For my FMP, inspired by the work of sculptural and visual artists including Richard Long and Simon Whitehead, I have begun to play around with the notion of active walking and in particular the counting of steps.
I want to be able to create an installation piece based around my experiences of walking through different locations/spaces. This idea of taking something intangible and ephemeral and subjective and transforming it into something visual and substantial. I therefore began experimenting with string that I had used on my previous film project, transforming it into something structural and representative of my experience - the resulting structures can be seen below!
In my recent excursion down to the Jurassic Coast in Devon I was able to walk a coastal pathway from the harbour town of Beer to the village of Branscombe. This walk lasted about an hour and consisted of 7436 steps. This is the first walk that I feel able to transform into something lasting that I can use in my final project. I think it was the overwhelming presence of the natural landscape coupled with the excitement of being somewhere unknown that made this walk truly special. This is a factor I would like to continue to explore in my next walks...
Monday 25 February 2013
Movement Ritual 2013
16th - 18th Feb
Movement Ritual workshop with Helen Poynor
South coast of Devon
This was a fantastic experience for me that I still find hard to articulate a week later. At the time of the workshop I described it as a sort of questioning conflict, altering between serenity and turmoil, structure and freedom, overwhelming and calming...
Travelling down to the little coastal town of Beer with one of my best friends, Oana, was a great experience. It had been so long since I had seen an open, wild landscape and even longer since I had seen the sea! I didn't realise how much of an impact these things could make on my outlook and mood over the three days. The sense of space and air around us was incredible!
The workshop itself, as Poynor pointed out to us, was like diving in at the deep end! This was a totally new way of working for us - slow and repetitive but so detailed and ritualistic that the need to focus and keep aware of our own movement needs was enough to tire us out by the end of the day.
An extremely valuable experience to work alongside different generations, different nationalities and different levels of connection to dance and movement. I really enjoyed the solitude of working alone while being surrounded by people all working with the same instructions but in their own bodies.
It was a weekend that can only be described as being good for the soul. I came to the workshop with my own questions about what movement and dance mean to me and what part I want them to play in my future. I gained more questions than answers from the experience but this is ok, I am still heading in a direction I feel confident and positive about. My life will take the course I want it to take as long as I continue to follow what inspires me.
This weekend was unexpected, a leap into something that is unknown and yet at the same time borders on the familiar. The work was deceptively intense and tiring, requiring a focus I didn't know, or had perhaps forgotten I had. As a bridge between moving and speaking we used the act of drawing to communicate our experiences - although for me it wasn't until the third day that I felt able to create an image without prior-planning or judgemental thoughts! I found it very hard to open up about my experiences because I didn't fully understand what they were... It was a strange feeling of ambivalence - all I knew was that it had effected me deeply.
Movement Ritual workshop with Helen Poynor
South coast of Devon
This was a fantastic experience for me that I still find hard to articulate a week later. At the time of the workshop I described it as a sort of questioning conflict, altering between serenity and turmoil, structure and freedom, overwhelming and calming...
Travelling down to the little coastal town of Beer with one of my best friends, Oana, was a great experience. It had been so long since I had seen an open, wild landscape and even longer since I had seen the sea! I didn't realise how much of an impact these things could make on my outlook and mood over the three days. The sense of space and air around us was incredible!
The workshop itself, as Poynor pointed out to us, was like diving in at the deep end! This was a totally new way of working for us - slow and repetitive but so detailed and ritualistic that the need to focus and keep aware of our own movement needs was enough to tire us out by the end of the day.
An extremely valuable experience to work alongside different generations, different nationalities and different levels of connection to dance and movement. I really enjoyed the solitude of working alone while being surrounded by people all working with the same instructions but in their own bodies.
It was a weekend that can only be described as being good for the soul. I came to the workshop with my own questions about what movement and dance mean to me and what part I want them to play in my future. I gained more questions than answers from the experience but this is ok, I am still heading in a direction I feel confident and positive about. My life will take the course I want it to take as long as I continue to follow what inspires me.
This weekend was unexpected, a leap into something that is unknown and yet at the same time borders on the familiar. The work was deceptively intense and tiring, requiring a focus I didn't know, or had perhaps forgotten I had. As a bridge between moving and speaking we used the act of drawing to communicate our experiences - although for me it wasn't until the third day that I felt able to create an image without prior-planning or judgemental thoughts! I found it very hard to open up about my experiences because I didn't fully understand what they were... It was a strange feeling of ambivalence - all I knew was that it had effected me deeply.
Movement Ritual - The Devon Coast
The beautiful jurassic coastline around Beer and Branscombe. The coastal path took an hour to walk between the two villages and required 7436 steps (measured using a pedometer!)This was one of the most refreshingly beautiful and serene places I have been for quite some time. And after a long day, it was great to be able to come throw stones and words at the sea to relieve my tensions and anxieties.
Movement Studies Overview
Jan - Feb 2013
Notes from Journal:
Be in the moment of moving.
When you find yourself becoming stuck or too caught up in your own thoughts, just breath and let your body direct you into the next movement.
