Experiential anatomy class- The organs

A real sheep's live was brought into class, and we were able to look up close and touch it to get an understanding of the texture, colour, shape, and weight of a liver.

Found that moving with the awareness of the organs was something new, as usual the focus is on muscles, bone, joints, and tissues. I almost found it quite restrictive as the organs are internal and fixed within the body, so i found trying to move with this knowledge hard than focusing on the joints for example. However it was a new experience an focus and therefore i found new ways of moving.

Experiential anatomy class- The skull

During class we used partner work to feel for ourselves while referring to diagrams of the skull, to identify the shape, creases, lumps, tissues, and bone structure.

A few things I learnt about the skull I did not know before..

. It weighs just under a stone- being the heaviest of the body
. The 'soft spot' on a baby's head compresses as it is born
. Found the skull was not smooth and there was a lot more dips and lumps than I originally thought



   

Workshop with Lucia Walker

After taking part in a one off workshop with Lucia Walker, I left the session feeling supple, light, and aware of connections between skull and tail, and joints, muscles and bones.

Started gently and were encouraged to feel grounded- which I definitely benefited from as I was feeling tired and achy, so this preparation enabled me to wake up my body physically and mentaly.

Use of partner graphics- identifying the spine and all the individual vertebrae from skull to tail. i was left feeling:
. At ease
. Spongy
. Loose
. Swift
. Supple in the joints, bones, and muscles
. Smooth
I felt this then affected my movement and I danced with more ease and flow. Found that keeping the eyes closed also encouraged me to hold on to that connection and feel the changes internally.

'uses of improvisation'

1. As a source of original material

2. As training in perception

3. To develop a piece

4. As a performance mode in itself

Tufnell & Crickmay (1990) Body, Space, Image. London Dance Books.

I find this extract a useful way to consider the different possibilities and outcomes using improvisation has as part of experimenting with movement and choreography.

What do we understand about process?

I would describe my process as a dance artist as consant and continuous developing, and never ending learning, as well as

• Letting go of end gaining.
• Evaluation
• observation
• whitnessing

First week back moving..

During my first week back in the new term I have taken part in a few classes, and found it easy to get back into, and am still discovering new ways of moving and witnessing. In one particular class we started with a hands on improvisation in partners where we changed roles several times as one person moved and the directed and followed using a light touch with their hands. The roles of having eyes closed also changed several times, to gain new perspectives of moving with our partner. I found it easier to move with eyes closed as I found the use of my other senses a lot more and therefore used more sensitive movements and found a deeper discovery into areas of my body moving. Another task we carried out was where we had to get into small groups with our eyes closed and try and move in unison. This encouraged the use of hearing and sound into our movement. I found this particularly interesting as I do not usually notice other dancers around me using these senses. From witnessing this I noticed the larger the group the more in unison they became, and even if they were not in unison there was a clear strong connection between the dancers at all times. This would be a useful task to carry out before choreographing in a group as the dancers became much more sensitive of each other and the space around them .

Beginning of year two

After a short break from my blog during the summer, I am going to continue writing about my developments and progress as a dance artist, as I begin my seond year studying Dance at university. Previously I discussed developments and changes in my body and moving I had experianced as part of my first year on the course. This had been developed into a Body Story which is shown mainly on this blog.

This year I aim to carry on sharing my experiances as a mover and my bodies developments, as well as write about my movement explorations and improvisations during class and rehearsals, and reflect on ho these are contributing to my development as a dance artist.

This year I am also taking part in a performance project as part of the course, invloving being part of a choreograohers company and performaing to a live audience, after an intensive rehearsal process. I understand that this experiance is a very valuable one which will have a huge impact on my development and ability as a performer and maker, therefore I will be using this blog to write about my experiances as part of the company, including my whitnessing as part of the process.

I aim to include writen reflections and journal entries, pictures, and video evidence of this.