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:

• 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...