During improvisation today we worked on using the frontal plane and we were only allowed to use out arms. Going either way across our bodies and up or down diagonal both ways, this allowed me to think about what I could to beside swipe across my body and what I could do with my frontal plane. Whilst being with our partners if we swiped the same side we would then have to do the same movement as each other and carry on, the movement would have to be across our frontal plane. This enable me to think about what open and closed movements I could do involving my frontal plane and incorporating that into my improvisational practice. After this it turned into a travelling swipe across with different partners one person would have to swipe whilst the other would figure a way to move around the swiping through the frontal plane. It made me feel aware of my partner through the space and a way to progress from this as well was to the swiping and movement much more intentional. This then changed to copying a partner across the space, the intention from this exercise for me was to develop new ideas and movement partners which we can add to our own improvisational practice, still coming away from that habitual movement and encouraging my body in new directions for new ideas. We did this for a while constantly changing the partners we were with developing new movements and becoming aware of their movement. What I noticed during this exercise is that I need to use my upper body more meaning my chest and the planes I can use within my kinesphere.
Improvisational imagery and impulse, this involved us working in partners and tapping parts of the body, responding to the given impulse. I noticed doing this from last time I work in circular patterns a lot still and that’s a go to shape for me. There were three given images given to use at different times we had the imagery of seaweed, kitten and wrestler.
Seaweed – when I was being tapped this thought of seaweed made my movement feel very flowing and I found that I didn’t travel across the space much because seaweed is usually very still. My movement was very focused around the arms and this annoyed me a little because I want to try and come away from using my arms as my go to first movement. As time has gone on I have noticed that my arms are go to habitual movement.
Kitten – the kitten movement was not my favourite out the three being tapped, it found my movement was very jolted and jagged which I really didn’t enjoy much as all.
Wrestler – the wrestler was my favourite out the three because you could really see the difference within the dynamics and movement. It made the movement become much heavier and I found that when I was moving it was grounded and I travelled a lot.
Thomas Lehmen
Social system – interactions between the dancer and choreographer.
Visible choreographer – is a person who plays a double by role by being part of the network and producing its components and leading the selection process.
Choreography as a social system is a movement selection process led by choreographer, they play an active part of the performance event itself these process become much more visible by illustrating the operation of the social system. By there being a visible choreographer being part of the network it makes the choreographer visible to create a double role. This offers a shift in social dynamics, challenging the identifying feature within the of the choreographer and dancers.
During Thomas Lehmen’s piece Funktionen (2004) he uses five different functions these are material, mediation, observation, manipulation and interpretation. These are in a non-hierarchical order and the performers are free to move between the different functions. Funktionen explore the organisation between the performers within these functions, tasks and their adaptation to given changes. Thomas Lehmen works with different democratic structures focusing on communication between the performers.
Democratic – empower the performer to take ownership
Autocratic – you have to do this…
“The system aims towards a kind of work that understands itself as a group of changeable interactive structures, which are based on communication between the constituting factors. Basically, it is possible to show the human being within, in friction with or beyond a system of structures, thereby making either the constituting factors transparent or placing results in the foreground.” (Lehmen, 2010)
Skills needed and choreographer need to;
• Experienced and highly skilled in improvisation
• able to react in the moment
• taking ownership of their responses to tasks
• be confident to explore the tasks in their own way without worrying about the director’s intention – being judged (choreographer, audience)
• The system aims towards a kind of work that understands
• itself as a group of changeable interactive structures, which are based on communication between the constituting factors.
• possible to show the human being within
• friction with or beyond a system of structures
• making either the constituting factors transparent or placing results in the foreground. (Lehmen, 2010)
Points to think about in my improvisational process
Empathy – “The link between dancers, it occurs not only by the means of actions but also of emotions… An empathic ‘choreography’ is a metaphor of cooperative and co-built relational activity that emerges from dance improvisation. In dance improvisation, an empathic ‘choreography’ occurs based on collective intelligence that generates a temporary structuring of movement…built at the present moment.” (Ribero, M and AGAR, F, 2011, 81)
Empthay- is a process that enables undertsanding of emotions and intentions among people.
Congnition model – based on body sensations linking the perceptions of the body situated in space and time; the body context whichc organaises dancer, improvisation and enviroment.
Motivity – the motive is the idea that allows the action to arise and rearise.
Rule – something that is set to enhance cognative challenge and challenge motor habit
Mirror nureons – enables us to establish a direct connection between the one who sends the message an the receptor.
Intentonalised listening – provides collective diesision making in the ephereral constrution of imrpovsaitional ‘choreogrpahy’. This hearing requires avalibility, flexability an affectivly. ( lisenting to others bodies within the space)
Emobodied Cognition – understanding that takes place in the body. (how we embody our thinking)
Kinasethic Perception – resulting in a collective body intelligence.
Situated Cognition – reinforces the idea that dancers movment and their space are continuously rebuilt and aquire new meaning from their relationship.
Bilblogrpahy
Husemann,P. The Functioning of Thomas Lehmen’s Funktionen.
SiNS Dance (2010) Schreibstuck-Vancouver [entertainment]. 10 July. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EaaFKu3_Y8 [acessed 9th March 2016].