Sunday, 13 November 2016
Saturday, 12 November 2016
Composure - Part III Session 10
July - November 2016
CHARACTER
Following on from an improvisation 3 sessions ago in which Rodney put a bag on his head and created a character, we decided to explore how to make characters -specifically through use of props/costume.
WARM UP
-vocals
-voice and movement
-movement and voice
-create a vocal duet
TASK
-choose a prop (there were about 30 props [mainly random household items])
-explore use of prop in as many ways OTHER than its intended/normal use
-settle on a way of using / wearing / interacting with the prop
-explore the character that emerged (who am I? how do I move? what can/do I do? what space am I in? why am I in this place?)
-if appropriate chose another prop; add to the character and re:explore new possibilities / options
-begin (slowly, in own time) to interact with the other characters (who are the other characters? what do I think about them? how do I interact with them? can I talk? -how?)
....
IMPROVISATION
-the above task led into a 45 minute improvisation, as the characters
How did we all approach developing and exploring our characters?
Omea: immediately used hand cream as microphone and became that type of chr -drew on current events eg Donald Trump campaign
Jaz: used props to hide -but it became difficult to move on from that idea
Ben: a blanket was difficult to abstract
Elle: easily/quickly came up with lots of different options with leather jacket
Omea: character became pedestrian HOW DO WE ABSTRACT A CHARACTER INTO MOVEMENT??
Reece: broke the prop; then became cautious and developed chr from there
Joanne: less movement based as the props were so specific (possibly restrictive)
Leah: entered a trance-like state within my character's relationship with another chr
-there were lots of great 'coincidences' : Jaz read a story which seemed to explain Ben and Elle's duet
-we used lights / lamps to shape the piece
-someone began to sing; we all began to sing this was a strong action to unite the group
Perhaps next time, rather than do the task then merge in to the improvisation, we could explore/create/develop the characters, then stop, then start the improvisation. This w/could make the interactions more deliberate and the structure of the work more cohesive.
[Elle and Jas]
[Omea]
[Reece and Ben]
[Joanne and Leah]
[Rodney]
[Rodney]
CHARACTER
Following on from an improvisation 3 sessions ago in which Rodney put a bag on his head and created a character, we decided to explore how to make characters -specifically through use of props/costume.
WARM UP
-vocals
-voice and movement
-movement and voice
-create a vocal duet
TASK
-choose a prop (there were about 30 props [mainly random household items])
-explore use of prop in as many ways OTHER than its intended/normal use
-settle on a way of using / wearing / interacting with the prop
-explore the character that emerged (who am I? how do I move? what can/do I do? what space am I in? why am I in this place?)
-if appropriate chose another prop; add to the character and re:explore new possibilities / options
-begin (slowly, in own time) to interact with the other characters (who are the other characters? what do I think about them? how do I interact with them? can I talk? -how?)
....
IMPROVISATION
-the above task led into a 45 minute improvisation, as the characters
How did we all approach developing and exploring our characters?
Omea: immediately used hand cream as microphone and became that type of chr -drew on current events eg Donald Trump campaign
Jaz: used props to hide -but it became difficult to move on from that idea
Ben: a blanket was difficult to abstract
Elle: easily/quickly came up with lots of different options with leather jacket
Omea: character became pedestrian HOW DO WE ABSTRACT A CHARACTER INTO MOVEMENT??
Reece: broke the prop; then became cautious and developed chr from there
Joanne: less movement based as the props were so specific (possibly restrictive)
Leah: entered a trance-like state within my character's relationship with another chr
-there were lots of great 'coincidences' : Jaz read a story which seemed to explain Ben and Elle's duet
-we used lights / lamps to shape the piece
-someone began to sing; we all began to sing this was a strong action to unite the group
Perhaps next time, rather than do the task then merge in to the improvisation, we could explore/create/develop the characters, then stop, then start the improvisation. This w/could make the interactions more deliberate and the structure of the work more cohesive.
[Elle and Jas]
[Omea]
[Reece and Ben]
[Joanne and Leah]
[Rodney]
[Rodney]
Wednesday, 9 November 2016
Composure - Part III Session 9
July - November 2016
WARM UP:
Flocking
(this is a classic improvisation exercise)
-creative movement
-tuning in with other and with group
-warming up physical body and creative mind
-push self to engage
-build group connection (key aspect)
TASK:
-identify personal point of choreographic interest
-research that idea
-develop that idea as shaper by creating a work with 1-4 shifters (with audience watching)
Identify Idea:
-what am I interested in? / what do I like watching? / how do I like making?
