centres being aligned. I think will be a target for next session.
I believe that the main purpose of the open play is to integrate the skills learnt in previous sessions and incorporate them with the skills learnt in the current session. I feel this is a critical element of the process because it allows these skills to be used within and emotional context to create a personal ‘story’. The play allows the skills to grow on their own; grow from just skills to something representing a meaning and purpose. I find the play session very useful because it allows me to let go of any inhibitions that I may hold and transfer them to performance and use that to my advantage. For example last session, even before the session started my mind was not 100% concentrating on it. Then to feel as if I hadn’t progressed added to this; which in turn made me feel less connected with the work. I think this is one of the reasons why I felt as if I couldn’t go into the performance circle, and felt as if everyone had a connection with each other. I felt like I was just an outsider looking in. But when I made a connection with Sarah, I felt as if that was the right time to go into the circle, and even though we were able to change partners, I felt that I couldn’t, for some reason move to someone else. I don’t know why this was; I’ve had almost a week to think about it and still don’t have an answer. Maybe after tomorrow’s session I will know, maybe not.
When the table was raised off the floor the problems I had faced was stamina, because I couldn’t support the weight applied on to me. After reflecting I was curious to know if the reason for this was due to my partner not being centred with my body. As in previous weeks I have experienced that centred bodies tend to carry out an activity easier and more graceful than one without technique. The raised table in my opinion, still isn’t stable for either the person being the table or the person experiencing the table unless, the table can support his or her own weight as well as the responsibility of some one else’s. What I mean by that is, if the table is uncomfortable with the strain of their own weight then taking on some one else’s will be disastrous, practically and mentally. Whilst experiencing the activity, I none verbally expressed to my partner that I wasn’t comfortable with the difficulties that came with the table, which made my partner feel inadequate, stopping her from truly grasping the excitement of play. When the table had freedom to move the work got more advanced, risk were being taken that possibly couldn’t have been done with the stable table (with legs).
The play session is there to stimulate body memory through our natural impulse.
It allows simple movements done well, through focus and control. The idea of the play session to be a “performance” heightens the focus and the level of maturity of the work. It is important to have these play sessions so that the individual can feel the journey he/she has been on and to see what still may be a hindrance. Personally the play sessions allow me to do just that, experiencing how far I can push myself and others. It excites me because I’m interested to know if people I don’t usually work with or interact with outside of the module are so intact with themselves that they can pick up on emotions I wish to create. As a whole though, I feel it brings the group closer together allowing more risk, more fun and more abstract movement.
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