Setting up situations in the
• Present
To be able to focus and apply a human body and mind in ways which are both specific and able to engage in:
This means the dancer needs to be present and engaged in a form that has an external focus and application and specificity and which is in constant motion.
To have eyes that see and move and change with the body that moves and changes means to have eyes that see without a story, with no history and projecting no future, to be in the present with what is, exactly what is, and that what is, changes every moment; to have ears that hear with no story or history, to have a body that moves and dances full out, with full access to vocabulary and a skill base with freedom, without a need to hold on to or preserve anything for posterity.
Dancing full out with no drama, no story, no fairy tale, no meaning, no psychology. A body and movement which is available for any and every tone change in relation to the choreography of the present moment.
A dancer who is physically present, emotionally present, mentally present with no drama, no story, no history or future investment;
The physicality of the body needs to have underlying neutrality and it needs to return to that neutrality. It needs to draw from a range of choices, to be available for the choreography of the present moment, which will change constantly. Without that underlying tone of neutrality if cannot be available for change. It means there is an investment in a story, an investment in an outcome, an expectation of some kind. Inherent in a story is an expectation or an investment in a specific outcome: and that means she is not available for a different story, in a different moment. It’s like the dancer or person isn’t invested and has a different outcome or different relationship to their body and to movement which is essentially one of freedom.
The physical situation has a very high degree of versatility, flexibility, fearlessness, non-attachment, awareness, neutrality, range and skill base, whilst being potentially responsive to any given situation which can change at any moment; the story is being written in the moment; the choreography is being made in the present moment, so there has to be a lightness, a non-attachment, which is not the same as non-investment, in the physical situation or the conditions that are present.
The person’s relationship to themselves, to their body, their mind, their dancing body; this relationship of the person and dancer to their body and mind determines their Use: the use of themselves as people; it is what runs through every moment of their waking day, of their lives, as well as their dancing. ‘USE’ - a person’s use of themselves, is difficult to address and teach in relation to improvisation and dancing.
The dancer’s and person’s application, how they apply, relate, to the conditions which are set up in the studio in the course of a structured improvisation (for example), says everything about the way they relate to their mind and body in any other given moment.
So the physical conditions, the physical set up and framework, the ‘score’, the choreography of the present moment as practised and engaged in a studio by a dancer in the course of improvising, becomes a physical, external situation, a mirror, a playground, a reflection of the dancer’s relationship to themselves and the world, and other people in the world.
The practice studio becomes a laboratory for playing out the relationship of the dancer to themselves and other people. The dancer’s USE of themselves, their body and their mind, is all they have in this situation: it becomes transparent, it is made visible, it is WHAT the external conditions are drawing from, are asking to be made visible, are drawing from.
The physical conditions and set up of the compositional framework, the external conditions that are being proposed, mirror, reflect, magnify certain aspects of the dancer’s relationship to themselves, their own body and their lives, because the way the operate and organise themselves in relation to their mind and body is the way they operate in the studio and in the rest of their lives: the use of themselves is what is being made visible, and seen in the simple devices of using ‘pause’, ‘flow’, ‘exit’ – (Katie Duck)
The use of the eyes and the body in relation to the space and other people, the use of the ears and the body in relation to the space and other people.
This ability to be both completely present and relational and physically present and yet completely unattached; to be physically and technically available and relational and expressive and yet completely open and unattached and free of any story: we can see this being practiced in the score of ‘pause’, ‘flow’, ‘exit.’
• People
People are in the present: no story, no history or future.
So with that situation happening, the demand for physical virtuosity/high level skills and non-attached skills and dexterity, means non-attached emotional and psychological dexterity; which means blocks and neurosis and defences and habits - all of that is exposed in the studio. It's like an artistic social dancing ground, an artistic playground, a dancing playground, and Katie Duck is this specific character who is completely comfortable in that world; she is totally relaxed and yet totally present and physically and mentally available and at home in that environment of performative normality – her whole life is performative normality.
So a person’s USE in this sense IS the choreography. A person’s relationship to their physical world IS the choreography because the person and the dancer is writing the present moment along with the other dancers and people and musicians and people.
A person IS the choreography and if all the audience gets to see of the form, if this IS the choreography, if the form is that, then the USE, the WAY a person relates to their physicality and their mind, to their WORLD, is what the audience is going to receive. If that is the choreography, then that is what the dancer and everyone else, has to work with.