Let it be what it is for today.
Coming back from our Christmas break back into moving, which movement patterns are most prominent for me from last terms work?
As I move I find myself repeatedly drawn back to what I viewed as the most accessible movement patterns, which were movement radiation from the centre of the body (starfish), and the soft spine, front, middle, back.
Now we are moving onto looking at the next developmental stage - the homologous (frog) pattern.
It is worth reiterating that these patterns are not isolated within moving but instead build upon each other, working with the knowledge of all the patterns that have gone before.
The Homologous pattern uses the principles of yield and push and reach and pull and begins to take us through space, as we can also start to move with intention. This pattern is the differentiation between upper and lower body, giving us the opportunity for symmetry and a developing awareness of our sense of sight.
This pattern, while building on the patterns before, felt restrictive and limiting after a certain period of time and it was a relief to be able to move onto the next pattern of movement which brings us even closer to our natural developed state of moving - the homolateral pattern.
The Homolateral Pattern - the 'lizard pattern'
Where the homologous pattern was a differentiation between upper and lower, the homolateral pattern is the differentiation between the left and right sides of the body. The awareness of hearing and sight are becoming more prominent in this pattern as we can begin to explore outside of our own kinaesphere. Weight can be transferred across the centre line to enable us to reach for and grab objects.
This pattern felt much more freeing and natural, and made me realise what an important asset our senses our as I began to work more visually outwards.
The Contralateral Pattern
From this we move into the contralateral pattern, where the eyes and ears are fully involved and there are the beginnings of vocal communication. The body is divided into four quarters, this allows for spiralling to occur as we make diagonal connections across the body through the centre line.
My goals and aspirations for the coming months following on from this work:
Notes from Journal:
Be in the moment of moving.
When you find yourself becoming stuck or too caught up in your own thoughts, just breath and let your body direct you into the next movement.
Let it be what it is for today.
Coming back from our Christmas break back into moving, which movement patterns are most prominent for me from last terms work?
As I move I find myself repeatedly drawn back to what I viewed as the most accessible movement patterns, which were movement radiation from the centre of the body (starfish), and the soft spine, front, middle, back.
Now we are moving onto looking at the next developmental stage - the homologous (frog) pattern.
It is worth reiterating that these patterns are not isolated within moving but instead build upon each other, working with the knowledge of all the patterns that have gone before.
The Homologous pattern uses the principles of yield and push and reach and pull and begins to take us through space, as we can also start to move with intention. This pattern is the differentiation between upper and lower body, giving us the opportunity for symmetry and a developing awareness of our sense of sight.
This pattern, while building on the patterns before, felt restrictive and limiting after a certain period of time and it was a relief to be able to move onto the next pattern of movement which brings us even closer to our natural developed state of moving - the homolateral pattern.
The Homolateral Pattern - the 'lizard pattern'
Where the homologous pattern was a differentiation between upper and lower, the homolateral pattern is the differentiation between the left and right sides of the body. The awareness of hearing and sight are becoming more prominent in this pattern as we can begin to explore outside of our own kinaesphere. Weight can be transferred across the centre line to enable us to reach for and grab objects.
This pattern felt much more freeing and natural, and made me realise what an important asset our senses our as I began to work more visually outwards.
The Contralateral Pattern
From this we move into the contralateral pattern, where the eyes and ears are fully involved and there are the beginnings of vocal communication. The body is divided into four quarters, this allows for spiralling to occur as we make diagonal connections across the body through the centre line.
My goals and aspirations for the coming months following on from this work:
- Reminding myself that I can still be playful with my moving - retaining the ability to laugh at my own intentions, even if these intentions can remain serious...
- To be the dancer I was before I had deadlines.
- To let go of worry or stress that can arise from thinking too much about what it 'looks' like rather than what it 'feels' like...
My questions from this work:
The extent to which we can be aware of all the underlying developmental patterns when we are moving freely...
Finding fluidity and softness in a dense and 'solid' body... Realising my own volume and mass while at the same time finding spaces in the body and allowing for a sense of floating...
Wednesday 16 January 2013
Workshop with Cecilia Macfarlan
Today's workshop with Cecilia was focused on the difference between Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) and something that is therapeutic. Where is the divide?
DMT
Today's workshop with Cecilia was focused on the difference between Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) and something that is therapeutic. Where is the divide?
DMT
- specific, personal to each client
- Rehabilitative, corrective, problem-solving
- Expression of emotions through physical stimuli
- Use of transitional objects - e.g. puppets, scarves, torches
- The client - therapist - art form triangle
THERAPEUTIC
- Realxing
- De-stressing
- Positive connotations of personal actions
- E.g. massages, music, candles, shopping, stroking pets, going to hairdressers, cleaning and so on!
Instigating movement with Cecilia...
Where is the heart of you today? What colour is it? Does it lead you?
Inspirations - Rashad Alakbarov
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/4yvz0l/:1j6S@FQ!h:d2otw2s3/catinwater.com/2012/08/21/rashad-alakbarov-paints-with-shadows-and-light/
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