Research Idea
-3 minutes to investigate ideas and generate as many options/possibilities/ways to explore idea
-discern favourite options
Develop Idea
-use 1--4 shapers
-direct idea / shapers
-the creating of the piece is the creation (the audience watches the process)
EF:
-idea: collide / morph
-shapers as individuals, colliding with other/space
with my instructions, I did not quite get what I wanted, it was almost there!
yet I let the dancers find it
RT:
-cover face / move with body without face (what if I couldn't see)
-shapers cover face / exploring their face
the music influenced the shapers movement, I didn't like that = change music
BM:
-(could not physicalise thoughts)
-tried different ideas out with group: repeated/developed the idea 'go back to the start'
I added a layer each time, developed my thought, changed my wording, adapted the instructions. I discovered what I wanted as I wanted it to happen
JD:
-particular quality of movement/voice (have been playing with for a few months)
-does someone else's thought pattern influence the other?
How can I articulate my own way of working/moving/talking to pass on to another? Used imagery, though the shapers interpreted it differently than expected. Let shapers chose when to action new instruction
LC:
-action of hugging (how many things can I hug? try all the ways of hugging)
-chose the most interesting ways of hugging -instructed shapers to explore that way
I knew what hugs I wanted to see the shapers explore, I know the spacing I wanted to look at. I set up the shapers in symmetrical positions and gave the first few instructions. Then my next ideas were inspired by how the shapers interpreted the first instructions.
WARM UP:
Flocking
(this is a classic improvisation exercise)
-creative movement
-tuning in with other and with group
-warming up physical body and creative mind
-push self to engage
-build group connection (key aspect)
TASK:
-identify personal point of choreographic interest
-research that idea
-develop that idea as shaper by creating a work with 1-4 shifters (with audience watching)
Identify Idea:
-what am I interested in? / what do I like watching? / how do I like making?
Research Idea
-3 minutes to investigate ideas and generate as many options/possibilities/ways to explore idea
-discern favourite options
Develop Idea
-use 1--4 shapers
-direct idea / shapers
-the creating of the piece is the creation (the audience watches the process)
EF:
-idea: collide / morph
-shapers as individuals, colliding with other/space
with my instructions, I did not quite get what I wanted, it was almost there!
yet I let the dancers find it
RT:
-cover face / move with body without face (what if I couldn't see)
-shapers cover face / exploring their face
the music influenced the shapers movement, I didn't like that = change music
BM:
-(could not physicalise thoughts)
-tried different ideas out with group: repeated/developed the idea 'go back to the start'
I added a layer each time, developed my thought, changed my wording, adapted the instructions. I discovered what I wanted as I wanted it to happen
JD:
-particular quality of movement/voice (have been playing with for a few months)
-does someone else's thought pattern influence the other?
How can I articulate my own way of working/moving/talking to pass on to another? Used imagery, though the shapers interpreted it differently than expected. Let shapers chose when to action new instruction
LC:
-action of hugging (how many things can I hug? try all the ways of hugging)
-chose the most interesting ways of hugging -instructed shapers to explore that way
I knew what hugs I wanted to see the shapers explore, I know the spacing I wanted to look at. I set up the shapers in symmetrical positions and gave the first few instructions. Then my next ideas were inspired by how the shapers interpreted the first instructions.
Composure Part III - Session 8
July - Novemeber 2016
Live Sound Exploration
Tonight we invited experienced improviser and live-sound artist Kristian Larsen to join us and contribute sound to our work. We sought to explore the role of live music and how that would influence our movement and out creating and then also how our movement/creations might influence the making of the movement.
IMPROVISATION [1 hour long]
guidelines:
-we were all shifters
-anyone could step out to be the shaper
-experience how live music can shape/shift the piece (explore this relationship)
-Kristian had the timer and at the end would direct the conclusion
Some really awesome things happened in our improvisation and we all responded really differently to the sound.
