This morning’s session was perhaps the best yet in terms of focus, not only great focus and concentration when active in the work but also when engaged as an observer outside the action, or an observer in the action. These moments of immersion in the work will increasingly become more and more significant, more and more intense and more and more a key part of the growth of the ensemble.
Some very expressive and beautiful work also today and creating work that once again Royona and I could feed off and build from, and change plans accordingly! Well done all.
But what of your reflections of the morning? For these we would like you to focus on the following:
“Contact Improvisation is mostly performed as a duet….with dancers supporting each other’s weight while in motion. (…) Contact Improvisation uses momentum to move in concert with a partner’s weight, rolling, suspending, lurching together. They often yield rather than resist. Interest lies in the on-going flow of energy rather than on producing still pictures. The dancers in contact improvisation focus on the physical sensations of touching, leaning, supporting, counterbalancing and falling with other people, thus carrying on a physical dialogue.”
Sharing the Dance: Cynthia Novak (P8)
1) How has your understanding and experience of contact transformed through the sessions we have had so far? You may want to think in terms of how it has changed from the first session to the latest, or how it may have changed from the beginning of one session to the end and developed from that moment, or a combination of these.
2) Through the means of contact, a dialogue is created: Reflect on the ways you communicated through the physical (pressure) and through the non-physical (eye-contact).
And just so that we do not loose sight of one of the key, identifying factors of our work, we will leave you with this quote from Jasmin Vardimon, given in an interview as part of the programme for Yesterday.
“….A journey into a memory, a body memory. Being a dancer I learned to trust my body’s memory. In Yesterday I look at the things that my body – my muscles and my bones – remember, but my conscious brain does not always remember.”
Jasmin Vardimon
Bahok, Akram Khan Dance Company
Exploring Liminality
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14 comments:
1) This has being my favourite and most challenging lesson so far. For the first time I have being challenged emotionally rather than physically.
From the first session to now I have always felt comfortable with contact, it did not take long at all to become completely relaxed with the intense and intimate work produced in the sessions. I have always felt at ease trying new and challenging things. However today at the beginning of the session I felt in the first pressure task I felt quite vulnerable. I did not feel uncomfortable working with Gavin, I don’t want the two to be confused. It was the first time I had partnered myself with a male. Previously I have worked with girls, and that wasn’t the whole factor of it I was just very aware of what I was doing. I wanted to work with a male today because I thought it would bring about a new experience, and it did. As bad as it sounds though, throughout the first task I really, desperately needed the toilet, I did not want to ask to go because I know we shouldn’t. But I think that was also a factor of why I found the first task difficult, because I could concentrate on anything else, and I knew if I didn’t go I would not have been able to fully enjoy the session. ( Sorry for talking about that but it was a factor which affected the exercise so I thought I kindly share)
2) I really felt engaged to the eye contact exercise and that really helped my confidence after the first task. I then felt, fully and emotionally engaged with Gavin and I knew if I did the pressure exercise again it would be more rewarding for me. In the last part of the session I felt a real performance relationship build with Gavin. Combining the two exercises allowed a relationship to form, and I felt at complete ease with incorporating the pressure exercise. I was not thinking about what I doing it just happened. Being able to come out of the circle and rejoin had a big impact on the work for me. The first time in the circle was very gentle and relaxed, and the second time the performance relationship changed to quite argumentative, but through the body. And I find it interesting how that emerges and both people know what is happening in the relationship.
I feel like I have really quite exposed myself in blog and in the session today, I think it has done me good to feel vulnerable for a change as I am normally quite strong minded, confident, and thick skinned .
This session was a much focused session from all of the group members and this was clear to see through the work and comments made. My understanding of contact has changed considerably since the first session, yesterday’s session was all about talking through eye contact and pressure points within the body. When we were allowed to play for the last 20 minutes of the session if we found a mutual point where we had lost physical contact to a certain extent then we could always retreat back to eye contact which opened a whole new way of working within the performance space.
Dialogue is created very strong through the use of contact with both eyes and body. Because there is the lack of text which is non existent at the moment we are always finding ways in which we can portray the meaning of love, hate, friendship through our body and this has allowed us to experiment with the way we move with each individual. I believe that the barrier which anyone originally had would not be gone because we have bonded and adapted to this work very well which I think is something which the group needs to be aware of. Having never worked with Zara before and having such a positive comment from Amy I found it enlightening to see that our contact work had been on an intense level for a group member to see this.
I finish writing this blog looking forward to the next session and being allowed to explore away from our partners and working with other group members.
Fridays session was my favourite and most challenging session out of them all.
For me, having a knee injury has made most sessions painful and a let down because I have felt that I have been unable to participate fully. However in Fridays session I was determined to give everything a try as my physiotherapist has requested that I work on my thigh muscles.
