Today we performed our final structured improvised pieces to the class and lecturers. I felt overall it was a successful performance. I was given feedback by a lecturer after. Some positive points I was given was that my use of stillness and levels were effective, my focus on the body parts that were moving was engaging, my exploration of weight was interesting, the opening was strong, and that I showed good exploration of my stimulus ideas and my movement. Some points I was given to use to improve in future was to explore transitions, take more risk when creating movement, and make sure I hold my focus throughout the whole performance.
Watching the solos of my colleagues also was inspiring, as there was such a variety in movement and ideas being explored. I noticed that the most engaging performances held qualities such as..
- A variety of patterns in the space.
- Use of sounds when in contact with the floor and the use of voice and breathing to create rhythm.
- Use of stillness.
- Reoccurring positions/motifs.
- Suspension.
- Repetition that was then developed.
- Focus on a particular body part.
- Constant changes of focal points in the space.
- A wide use of the space.
- A variety of traveling and static phrases.
I have found that choreographing in this way has enabled me to create movement I would never have been able to do before starting this module. I have found it difficult at times as I have never worked in this way before, but I have really enjoyed the challenge and the process of learning. I have learnt that my movement vocabulary is always growing uniquely and being developed with originality, which I did not realise was possible before beginning this course at university.
I have decided an appropriate name for my solo choreography piece is... 'Manipulate'.
Below, I have uploaded a video of a collegue interview after she viewed an improvisation task I performed.
Today I spent time on my own in the studio exploring and creating movement through improvisation, as part of my solo structured improvisation task. I began by improvising around ideas I have collected previously in my choreographic journal, and looking through my solo scores I have drawn after participating in choreography tasks. I found that I could now piece together sections of structured improvisation to create my solo.
I particularly focused on the skin and manipulation of body parts, as that is my stimulus. I also wanted to focus on my use of space and travel. I found this difficult as much of the movement I have created so far has been quite static as this is within in my comfort zone. I therefore was focusing on coming out of my comfort zone and creating movement from within, as this is one of the aims of the task. I did find however as I came more out of my comfort zone I started to create more original movement, and felt true to what I had created.