Elle: sound changed her approach a lot, was always reacting or letting the sound initiate the movement. went into a dance/performance mode
Rodney: was either going with or going against the sound, this helped him shift his awareness
Leah: used sound to initiate a movement idea but then left the sound to explore the movement
Cushla: was aware of the sound but purposefully go against it (but then that actually is going with the music)
We talked about a cycle of interaction: we go with the sound, we try to go against the sound, but as we go further from the sound we actually go with it...but in an opposite manner, to the point that we are just going with the sound. Maybe that's just human nature, we can't avoid or ignore the sounds of our everyday worlds, nor can we in a performative sense.
Some observations from Kristian:
-perhaps we became distracted by the sound (not used to having live sound)
-with an open narrative there are endless possibilities; creating some kind of limitation-could we be more specific with - content / material / movement / tools / skills
-dance = people behaving
-how do coincidences work?
-we could do further research into other dance forms which operate fully in an improvised sense eg tango, break dancing, martial arts [what are their principles of creating, interacting]
Live Sound Exploration
Tonight we invited experienced improviser and live-sound artist Kristian Larsen to join us and contribute sound to our work. We sought to explore the role of live music and how that would influence our movement and out creating and then also how our movement/creations might influence the making of the movement.
IMPROVISATION [1 hour long]
guidelines:
-we were all shifters
-anyone could step out to be the shaper
-experience how live music can shape/shift the piece (explore this relationship)
-Kristian had the timer and at the end would direct the conclusion
Some really awesome things happened in our improvisation and we all responded really differently to the sound.
Elle: sound changed her approach a lot, was always reacting or letting the sound initiate the movement. went into a dance/performance mode
Rodney: was either going with or going against the sound, this helped him shift his awareness
Leah: used sound to initiate a movement idea but then left the sound to explore the movement
Cushla: was aware of the sound but purposefully go against it (but then that actually is going with the music)
We talked about a cycle of interaction: we go with the sound, we try to go against the sound, but as we go further from the sound we actually go with it...but in an opposite manner, to the point that we are just going with the sound. Maybe that's just human nature, we can't avoid or ignore the sounds of our everyday worlds, nor can we in a performative sense.
Some observations from Kristian:
-perhaps we became distracted by the sound (not used to having live sound)
-with an open narrative there are endless possibilities; creating some kind of limitation-could we be more specific with - content / material / movement / tools / skills
-dance = people behaving
-how do coincidences work?
-we could do further research into other dance forms which operate fully in an improvised sense eg tango, break dancing, martial arts [what are their principles of creating, interacting]
Tuesday, 4 October 2016
Composure - Part III Session 7
July - November 2016
After a small hiatus for a couple of weeks we jumped into our practice with a 1 hour improvisation: our favourite way of really exploring our own personal and our collective interests -and to put all of our tools into practice!
WARM UP:
we played a random playlist of songs and moved to the music!
-explore the lyrics / the mode of the song / the melody
-create relationships with other through the music
-act/ion the song
-can change the music at anytime
-go with first reaction to music
This is one of our favourite warm ups because it's fun, we can be silly, we can be energetic, we can engage as much as we need to warm our bodies up. In a way, this is our 'bad improv' time; to get rid of our movement diarrhea / clear our random movement desires so that we later can settle and focus on creating our interesting worlds.
IMPROVISATION [1 hour long]
we all engaged different tactics to enter and then to remain contributing to the improvisation:
Ben + Cushla: were both invested in developing a relationship but both did not want the other to know. Used different modes of not looking at the other, being subtle with the way the other influenced their work. Eventually it became a mutual duet and as they moved the duet changed heaps but through all changed they remained together, pursuing the next idea to it's fullest.
Elle: began with something that felt good, and continued to exhaust that idea:
Reece + Leah: reincorporated the idea of connected heads and various noise-influence-movement moments
Rodney: created a character -bag on head and explored various postures and props (character work would be a really interesting avenue to pursue)
In this improvisation, non of us really stepped out to take the role of the shaper.
-most felt it was shaping itself
-it is a hard role, with an element of the pressure to make it 'good'
-once, someone stepped out and it looked good enough already so they jumped back in without making any changes
-some thought that/waited for someone else to step out
Also, it was relatively low energy, something that as a group we find hard to shift. If there is an outside influence - music, a shaper giving big instructions - then we often respond with energetic movement but it is really hard work for someone on the inside to pull the group into a level of high energy.