For me Friday was a very emotional session. I partnered myself with Luke, who as a friend I felt comfortable with but when asked to keep eye contact throughout a task I soon realized that we weren't close enough to break the physical/emotional boundaries and it was a struggle to maintain focus because my basic instinct was to laugh to reach back to my comfort zone.
For me this session was also far more easier because the whole of the group was focused. I am the type of person that frequently laughs or talks when other people do, so the group being focused was a great help to my focus.
The eye contact exercise was an extremely productive experience and watching it as well as participating in it was very thought provoking. Keeping eye contact with someone for that amount of time was taking me out of my comfort zones at first, but as the exercise progressed i wanted to experiment with more ways of movement whilst keeping eye contact and the language that was being displayed throughout our movements.
At this stage in the process i feel that i am ready to work with someone that i do not know to break down that barrier and form a trust with everyone in the group.
A really well focused session was really good just to be able to get on with the work and I think this really helped me this week
1. My understanding of contact has changed considerably since the beginning of this module. Every session we have had I have developed with the other people I have worked with in knowing that contact is not always just with hands but can be using various parts of the body. Whether to connect to a person, or just the floor it can be done with any part of the body. Contact can also be made without touch. The eyesight exercise developed my understanding of this; I felt I really developed with this exercise. I enjoyed doing it also. Just by looking into some ones eyes for such an intense amount of time was difficult to achieve constantly but it did give a great sense of achievement and contact when it was complete and sustained.
2. I really became attached to the work Ellen and I where doing with the contact we where exploring each other similar to how we did the first week by our hands but we where using various parts of the body to connect and create pressure at times we where so fixed on moving with the pressure we did get stuck and unsure of where to go. With the contact exercise I felt a sense exploration with in our dialogue and also with the eye contact exercise. We would go between each one when we where in the circle and did not have to say who was leading or when we where to move we just followed each other and moved. Whilst doing the session in the circle I was not really thinking of our dialogue or of what we where communicating merely of exploring where we could take the movements and how we could develop.
This session was by far the most productive lesson for me and I felt for the first time since starting I really engaged with the exercises with a high level of focus.
With the first exercises on contact, I found myself focusing more on the ways in which I moved instead of moving on impulse or trying to let a natural narrative come through my movements. I found keeping this constant pressure within the body contact quite difficult, but when we began combining the eye contact exercise with the contact exercise and improvising at the end of the session I found that both me and natalie had created a strong sense of character. There was also a relationship which progressed through instinct with roles reversing and the power shifting throughout the exercise between us both. We really focused on keeping these characters alive even when sitting in the circle.
I felt that having this intense eye contact and combining it with contact was far more effective than just each individual exercise by themselves because I really felt more of an emotional connection to the work by talking through the body and eyes at the same time.
The lesson was a real turning point for me because in previous lesson I felt like i had been progressing on a physical level, but not on an emotional level. This session really helped me to feel and engage completely.
Friday’s lesson was so much fun; it was an eye opener for what's to come. The lesson made us aware of what can be made out of our hard practise and process, for the final performance. This for me is encouraging and tells us all that we have learnt is not in vain, but is a significant practise.
1) My understanding of contact improvisation has stayed the same through out the lessons, from the very first session to latest.
I believe contact improvisation to be a movement between two people or more. Where a part or all of the body is in contact; sharing weight, turning, pulling, lifting, falling, suporting etc exploring the body and communicating a message or narrative without verbal words.
My understanding of the word has not really changed as I still believe this; however my experience within my own body has changed!
Never have I really done contact improvisation in a way as so full on as in lessons.
I feel that my experince in contact improvistaion is always growing as im always learning new skills, therefore creating my body to experience new skills to.
2) In the session we had a lot of time given to play and improvisation with our body. Where I found body memory taking place. During this play, you found that even though you where set a certain task, your body automatically displayed certain skills taught lessons before. This is an example of how body memory does exist and does work!
The eye contact task for me was very fun and playful.
The intial idea of looking in someones eyes wasnt really a problem, as this is something I do naturally when talking to someone.
In the extreme of how it was it, I still didnt find it umcomfortable, but to get the first stare was a little problem, nevertheless after that my partner and I was fine. When communicating, I feel that the eyes are one of the most powerful parts of the body.
As some would say "The eyes is the window to the heart" Why do people say this? What I read from this is that the eyes are one of the parts of the body that is very easy to read. If something is wrong with an individual and they are smiling, it’s a majority of the time that it’s through the eyes that you know something is wrong.
The eyes tell you if you’re happy, sad, angry, upset and many other emotions. The eyes communicate to you whats really going on in the heart.
