COMPOSURE - Part III Session 26

ADMIN:
This is our last session before our 12-hour improvisation event so we
-worked out some logistics
-set up the space
-planned our food
-organised clothing colours
-practiced a live-feed video [check in to our Composure Facebook page from 3pm on Saturday to engage with our improvisation practice!]
-wrote notes on how our audience can engage tomorrow:

We want you to;

-offer an idea for us to create movement with
-join us as a shifter (dancer) in creating the improvisation

-take on the role of shaper and direct/lead an improvisation
-investigate, with us, our methods of working and creating

-play an instrument and we can improvise together
-change the music!

-observe: sit and watch it all unfold!
-call RESET when you want the improv to end
-engage in our discussion about making dance; what decisions do we make inside an improvisation / how do we make dance work / how do we view dance work / in what ways do we engage in performance as an audience member / how can we explore that audience-performer relationship

-take photos: tag us -  Facebook: ‘Composure’ or Instagram: #composureproject
-write / reflect / ask questions on the paper provided at the end of the room

-connect on our blog composureproject.blogspot.co.nz

Join us for a few minutes or stay for an hour or two or 12. Return later to see our progress!


IMPROVISATION:
We began with a face-off
Led to two duets
OG shaped: EF&SF go with the music, LC&JD go against the music
LC&JD narrated SF&RA duet

RESET: we have developed a new tool

RESET is a word that clears the space.
-anyone of us can use it, if we feel that the improv has come to an end, if we feel that the improv is going nowhere, if we just need to start on a new idea!
-audience can use RESET too
-if we hear RESET, we all stop and physically leave the space. While other directions can be interpreted however we want, reset is one that we all do it! we can then re-gather and start a fresh improv or someone from audience can offer idea.

During the second improv OG, as shaper, gave an offer that didn't work. We reacted. We explained our reaction. We offered SF (who was watching) an opportunity for us to re-do the ending. We re-did the ending.
We are open/honest in our failings. We test an alternative possibility. We learn from our decisions.

We are really excited for our 12-hour improvisation tomorrow! 11am - 11pm at the Samoa House Studio. We would love if you join us -at any time, and in any way! XX

Composure - Part III Session 25

WARM UP 

“Class” 

-consisting of exercises and phrases, original and learned. Danced together, in unison. Synchronised. Pulse. Breathing as one. Research into how the start to our session could affect our improvisation in comparison to the last session.

Today we were tired and loose. Ideas were unfocused and brief, all seeming to have a similar arc and timeline. As opposed to Thursday’s richness of whole group encounters, today was filled with a lot of duets and solos – a very different performance situation, which drove a beautiful use of space by partnerships and individuals. We consider why / how / what makes these changes

LC video called us

-From Wellington

-LC helped shape the improv, giving direction through OG as an agent for delivery of her suggestions.

An unusual and exciting way of utilising technology to stay connected and share our dancing.

We decided what food we will eat on Saturday the 25 February.

Composure - Part III Session 24

WARM UP

 “Class” 

-consisting of exercises and phrases, original and learned. 

Danced together, in unison. Synchronised. Pulse. Breathing as one.

We let the space breathe for a few moments post-warm up. As it settles, we enter individually allowing our intuition to guide us. Hearts still beating fast – as one. Sweating still – dripping. A respectful approach to the Fale and our performance space – an acknowledgement.

IMPROVISATION

An improvisation begins. It is ceremonial in its beginning; derived (we think) from the oneness established during warm up. This continues for the next hour and a half; a phronetic session where ideas seem to be explored to a near perfect end, with shifters slipping from the scene just as the time is right, pushing a smooth transition or progression into a development of the idea, or an alternative option.

Music was also utilised in a particularly satisfying way. There were times where a track was played to drive the scene toward a more concrete focus, adding mood, as well as a few instances where the music was used to support a specific intention; Rihanna’s “Diamonds” was used when EF and JD were in a zealous duet singing about being a star shine bright like a diamond in the sky

We talked about music and its effect on our performance qualities, and the possibility of compiling several playlists for the 12-hour Improvisation which we could use to layer quality/drive sections in a particular way, or to provide a challenge

COMPOSURE - Sat 25 Feb, 11am-11pm, Samoa House Studio

COMPOSURE - Part III Session 23

We welcomed back two of our practitioners who have created in and with Composure since the start of the project at dance school. It was SO great to have the energy and creativity feeding our improvisation.

WARM UP
Musical movement
-play a variety of different tracks
-move to the music
-do what your body needs to do

CONVEYOR BELT
This is a task to begin an improvisation, an 'in' 

We walk, up and down
We break away, move and come back
The conveyor belt dissolves and movement evolves
-the task requires us to be individuals, within a collective structure (spatial and rhythmical) We must keep our awareness out to how the other(s) are contributing how we can compliment or CONTRAST the worlds that unfold.
-set up, wave, whirlpool, clear

The improvisation developed in to various 2s, 3s, 1s, Then we moved as a group with a single focus/purpose. We divided again and then again and then swapped in and out.

