The Underscore

Working in a totally different way today felt so refreshing and available for my brain and body! There are so many layers to the Underscore I felt like I wanted more time to access them and really become involved with them.
The logical sequence of the delivery was very appealing to my way of moving and thinking.
I faced the challenges today of being aware of my comfort zones - either being very close to the floor or standing are most comfortable for me - the mid-levels I find more challenging to move through and this is where I tend to rush! I also felt like I wanted to work more independently today so when it came to the moment for contact or touch or confluence I would try to become absorbed by the other person's movement but would only stay in the group for a couple of minutes before going back out into the space to get back into my body, working on my own kinaesphere.

I very much enjoyed the concept of grazing, selectively choosing to be attracted to someone or something or to be repelled or to instigate contact, or to intersect another's movement...




What is Underscore?

 The Underscore is a long score for jamming/composition/contact/improvisation. The Underscore guides us through a progression of “changing states” of body and mind—from solo sensitizing to gravity and support, into group circulation and Contact Improvisation engagements, opening out into whole room compositional awareness and interaction, and back to rest and reflection. Developed by Nancy Stark Smith the Underscore is a popular practice among contact dancers all around the world. “The Underscore is a framework for practicing and researching dance improvisation… It is a score that guides dancers through… “changing states” of mind and body…(which) can be seen as a vehicle for incorporating Contact Improvisation into a broader arena of improvisational practice; for developing greater ease dancing in spherical space—alone and with others; and for integrating kinesthetic and compositional concerns while improvising. The Underscore is also being used in the CI community worldwide as a way to focus and concentrate Contact jams.”

 —Nancy Stark Smith, from Caught Falling

SRT class

Extract from journal: 14-03-12

SRT class

Extract from journal: 22-02-12

Gliding...
    supple feet through
                         the space
                            softening
                    through the
                 legs and
          up into the hips,
    ribs, shoulders, arms,
neck and skull.
    Skull floating
           Upper body
                suspended
                    legs hanging
                          melting...
                into the floor.
          Gossamer threads
                appear...
         energy between the
       fingertips
soft, supple motion
taking you in and
     out of
            the floor
                 Articulate bodies
                         and warm, soft
                  focus...
       Real connection...

Contact Improv with Charlie Morrissey

Though I was ill today and couldn't really engage with my movement as I would have liked, I found this class really fantastic to move through. I had a real softness today in my feet and legs. Working with a partner allowed me to really find my centre as I couldn't just rely on the other person to support me. Sometimes of course 'mistakes' happen or something that we don't expect - but these moments are when we find a true connection to our movement and that of our partner, and when I needed my core and softness in the joints to keep me safe and allow me to either stay upright or melt to the floor...

Phrase Class

Extract from journal: 30-01-12

The window-like spaces in the spine can be opened and massaged not only from the back of the spine but also along the front face of the vertebrae - deep within the centre of the body...


Valleys of the joints of the legs can be softened and opened. Breathing into these spaces can help us...

SRT class

Finding a connection with the breath... the skin... the contact with the floor beneath your feet... the skull floating... the legs hanging... the joints of the hips softening...


Balance and shift through the space, balance and shift through the space.

Really settled into an easy way of moving. Felt like I had grown and could balance forever!

Journal entry

Experiential Anatomy - I find a real interest in this class, I am fascinated by the inner, complex workings of the body and the systems involved in helping us to move...

Improvisation

Extract from journal: 10-01-12

Moving with a partner... I became more fluid, grounded... I found myself drawn more to leading than following... I enjoyed the moments of accidental contact... I found the music a hindrance at first as it was quite slow... but began to pick up pace in my own body and really gained focus with a change of pace and travelling...

Phrase Class

Extract from journal: 09-01-12

Travelling across the space... collecting the colours of your movement each time you cross the space...

Early explorations using paint - In the style of artist Yves Klein

Some wonderful explorations using pastels and the notion of layering by Oana, Joana, Julia and Amy. This little workshop session gave me so many ideas to take on in my own explorations towards my assessment sharing.

Term 2 overview

   I have been very excited by the turn my own practise has taken over the course of my second term. The main focus of my work has been my interdisciplinary practise. In preparation for my assessment module I have been researching a large range of artists from cross-disciplinary backgrounds, as well as visual artists. At the moment I am exploring the line of installation art - I am particularly inspired by the work of Cornelia Parker!
http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/artists/works/cornelia_parker

   In my movement studies classes I have been continuing to develop my practise in the following areas:

A greater understanding of the use of the breath when moving.

Maintaining an awareness of the space and people around me, even while working with complex, personal, internal imagery.

Moving with an awareness of the back surfaces of the body as well as the front surfaces.

I am particularly enjoying the continuation of our Skinner Releasing classes. Even though it is a much softer, more calming class environment physically, it always gives me a huge range of images to work with and I enjoy the sense of build up with each class!!

Starting to explore using pastels in my IPP investigations. Pastels have a lovely texture and organic feel to them that I really enjoy working with. They can crumble and turn to powder on the paper. They can be sharp and vibrant or soft and subtle. They can smudge and rub in and blend and blur... Great for using on the feet to leave footprint traces across the paper! I can perhaps begin to add layers to this work... using different materials, different colours...

IPP2 Questions

So when trying to finalise the direction I want my IPP2 exploration to take I needed to consider what I was truly inspired by and interested in. I have a keen interest in the visual arts, and in particular in installation art - I enjoy the idea of something being created in the space and left to remain long after the initial 'performance' has finished.

Is it durational?

Is there a beginning and an end?

Is something already in the space or do I make it during the performance?

Do the audience walk around the space? 

Do the audience influence the piece? Can they interact with it?

What messages or images do I want to communicate?

IPP2

Working with materials for IPP2 assessment! I really enjoyed working with paint - it created some wonderfully colourful and vibrant pieces of work that capture a lot of my movement within them.

IPP2

Developing a piece of work to be shown 6th March 2012

My inspirations:
Yves Klein

Angela White


With these pieces I love the dynamic and energetic qualities of the images, created with paint and movement.  I would like to explore using paint and other mediums in my own work.

Improvisation Class