It is the conscious relationship of the dancer’s SELF to and with their mind and body, with their BEING in any given moment.
It is the conscious awareness of the interface between the person and the USE of themselves and their bodies and their dancing.
I propose to find ways to set up and create conditions which support consciousness of that relationship and to offer ways to give tools to the dancer to develop ease, responsiveness, safety, trust, in a non-judgemental, non-critical, positive environment;
I propose to offer experiences of learning and development and confidence within an ensemble composition and writing of the moment for dancers and musicians.
The art studio, the studio filled with dancers and people and musicians and people, is like a laboratory of USE; the dancing is the language, the form that is used, the music, is the language and the form that is used.
Holding in eyes, holding in breath, holding in body: this is USE of the self.
This is not about dancing. But it is USE in relation to the Self and this is a flow on into DANCING.
Dancing is an extension of the person’s USE of themselves in everyday life. This is what became crystal clear for me. Everyday life, the moment, doesn’t choose between everyday life and the life in the studio as a dancer. There is no distinction. A person’s Use of themselves on all levels, their eyes, their breath, their body, their mind, runs through everything.
Composing the Moment
What is involved in meeting every moment with a creative response?
What is involved in being creative in the moment, in every moment?
What is involved in meeting every moment with a creative response?
Creativity= open mindedness
Its the opposite of habit and narrow, closed mindedness.
Nothing about my physical or external environment is going to necessarily help or support me to decide to be creative and open minded about my response; my ability to choose my response is mine alone.
Self-observation/awareness is the first thing, the first tool to notice and not necessarily act on my trigger/habitual response, to watch it, to choose.
Creativity =
Choice, choosing
Composition =
What actually exists in the present moment in actual fact?
What can I see?
What can I hear?
What can I touch?
What can I feel?
What can I sense?
What is the present moment actually composed of?
What movement patterns are already laid down in my body that I can draw from and on in the present moment, to respond to the present moment?
What can I change about my patterns?
What neuro-muscular patterns are laid down, available to me in the present to draw on and choose from?
What is my movement repertoire?
What is my musical repertoire?
What is my vocal repertoire?
• Present
To be able to focus and apply a human body and mind in ways which are both specific and able to engage in:
- The interpretation of the present moment
- Act as a lens into the present moment as something which has a form
- and which is constantly changing.
This means the dancer needs to be present and engaged in a form that has an external focus and application and specificity and which is in constant motion.
To have eyes that see and move and change with the body that moves and changes means to have eyes that see without a story, with no history and projecting no future, to be in the present with what is, exactly what is, and that what is, changes every moment; to have ears that hear with no story or history, to have a body that moves and dances full out, with full access to vocabulary and a skill base with freedom, without a need to hold on to or preserve anything for posterity.
Dancing full out with no drama, no story, no fairy tale, no meaning, no psychology. A body and movement which is available for any and every tone change in relation to the choreography of the present moment.
A dancer who is physically present, emotionally present, mentally present with no drama, no story, no history or future investment;
The physicality of the body needs to have underlying neutrality and it needs to return to that neutrality. It needs to draw from a range of choices, to be available for the choreography of the present moment, which will change constantly. Without that underlying tone of neutrality if cannot be available for change. It means there is an investment in a story, an investment in an outcome, an expectation of some kind. Inherent in a story is an expectation or an investment in a specific outcome: and that means she is not available for a different story, in a different moment. It’s like the dancer or person isn’t invested and has a different outcome or different relationship to their body and to movement which is essentially one of freedom.
The physical situation has a very high degree of versatility, flexibility, fearlessness, non-attachment, awareness, neutrality, range and skill base, whilst being potentially responsive to any given situation which can change at any moment; the story is being written in the moment; the choreography is being made in the present moment, so there has to be a lightness, a non-attachment, which is not the same as non-investment, in the physical situation or the conditions that are present.
The person’s relationship to themselves, to their body, their mind, their dancing body; this relationship of the person and dancer to their body and mind determines their Use: the use of themselves as people; it is what runs through every moment of their waking day, of their lives, as well as their dancing. ‘USE’ - a person’s use of themselves, is difficult to address and teach in relation to improvisation and dancing.
The dancer’s and person’s application, how they apply, relate, to the conditions which are set up in the studio in the course of a structured improvisation (for example), says everything about the way they relate to their mind and body in any other given moment.