Therefore applying this to the eye contact task, looking in my partners eyes I could sense what he was communicating to me and gave it back to him. However at times would play on it and throw other emotions to see how he would take it, which made it interesting.
hi all
1)Within todays session my view of contact changed considerably. Using eye contact was very difficult within the process of the lesson, I felt that it was one of the more challenging exercises as it was difficult to keep that contact with my partner following their movements and keeping focussed. This was also a challenge with the contact of bodies and different pressure points the reason this was challenging was due to either person not knowing who was to lead the movement. Playing for the last 20 minutes was the most positive part of the lesson, making it a performance space made me and my partner focus a lot more and create a good piece of work within the improvisational performance at the end of the session.
2)The contact work creates dialogue through reading the others persons movement. Once we read the signals it starts to develop a story within the piece. Without verbal dialogue we had to rely on eye contact and once this gave us a starting point we were able to use body contact to adapt the piece and make it aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
In these sessions there has been a new understanding for the body and the mind. No longer do we rely on our words to show emotion or trust. The first session was full of conversation and as the weeks went on those who had been attending had established the technique to rely on body and eye contact which is vital in this type of work. Every week there is something new to learn and I leave feeling that I have gained so much just by learning one physical technique I discover so much and leave wanting to challenge myself more. I’m not usually confident enough to offer to go first in an exercise and in this course I have pushed myself to do so and last session I didn’t have to push myself – I wanted to go first.
Last lecture was incredible. I never thought I could feel completely comfortable with expressing myself with someone else by such close physical contact. Nicole and I actually found it easier to communicate physically than non-physically which really demonstrates how far we have travelled and how much further we have to go. The level of trust has been established with me, my partner and gravity and this I felt, really came through in the movement. I initially found it difficult to work with my eyes closed for the pressure exercises so was relieved when the physical movements linked with the eye contact. The greatest achievement for me was that nodody felt the need to talk as a way of communicating; the eye contact was all that the group needed to prompt the work ahead.
Sarah
Gina's Comments:
1) I think the main thing I have learned from the meaning of ‘contact’ would be that this is not just through the body. When we began these sessions, I thought the contact we would be learning was through the body. I underestimated how eye contact can also be such a powerful source of contact. When we did the exercises last session of keeping the facial distance, I found that by the end of the session this was vital to the outcome.
When Kelly and I performed at the end, I felt a real connection with her through use of body and eye contact. I felt as though without the eye contact, it would not have been as effective. With regards to the Cynthia Novak quote, I completely agree. The contact I had with Kelly did contain a lot of momentum. We were holding each other’s weight, leaning, rolling and really experimenting. My experience of contact is now a lot deeper-the contact I had with Kelly was a real leap to what I had experienced in previous lessons-it all suddenly came together for me. For example, from eye contact alone, we knew when one wanted to enter or leave the space and we knew where the other one was going.
2) A dialogue was definitely created between me and Kelly. During the performance at the end of the session, I felt as if we were telling a story with our movements and I also wanted to know what was going to happen next. The pressure used this week was a lot stronger with the body than before. With the physical contact exercise, Kelly and I kept the pressure on strong and it really made a difference.
With the addition of eye contact, the movements were not simply movements anymore-they had a story behind. It was as if I was being given a story. At one point when performing, I went to go in one direction and Kelly in the other-because of the pressure we had on our contact, we kind of fell off each other but kept the eye contact. I looked at Kelly as if she had pushed me away in a story, and then went back to her. Also, it was such a shock to lose the contact that we both had a moment of stillness apart from each other that felt very beautiful. And the story continued….
Unfortunately I was not able to take part because of my bike accident, but I watched the lecture throughout and noticed the difference from the lectures before.
1. Royona and Paul had gone through the previous lecture briefly for the warm up and then I noticed that the skill everyone was progressing at. Body memory had already gone into place, after the hard work from the last couple of weeks, things such as the trust in your partner, the balance and co-operation were already taking place.
2. This part of the lecture was great to watch, because unconsciously everyone would go into their own world, the eye contact between the partners made it easier for the body to move naturally whilst trust was being built slowly between the two.
1)The contact between myself and other members of the group has come on leaps and bounds. At the beginning of the module we started with the task of where we had to feel our partner, this was a task that enabled members to break the barrier of working with other people on that level. While it broke barriers for some there were still some tough challenges ahead. Compared to now those barriers were very minuscule (for some) an example of the kind of contact were working with now is the pressure exercise and transferring that into free play what I mean by this is to transfer the pressure from the head onto other parts of the body, and to let the body lead rather then the mind. I feel that to do activities at this level the members of the group had to understand what contact is and how to use it successfully and I believe that many of the group has done so.