In some ways it seems like the project is shifting away from discovering what the role of the shaper is. Maybe we are becoming stronger improvisers? Maybe we are undertaking the shaper role simultaneously to our doing the shifter role? Maybe it's too hard and we need a new access point into the role of the shaper?
-We would like to keep exploring the relationship of the shaper-shifter / shifter-shaper as this where we can really identify the mode of live-decision making and (from an audience's point of view (yet, this is not a main focus for us!)) that is the really rich / interesting place of questioning / discovery.
All of us noted that many of our daily factors influenced tonight's improvisation. We use these elements to explore our movement and ideas within the improvisation (often as an opening point but also throughout. (Sometimes these are concious choices, other times we only realise upon reflection)
-tiredness
-one has been watching psycho TV shows
-sore neck
-haven't stopped to look at anything
-wanting human interaction
After a small hiatus for a couple of weeks we jumped into our practice with a 1 hour improvisation: our favourite way of really exploring our own personal and our collective interests -and to put all of our tools into practice!
WARM UP:
we played a random playlist of songs and moved to the music!
-explore the lyrics / the mode of the song / the melody
-create relationships with other through the music
-act/ion the song
-can change the music at anytime
-go with first reaction to music
This is one of our favourite warm ups because it's fun, we can be silly, we can be energetic, we can engage as much as we need to warm our bodies up. In a way, this is our 'bad improv' time; to get rid of our movement diarrhea / clear our random movement desires so that we later can settle and focus on creating our interesting worlds.
IMPROVISATION [1 hour long]
we all engaged different tactics to enter and then to remain contributing to the improvisation:
Ben + Cushla: were both invested in developing a relationship but both did not want the other to know. Used different modes of not looking at the other, being subtle with the way the other influenced their work. Eventually it became a mutual duet and as they moved the duet changed heaps but through all changed they remained together, pursuing the next idea to it's fullest.
Elle: began with something that felt good, and continued to exhaust that idea:
Reece + Leah: reincorporated the idea of connected heads and various noise-influence-movement moments
Rodney: created a character -bag on head and explored various postures and props (character work would be a really interesting avenue to pursue)
In this improvisation, non of us really stepped out to take the role of the shaper.
-most felt it was shaping itself
-it is a hard role, with an element of the pressure to make it 'good'
-once, someone stepped out and it looked good enough already so they jumped back in without making any changes
-some thought that/waited for someone else to step out
Also, it was relatively low energy, something that as a group we find hard to shift. If there is an outside influence - music, a shaper giving big instructions - then we often respond with energetic movement but it is really hard work for someone on the inside to pull the group into a level of high energy.
In some ways it seems like the project is shifting away from discovering what the role of the shaper is. Maybe we are becoming stronger improvisers? Maybe we are undertaking the shaper role simultaneously to our doing the shifter role? Maybe it's too hard and we need a new access point into the role of the shaper?
-We would like to keep exploring the relationship of the shaper-shifter / shifter-shaper as this where we can really identify the mode of live-decision making and (from an audience's point of view (yet, this is not a main focus for us!)) that is the really rich / interesting place of questioning / discovery.
All of us noted that many of our daily factors influenced tonight's improvisation. We use these elements to explore our movement and ideas within the improvisation (often as an opening point but also throughout. (Sometimes these are concious choices, other times we only realise upon reflection)
-tiredness
-one has been watching psycho TV shows
-sore neck
-haven't stopped to look at anything
-wanting human interaction
Monday, 15 August 2016
Composure - Part III Session 5
July - November 2016
We partnered through pressure, through giving pressure and receiving pressure. We could offer pressure to joints or to the middle of bones, we could give it opposition-ally (hands on either side of a joint eg front and back of shoulder) or complimenting-ly (hands on the same place eg on both shoulders) The person receiving is aware of these differences. This lead to a long partnering improvisation exploring pressure, through and between two body parts, the moments of moving to the next pressure. We focused on being vertical. Some lift opportunities arose.
BIOSIS DUET
Again we worked on our biosis duet, the swirling, the disrupting, the entering, the continuing of the partnership.
