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...

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

• 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?

A term overview...

During this post I would like to focus on my experience of beginning to understand and move through the practice of BMC.

 Introduction to Senses and Perception

 We are constantly receiving sensory information, of all kinds - sounds, smells, sights and so on - the interesting part is how we selectively filter them in our awareness. Shifting focus between one or another and then perhaps experimenting with a dual or multi-awareness. This can of course lead to a sensory overload and it is important to remember you can always take a step back! For me, the difficulty was in letting go. Enjoying where the moment takes you, no matter where it originates from. It is hard to let go in a class situation. You are surrounded by peers and often have limited space to move fully. You are also more than likely being encouraged and observed by a teacher or lecturer. Being able to let go of the feeling that you should be moving a certain way and instead just allowing movement to happen is one of the key skills to be aware of and is a continuous process of learning and adapting.

 Cellular Breathing

 This idea of letting go and of melting, sinking into the floor as it rises up to support you are by now very familiar. This pattern however offers another layer of awareness. Bringing the knowledge of all my trillions of cells into my conscious awareness brought a greater sense of heaviness, of density, weight and volume. It reminded me of my 3D self, my solidity - as well as my fluidity. It reminded me of the time I spent last year in Performance Projects with Matthias Sperling. One of his favourite reminders for us while moving was to keep all our trillions of cells together - to not leave any behind us in the space. This pattern also gave me a sense of pouring weight between the cells as I move - perhaps rolling and shifting a bean bag is a reasonable image for this sensation.

 Naval Radiation Pattern - The Starfish

 Like many people, I found this pattern the easiest to access. Perhaps because it appeals to my sense of symmetry and energy flow and centre awareness. The different sense of movement and proprioception it brings to my awareness is interesting coupled with an understanding of connectivity and integration of the whole self. We all build up movement patterns and our own movement style but it is sometimes useful to remember the equality of all 6 limbs of the body. Centre and periphery, core and distal movement. The image that I enjoyed most with this pattern is that it is not a one-directional flow of energy but an exchange of energy, a conversation with the environment immediately around us.

 Mouthing Pattern - Sea Squirt

From the start of working with this movement pattern I was immediately aware of its deep emotional and instinctual connections. At first I thought I would turn away from the offered touch close to my mouth, however after a while I found it comforting and relaxing despite the intimacy of the process. The benefits of this pattern are very relevant for me I think, in reminding me that the spine is not our only form of vertical support. We have a much softer, fluid centre line through our digestive system that can also offer us support and guide us to a less rigid sense of movement.

 Pre-spinal Pattern - The Lancelet

 This stage really brought an awareness of the early developmental processes that we all as a species originate from. Seeing and visualising the different layers of support through the body - FRONT. MIDDLE. BACK. The Notocord - The pre-cursor for the spine. And the Neural tube - The precursor for the spinal cord. This stage brings an awareness to the sequential and fluid movement of the body through space.

 Spinal Pattern - The Fish

 It is good to remember first of all that this stage is still water-based in terms of its place the evolutionary chain. Something about this fact for me always makes me move differently. Perhaps it is a sense of floating and being supported from every angle as I move through space. Head to tail connectivity. Soft spine and bony spine. By this stage the brain and spinal cord are protected by bony casings. The fins of the fish are of course pre-cursors to limbs and act as both propulsion through space and stabilisers to aid balance. Finding support before moving into activity. This was the hardest pattern for me to access and navigate. It brought up several queries for me;
 Is yielding the same as the sensation of softening? I found it difficult to move away from a feeling or compression rather than yielding. Collapsing rather than softening the body.

The mouthing pattern

This was a very intimate process with deep emotional connections that we are perhaps only aware of at a subliminal level.

 I thought I would turn away from the stroking, guiding hand next to the mouth, finding it too personal and invasive. However, I actually found it more comforting to go towards the touch, and felt a sense of loss when this warm contact was taken away.

 The effect that this seemingly simple pattern has on my movement is amazing! It is a similar feeling to moving with an awareness of my head to tail connection, but it is altogether more relaxed, softer, less rigid. This pattern is useful in reminding us that the spine is not the only centre line through the body. We actually have a much more fluid and soft central column of support which is also constantly active at an unconscious level as we move through our day.

Naval radiation pattern

 - Equality between the limbs - no one part of the 'starfish' is more important than another.
 - Integration  through the centre.
 - Sense of energy in movement and proprioception. Connectivity to the whole self.

How can this movement pattern offer integration between the centre and periphery, the core and distal movement?

The most important point I find it helpful to remember is that this is not a one-way flow of energy. It is an exchange, a conversation between my core, through my six limbs out into my environment, just as much as it is about receiving information and feedback from my external environment and bringing this back in through my limbs to my centre.

A moving and witnessing experience

Class exercise with Polly Hudson:
Hands on touch, partner provides pressure into the muscles and combing down the limbs.
Moving and partner witnessing
Both moving
Witnessing partner moves in response


Became very aware through hands on and beginning of moving of my volume and 3D presence in the space.

Folding, hugging and condensing, comfort and warmth.