So the physical conditions, the physical set up and framework, the ‘score’, the choreography of the present moment as practised and engaged in a studio by a dancer in the course of improvising, becomes a physical, external situation, a mirror, a playground, a reflection of the dancer’s relationship to themselves and the world, and other people in the world.
The practice studio becomes a laboratory for playing out the relationship of the dancer to themselves and other people. The dancer’s USE of themselves, their body and their mind, is all they have in this situation: it becomes transparent, it is made visible, it is WHAT the external conditions are drawing from, are asking to be made visible, are drawing from.
The physical conditions and set up of the compositional framework, the external conditions that are being proposed, mirror, reflect, magnify certain aspects of the dancer’s relationship to themselves, their own body and their lives, because the way the operate and organise themselves in relation to their mind and body is the way they operate in the studio and in the rest of their lives: the use of themselves is what is being made visible, and seen in the simple devices of using ‘pause’, ‘flow’, ‘exit’ – (Katie Duck)
The use of the eyes and the body in relation to the space and other people, the use of the ears and the body in relation to the space and other people.
This ability to be both completely present and relational and physically present and yet completely unattached; to be physically and technically available and relational and expressive and yet completely open and unattached and free of any story: we can see this being practiced in the score of ‘pause’, ‘flow’, ‘exit.’
• People
People are in the present: no story, no history or future.
So with that situation happening, the demand for physical virtuosity/high level skills and non-attached skills and dexterity, means non-attached emotional and psychological dexterity; which means blocks and neurosis and defences and habits - all of that is exposed in the studio. It's like an artistic social dancing ground, an artistic playground, a dancing playground, and Katie Duck is this specific character who is completely comfortable in that world; she is totally relaxed and yet totally present and physically and mentally available and at home in that environment of performative normality – her whole life is performative normality.
So a person’s USE in this sense IS the choreography. A person’s relationship to their physical world IS the choreography because the person and the dancer is writing the present moment along with the other dancers and people and musicians and people.
A person IS the choreography and if all the audience gets to see of the form, if this IS the choreography, if the form is that, then the USE, the WAY a person relates to their physicality and their mind, to their WORLD, is what the audience is going to receive. If that is the choreography, then that is what the dancer and everyone else, has to work with.
It is the conscious relationship of the dancer’s SELF to and with their mind and body, with their BEING in any given moment.
It is the conscious awareness of the interface between the person and the USE of themselves and their bodies and their dancing.
I propose to find ways to set up and create conditions which support consciousness of that relationship and to offer ways to give tools to the dancer to develop ease, responsiveness, safety, trust, in a non-judgemental, non-critical, positive environment;
I propose to offer experiences of learning and development and confidence within an ensemble composition and writing of the moment for dancers and musicians.
The art studio, the studio filled with dancers and people and musicians and people, is like a laboratory of USE; the dancing is the language, the form that is used, the music, is the language and the form that is used.
Holding in eyes, holding in breath, holding in body: this is USE of the self.
This is not about dancing. But it is USE in relation to the Self and this is a flow on into DANCING.
Dancing is an extension of the person’s USE of themselves in everyday life. This is what became crystal clear for me. Everyday life, the moment, doesn’t choose between everyday life and the life in the studio as a dancer. There is no distinction. A person’s Use of themselves on all levels, their eyes, their breath, their body, their mind, runs through everything.
Composing the Moment
What is involved in meeting every moment with a creative response?
What is involved in being creative in the moment, in every moment?
What is involved in meeting every moment with a creative response?
Creativity= open mindedness
Its the opposite of habit and narrow, closed mindedness.
Nothing about my physical or external environment is going to necessarily help or support me to decide to be creative and open minded about my response; my ability to choose my response is mine alone.
Self-observation/awareness is the first thing, the first tool to notice and not necessarily act on my trigger/habitual response, to watch it, to choose.
Creativity =
Choice, choosing
Composition =
What actually exists in the present moment in actual fact?
What can I see?
What can I hear?
What can I touch?
What can I feel?
What can I sense?
What is the present moment actually composed of?
What movement patterns are already laid down in my body that I can draw from and on in the present moment, to respond to the present moment?
What can I change about my patterns?
What neuro-muscular patterns are laid down, available to me in the present to draw on and choose from?
What is my movement repertoire?
What is my musical repertoire?
What is my vocal repertoire?
No comments:
Post a Comment