-catch, throw, grab
-good to interrupt with different methods -catch / throw self in / throw self out / throw other out
-we observe that our natural patterns of interruption (are we hesitant or bold) effect how we approach the duet. We try to challenge these patterns
IMPROVISATION
we did 5 little improvisations, each of us directing a 5 min duet or trio. We made some interesting discoveries about our methods and approaches to being the shaper and being the shifter.
shaperwhat/when/how/why/where do you make decisions?
what/when/how/why/where do you give directions?
Cushla
-aware of spatial relationships, if not satisfying, she will change
-chooses how she views the relationship, enters space to see from another angle
Rodney
-identified the shifters natural, small gestures and built from there
-outside/other interests influenced directions
-if he didn't get idea or movement that he wanted, he continued to clarify the directions through use of more specific words
Geo
-enjoys being on the outside and seeing the whole improv, the complete/full picture
-sees an opportunity for humour and embellishes that
-play off what shifters are already doing and enhances
Leah
-views and directs from in the space, creates a third relationship -duet becomes trio
-alters method of giving direction -loud/quiet so the audience either included or excluded
-struggles to interrupt shifters if they are on a good path
-offers directions with large amount of freedom for shifters to interpret
Ben
-sees space in its entirety and understands how a change in one area will effect everything else
-often mimics dancer or moves to explore/understand what movement/movement quality he wants in order to better explain it
-gives quiet instructions to specific shifters so that either the audience is in the dark or even another shifter, creating new levels of tension,
-gives tasks which require a long duration to achieve
We partnered through pressure, through giving pressure and receiving pressure. We could offer pressure to joints or to the middle of bones, we could give it opposition-ally (hands on either side of a joint eg front and back of shoulder) or complimenting-ly (hands on the same place eg on both shoulders) The person receiving is aware of these differences. This lead to a long partnering improvisation exploring pressure, through and between two body parts, the moments of moving to the next pressure. We focused on being vertical. Some lift opportunities arose.
Rodney and Ben
BIOSIS DUET
Again we worked on our biosis duet, the swirling, the disrupting, the entering, the continuing of the partnership.
-catch, throw, grab
-good to interrupt with different methods -catch / throw self in / throw self out / throw other out
-we observe that our natural patterns of interruption (are we hesitant or bold) effect how we approach the duet. We try to challenge these patterns
IMPROVISATION
we did 5 little improvisations, each of us directing a 5 min duet or trio. We made some interesting discoveries about our methods and approaches to being the shaper and being the shifter.
shaperwhat/when/how/why/where do you make decisions?
what/when/how/why/where do you give directions?
Cushla
-aware of spatial relationships, if not satisfying, she will change
-chooses how she views the relationship, enters space to see from another angle
Rodney
-identified the shifters natural, small gestures and built from there
-outside/other interests influenced directions
-if he didn't get idea or movement that he wanted, he continued to clarify the directions through use of more specific words
Geo
-enjoys being on the outside and seeing the whole improv, the complete/full picture
-sees an opportunity for humour and embellishes that
-play off what shifters are already doing and enhances
Leah
-views and directs from in the space, creates a third relationship -duet becomes trio
-alters method of giving direction -loud/quiet so the audience either included or excluded
-struggles to interrupt shifters if they are on a good path
-offers directions with large amount of freedom for shifters to interpret
Ben
-sees space in its entirety and understands how a change in one area will effect everything else
-often mimics dancer or moves to explore/understand what movement/movement quality he wants in order to better explain it
-gives quiet instructions to specific shifters so that either the audience is in the dark or even another shifter, creating new levels of tension,
-gives tasks which require a long duration to achieve
Saturday, 6 August 2016
Composure - Part III Session 4
July - November 2016
vocals
This week we explored some activities/games to unlock our voices / to give life to inanimate objects / to make meaning of movement. In pairs we described the space for each other then described each other's movement
-physically describe: (lines, shapes, colours)
space
movement
-emotionally describe: (emotions, feelings, characteristics, textures, personification)
space
movement
-metaphorical/abstract description: (story, concept, representation, idea, poem)
space
movement
NB: we are using our voices to produce words to give layered details to our movement, rather than creating sound for a soundscape/score
This is really hard and requires a new kind of concentration/focus. We have to access a new method to the process of verbalizing thoughts.
physically description: simple, lots to see in the space, hard to identify shapes and lines in the body when it moves....as the shapes and lines keep moving!
emotional description: we try to stay true to the feeling of the object rather than quick fire emotions that come to mind. One of us kept going until they found the right word. One person's emotional description came from their own emotional attitude/connection to the object or movement at the time
One of us kept going until we found the right word.