Working in this class with a male dancer has given me a freshening of perspective. He has a different way of holding his body. Different structure. Different strengths. It has refreshed my perspectives in both moving and witnessing.

BMC links

"Touch is the other side of movement. Movement is the other side of touch. They are the shadow of each other" - Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen

http://www.bodymindcentering.com/blogs/touch-and-movement

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/Documents/disciplines/ddm/HEADDM-Bannon(2012)RelationalEthics.pdf

Naval Radiation Pattern

THE STARFISH

Human development. While in utero we are sustained and nourished by the umbilical cord. This of course feeds directly into our naval. Even once born, infants still have this intuitive and instinctual habit of curling around the naval and instigating movement from the centre of the body. As we grow and develop we tend to lose this connection.

Lying on our fronts, sinking and relaxing into the floor. Our parter witnesses our breathing and then places a hand where they see the breath as being most present. Then they find the position of the naval as if it was a bolt going through the core of the body and out into the floor. They then begin to trace and  warm the tissues up the back and along the arms and then the legs, and then tracing up to he tip of the skull and down to the tail.

This was a fantastic image both to give and receive. First as a receiver, I felt really grounded by the connection to my naval and therefore my centre. The use of hands-on from my partner felt like energy pathways along each of my limbs and along the length of my spine. For me personally it began to feel less like a starfish and more like the wings of a dragonfly unfurling on my back, the veins of the wings reflecting the veins of my own body. Perhaps similar to the wings of a dragonfly, the energy I felt along my limbs felt fragile and yet strong at the same time. Moving with this awareness made me realise the full length of my limbs in the space and the connection of my head to my tail.

  

Cellular breathing

I love the image of the cells breathing. I still find it fascinating how many different functioning organelles can be packed into one cell. Our dense build-up.

Lying or sitting still, focusing on the breath in and out of the body and trying to have a sense of each individual cell of the body also condensing and expanding to their own rhythm. For me, it gives a real sense of volume and our 3D self.

When we then start to roll and shift, I had the image of the weight or fluid or some kind of mass pouring between the cells, influenced by gravity and a desire to melt into the floor.

Reflections on BMC practice

Reflections from BMC reading: Andrea Olsen, 'Body and Earth'

The use of touch in BMC practice...

To know through touch... is to understand better... the ways in which lines of communication between human beings and all other forms of organic and inorganic life can remain open if the currents that run through the hand are encouraged to flow.
Michael Brenson, 'Memory of the Hand', Sculpture Magazine


The sensorial information we recieve through touch allows us to orientate ourselves to our outward, external environment as well as our inward, internal world.

I think it is important to remember that the thickness of our skin varies over different parts of the body.
'The skin of an adult's body weighs about eight pounds, with a thickness varying from a few epithelial cells on the eyelids or behind the ears to ten or more touch layers on the soles of our feet.'

'Our bodies are longing to move and to shake out excess tension - to tremble, stretch, or wriggle in discovery and recovery.'

This becomes the role and importance of BMC practice. Scirntific studies have conclusive evidence on the benefits of movement and touch through a child's development. It is esssential to both physical and emotional health.

Skin is involved in many of the key processes that regulate our internal environment. 'In its living, breathing exchange with the environment, skin informs our concept of what exists outside and what exists inside the body, shaping our identity and our capacity for distinction of self and other.'

Journal Entries over Term 1

Andrea'a Session

07/03/11

Feedback from partner work:

Routine:
Good fluidity, very good flat back in press up and downward dog positions, head could be slightly higher however...

Jumps!
Straight back and good line until turn-out position, knees are improving! Just be careful in parallel...

Sails!

This was a very interesting class focusing on the front and back surfaces of the body and the volume/space in between...the three dimensional dancer!

Opening the window-like spaces between the vertebrae....

Be aware of your skyward surfaces....

Studio Practice

WORK ON FEET!!!
During this exercise I was focusing so much on my arm placement and upper body allignment that I became flat footed and careless with my legs and feet...

Studio Practice

Natalie's Floor Routine
I need to improve: my lines and placement - complete each movement
What I think I did well: softness and melting into the floor

SRT Class

04-02-11

Skinner Releasing Technique with Florence

This was a brilliant class for me - I felt myself really connecting to what Florence was saying, the imagery she was using...

Marionette Strings - suspending the head, the knees, the hands and so on - this visual stimulus really made me move in a different way and pay attention to my body moving, I felt lighter and more balanced in my movement, imagining my head to be floating up the sky even when melting into the support of the ground.

Partner Graphic - With a partner we went through several exercises that improved our alighment and awareness of the body. One of the most interesting exercises for me suspending our partners torso by placing our hands underneath the persons last ribs and gently lifting upwards, taking the weight of their torso. This felt odd but seemed to release the tension I was feeling in my chest...  

Improvisation Class

27/01/11
Lecturer - Polly Hudson

Free writing with the starting words - "I am me..."

I am me, only me and yet all of me... there are many different forms of me... all these forms show through at different times to different people in different places... I like to move because I am me... I am free to move and think and breathe and speak and discover... I am my bones and my tissues, my muscles, my nerves and my blood, ready and waiting to move...

Alexander Technique Class

Some notes from class...