SOME REFLECTIONS
-sometimes we have a great idea, but need to hold on to it until the right moment. We know when that moment arises
-sometimes, we have an impulse which we need to activate straight away. We know when we have missed the moment
The more we improvise, together, the more we can tune in to these type of decision making 

-If we wander, how do we pull back in to the group? (what are our strategies...)

JD - jump in to what someone else is doing / copy
EF - investigate someone / copy
LC - make a spatial decision/connection / copy
RA - build intense focus on someone - eventually drops both into something interesting.

We made a timelapse video....   will upload soon!

COMPOSURE - Part III Session 22

COMPOSURE - Part III Session 21

Warm up: Body work
-muscle: massage, pat, invigorate, activate
-bones: shake
-voice: make noise through physical impulse (where does the voice physically sit, how can voice be a physical reaction rather than a pre-planned thought)

We compose the space again. The space is smaller this week (Dojo rehearsal space) and our compositions are instinctively more connected in the design of lines or clusters. The improvisation develops for a while, each shifter contributing, making, shaping the piece.

Trio: Shaper – EF
L&B moving, J narrating
The narration and the moving is circular: each influences the other
The shaping and the shifting is circular: each influences the other

Duet: Shapers – EF & LC
Shifters - J&B
-journey together, swirls on ground, pause/drop, contact which builds and into massive/crazy/throwing movement, rest & hug, roll
There was a moment (in the pause/drop) in which the shapers thought the duet had come to a close, but the shifters did not hear the instruction – and continued. The following movement was exquisite. This brings up questions: Who is shaping. Whose choreographic interests are we fulfilling. How do know when to end and when to continue. How can we push through the potential ends to find further interesting movement ideas.

We reflected that the shaper is creating with head, their logic, their choreographic experience, their vision and the shifter is creating with their body, their muscle memory, their physical experience. Where do our impulses meet. What is the ground in the middle, when we can access both modes of making.

Awareness vs. innate knowledge vs. intuition vs. judgement vs. impulses

A fantastic thought from another project:
“If there is nothing to do, do nothing.”

COMPOSURE - Part III Session 20

LONG session: 4 hours
We are preparing for our sharing at the Auckland Fringe Festival 

We met and planned our time:

-make a record of all the tasks we’ve ever done
-discuss potential ways in and out of improvisations throughout the afternoon
-warm-up
-move into an improvisation
-talk
-improvisation
-talk

These our the main tasks we’ve created, borrowed, chanced upon. These are our pillars of exploration; we can come back to these throughout an improvisation, to develop and deepen the movement being created.

We began with a task to compose the space:
-we walk, set our body in a place, pause. We continue this pattern as a way to meet the space, to create connection in and with the space.
-we walk, set out body in a place in relation to an other, pause. We build our connection with each other through the space.
-we walk, set our body in a place in relation to an other, move. We listen to impulses of movement - exploring, warming up, creating.

This shifts into an improvisation, we build on these impulses. We continue to explore and eventually someone emerges as a shaper – usually out of the desire to experience something specific, or from finding a lack of something, or for having some genius idea.

Double Duet: Shaper - LC
Shifter - BM&RT: Fluid, 1 body 2 minds, inter-weave/twine, string, knot, slip away but return
Shifter - OG&EF: Mirror each other, spatially they frame BM&RT,
The duets are the same (tension, speed, disposition)
The duets are different (direction, focus, spatial intimacy)

Duet: Shapers - LC & OG
Shifters – EF&BM:
1. BM on back
2. EF join and merge rhythm / pattern
3. Intertwine bodies
4. EF in charge “90/10 relationship, E you are 90”
5. Move around floor
6. Change speeds “each change your speed, differently to eachother”
7. Change focus “change focus”
8. EF make BM look good “B develop a character” “E make B look good”
9. Newly weds dance -> conversation “you are newly weds doing your first dance, talk about it”
10. Argument “continue in that direction, you don’t agree”
11. Resolution “find a way to conclude”

Rodney & Elle

O and L giving instructions: Working together we could run ideas by each other first, to create a shared vision for the improv. Did the other agree on the direction? Did we both think it needed the same thing? How best to word an offer?
PHYSICAL OFFER: When the argument was building it became stagnant and we needed to offer a direction, but a verbal instruction would have interrupted B and E flow. So we gave them a pillow each to hold – a physical offer. Their (automatic/intrinsic) physical response through posturing and gesture deepened their character and strengthened the scene. This relationship to the pillow helped them move past the stagnant territory and heighten then resolve the scene.


NOTICE RE: STUDIO
This studio is stunning!! Look at the lighting!! Great location too (central Auckland) .... if anyone is looking to hire a beautiful dance space please contact Jenny - jennydancer@paradise.net.nz