2)Communicating through the physical some felt was less challenging then through the non physical. When communicating through the body we relied heavily on whether what we doing felt right and if it didn’t we would alter it, some members of the group believed that the work they were doing looked wrong but from an outsiders point of view it felt amazing to watch and to see the story between the two members progress. Through the non physical some members felt it more challenging (myself included) due to that fact that we felt uncomfortable. From a personal point of view I felt that as the task progressed I became more comfortable in doing so, and by having to keep eye contact through out it managed to make the body move in ways never thought possible and again to watch it was amazing to see the connection between both members develop.
1) There were two types of contact in the session. Physical contact & eye contact. MY understanding has developed in the sense that there are barriers that exist in performing both types of contact. However, I have learnt from the early sessions that these barriers can be overcome. This was the case between Sarah and myself. The eye contact exercise was tricky to maintain at first, but once past the initial introduction it became natural and allowed us to play more creatively.
I felt that after the eye contact work our physical contact work became even more focused and creative. There seemed to be no barriers at all and during the play the transitions between the two styles became smooth and almost un-noticable.
2) The play exercise at the end was a really exciting process. The preliminary exercises came together and developed on in a freely creative way. I felt that sarah and I had developed a really productive and creative performing relationship , which I would really be interested in developing in following sessions. It really enforces how imperative the exercises are for the success of the play. Im looking forward to the challenges ahead!
My understanding of contact has transformed through my experiencing and experimenting with different points of contact. I felt somewhat that I regressed back to being a child and being reliant on touch to a parent. This was because I felt reliant upon my partners touch and having that bond with them. I don’t think I have learnt anything new about contact, I feel as if my understanding of the need for it has developed so much; even from the start of the session to the end of the session. Contact is such a powerful tool, and when used correctly creates an immense, intense and emotional connection between bodies.
It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul. I feel that you can evoke so much thought and conversation by looking into someone’s eyes, they show so much emotions and feelings; and that incorporated with contact, is absolutely amazing. It was beautiful to watch some of the relationships form and grow throughout the session. You get also that internal satisfaction out of creating a relationship just using your senses. Each session I think that we are developing our palette of skills, but also I think we are all developing as people, both physically and mentally, and I think that was proven, in the last session. The concentration and maturity that was needed to complete the eye contact work was vast. I (along with others) found it hard at first to keep looking into someone’s eyes, I just laughed, but after a while it because effortless. This proves that concentration levels needs to be constant in order to perform well, and in order as well to enjoy the work that you are doing.
My understanding and experience of contact now is totally different than the one from first sessions. I think that my body is now more aware, open for new challenges. Our training sessions enable our bodies to commit emotionally in contact, perform, not just to simply, physically do a task. In my opinion, once the touch is reached, there is this moment of readiness between partners, and then a little spectacle between two bodies begins. During a contact I can sense impulses between bodies like ‘we can push our boundaries more’ or ‘let’s slow down’. I think that this is this right contact when there is an agreement and understanding between partners. One body can be a leader if he/she feels that a partner’s body agree. There should be no argument, barrier between bodies because it may result in losing the contact. Bodies create a story and should unite in an act.
Contact reached by pressure and one reached by eye-contact are quite distinct experiences but equally interesting and challenging. First one is highly emotional what is achieved by a bodies’ unity (contact, touch). Deep focus, closed eyes and sensing impulses of partner’s body, place you in this particular performing area. The closeness of a partner’s body makes this act fully physical as well.
The contact in the second task is only established by eyes so it could seem that it is not so emotional because of no bodies’ closeness and unity. However, it is not true because looking for such a long time directly in your partner’s eyes is an amazing, fully emotional experience. It also creates this specific performing area. This task (because of open eyes) makes you more aware of what surrounds you, I mean adjusting your body to the space. This exercise also involves following your partner’s body which can lead to interesting stances.
‘Contact Improvisation for me has been like riding the vanguard of human development. So here we stand at what may be one of the edges of human expansion, stretching the envelope that contains us.’ (Martini K., 1996, http://nurturedance.org/contactimprov.htm) I agree with the quote above. The sense of contact is a way of discovering ourselves, learning about our bodies and its boundaries which can be finally overcome. It is also a lesson about the essence of a partner and relationship of agreement with his or her body.
According to Jasmin Vardimon’s words, in my opinion, there are sometimes such striking experiences in our lives that they can harm our body. I mean not purely physically or medically but, let’s say, very internally. Sometimes the brain can forget these happenings faster than it takes for body to forget. It is very often bound with extremely emotional situations and body can match for example a very sharp gesture for this difficult experience. At times unexpectedly and suddenly this gesture can come back to our body in new, extremely stressing and hard situations. I think that body memory can be very sensitive, even more than the brain, just operating in different ways than our mind.
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