[Is the mover effected by the description!? yes, always. to ignore would be dis-intuitive, disassociated, disconnected/disregarding the point of offering movement. Though, mostly the mover decided to do the opposite!}
IMPROVISATION
Our 20 minute improvisation was full of vocals. We could establish partnerships more easily and clearly and through that connection between voice and movement.
-The shapers told stories, explained what self was doing, explained what other was doing, spoke lists of words.
-Awareness is stronger through using hearing sense (know where people are/what they are doing)
-Vocals offered a stronger overall arch -helped us make sense of the improv and in turn contribute more constructively.
-We need to practice how to 'drop out' of a vocal task. We have developed an understanding of how to fulfill a movement task (it could be 30secs long, it could be 4mins) but using vocals seems harder ... do we have to conclude the story? do we have to answer our own question? how can we morph one vocal task into another?-Did the first vocals set up the whole piece? we debate this most weeks... do the first moment/s of the improv set it up/dictate/establish the work [can we oppose those first moments?!] but....we will never know, what the 'other' improv could have been.
The shifters worked in a pair, and consulted each other before offering directions to the shapers. (Shifters could swap out/in with a shaper.) Some partnerships consulted as mode of reassurance, some as a form of collaborative instruction, some just to inform the other beforehand.
How do we move away from our associations with words. How do we de-socailise our words to access abstract vocal pathways. How do we use our movement skills to create/change/develop the vocal explorations.
ALSO: Do our minds network subconciously..... without our conscious knowing... is this how we create?
vocals
This week we explored some activities/games to unlock our voices / to give life to inanimate objects / to make meaning of movement. In pairs we described the space for each other then described each other's movement
-physically describe: (lines, shapes, colours)
space
movement
-emotionally describe: (emotions, feelings, characteristics, textures, personification)
space
movement
-metaphorical/abstract description: (story, concept, representation, idea, poem)
space
movement
NB: we are using our voices to produce words to give layered details to our movement, rather than creating sound for a soundscape/score
This is really hard and requires a new kind of concentration/focus. We have to access a new method to the process of verbalizing thoughts.
physically description: simple, lots to see in the space, hard to identify shapes and lines in the body when it moves....as the shapes and lines keep moving!
emotional description: we try to stay true to the feeling of the object rather than quick fire emotions that come to mind. One of us kept going until they found the right word. One person's emotional description came from their own emotional attitude/connection to the object or movement at the time
One of us kept going until we found the right word.
[Is the mover effected by the description!? yes, always. to ignore would be dis-intuitive, disassociated, disconnected/disregarding the point of offering movement. Though, mostly the mover decided to do the opposite!}
IMPROVISATION
Our 20 minute improvisation was full of vocals. We could establish partnerships more easily and clearly and through that connection between voice and movement.
-The shapers told stories, explained what self was doing, explained what other was doing, spoke lists of words.
-Awareness is stronger through using hearing sense (know where people are/what they are doing)
-Vocals offered a stronger overall arch -helped us make sense of the improv and in turn contribute more constructively.
-We need to practice how to 'drop out' of a vocal task. We have developed an understanding of how to fulfill a movement task (it could be 30secs long, it could be 4mins) but using vocals seems harder ... do we have to conclude the story? do we have to answer our own question? how can we morph one vocal task into another?-Did the first vocals set up the whole piece? we debate this most weeks... do the first moment/s of the improv set it up/dictate/establish the work [can we oppose those first moments?!] but....we will never know, what the 'other' improv could have been.
The shifters worked in a pair, and consulted each other before offering directions to the shapers. (Shifters could swap out/in with a shaper.) Some partnerships consulted as mode of reassurance, some as a form of collaborative instruction, some just to inform the other beforehand.
How do we move away from our associations with words. How do we de-socailise our words to access abstract vocal pathways. How do we use our movement skills to create/change/develop the vocal explorations.
ALSO: Do our minds network subconciously..... without our conscious knowing... is this how we create?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)