Week 9 – Scores

Whilst watching the first video of Roehampton students I could identify components that I have explored, including surfing, balances, using the shoulder as a platform, a back to back connection and a pelvis to pelvis connection. The dancers used their breath to facilitate the movement and it appeared as if different parts of their body became hands, searching for contact and movement possibilities, most notably the side of the body and under the arm. The searching essence created a slower pace, whereas the second video was faster and more daring, the dancers did not pre-empt what they were doing, instead they went with what was being offered with trust. A few weeks ago we explored the lower back being a platform, I had forgotten about this until I noticed it in the video and it has given me another option for working on a higher kinesphere, which I find more challenging than a lower kinesphere. At one point, two pairs, both using the lower back as a platform, came together and inspired me to work with more bodies. The two videos both highlight the importance of momentum in order to prevent isolation; my main aim is to create a fluid dialogue so I will refer back to this in future jams.

Following on from this we looked at the Global Underscore with Nancy Stark Smith. Nancy Stark Smith’s underscore was created in 1990 using “symbols to represent the particular nature of states” (Stark Smith, 2014) and a language to talk to each other about contact improvisation. The first component is Arriving energetically – bringing your attention into the present moment, you are not somewhere else, you are here, it could be looking out the window, having conversation, changing clothes, writing; then there is Arriving physically – bringing your attention into your body possibly through yoga, sitting here, feeling your body as it is right now; Pow wow – checking in with each other; Preambulation – taking the body through the space; Skinesphere – the imaginary surface around the skin; Bonding with the earth – feeling grounded, released and massaging the body against the floor; Mobilising/agitating the mass – warming up the body and bringing energy to the body; Kinespheres – the high kinesphere is connected to the low kinesphere; Expanding/travelling kinesphere and Overlapping kinesphere. The connections include Attraction – a magnetic quality, being drawn to person or place in room; Repulsion; Coincidence – noticing the same thing at same time, it could be the same coloured clothing, it is when paths cross; Touch; Difference/contrast–tension, creates options; Confluence; Divergence – together and split; Influence – it could be the dancers, music or room to actively change your state; Collision – sub set of touch, collision of touch or ideas; Empathy/resonance and Tangent. These combine as Grazing – a series of short connections, in which one feels on their way and stimulated. This is followed by Engagement – which requires commitment and being engaged until it is over, Development, Resolution, Disengagement from whole pattern; Development; Resolution; Recirculation; Open score; Final resolution of the room; Disengagement from the whole pattern; Reflection and Sharing. Nancy Stark Smith says that it is “not just the body moving through space, there are things moving through the body, such as compression, fluids, the air or ground and that the body itself changes state”. The different states and connections enabled me to be in the space for longer and move with different bodies without getting stuck. At times one does not know what is happening, for some this evokes feelings of panic, others liberation, during this score I felt liberation and freedom. “As one passes other bodies more energy is circulated and absorbed”, overall this created a relaxed and open space with a connecting atmosphere and focus between bodies and the space (Stark Smith, 2014).

During the jam I noticed that at times my movement did not continually link, I need to become more connected and controlled, as Nancy Stark Smith explains that “the forces at play – gravity, momentum and mass – were all operating in their natural order and if my mind was with me I could gently guide that fall towards a smooth landing” (Stark Smith in Albright, A. C., & Gere, D. 2003, 157) Thte point of darkens where you do not know where you or your partner isn when practice, dare and the mind – body connection is crucial. I also need to trust my own body and the movement I create, because “Contact Improvisation is not the beginning or the final stage in the opus that relates the body and its movement to the earth and the other movers on it. It is possible to forget that the bodies moving in contact are not new, It is, however, the continued focus on the elements involved in that contact, techniques for it, applications of it, that is specific to Contact Improvisation.” (Stark Smith in Albright, A. C., & Gere, D. 2003, 156) with each weekly jam I often focus on what we have explored that week, but in order to advance, I need to have a log of previous experiences, terms and techniques in my mind and body.

Finally, the reading Some considerations when structuring an Improvisation addresses the following questions: What sort of structure do I want in terms of spatial rhythm? Do I want my ‘game rules’ to be clearly seen, only indicated, or deeply hidden? How much do I want to rely on the actual rules I set or on the formalistic and other wise significant sensibilities of the dancers? How much does my dance fulfil or not fulfil existing contextual aesthetic expectations and parameters for dance, for performance, for improvisation, for art? (Stover, 1989, 185). The tools and terms in which we are motivated by when contacting will not be obvious to an outside eye, but they are helpful in maintaining the dialogue, bringing something new and always being able to offer something. I find the last question interesting, as I constantly focus upon the aesthetic value of dance, whereas contact and other somatic practices have taught me to focus internally, I have found that focussing on touch, sensation, and being present allows for more fluid and constant communication in which you feel encapsulated in the moment. However, will this change when performing? I have not yet experienced this, but possibly next week with a second marker I will feel a difference.

Bibliography

Stover, J. (1989). Some considerations when structuring an Improvisation (to be seen by an audience). Contact Quarterly/ Contact Improvisation Sourcebook II, Vol.14

Contact Improvisation Jam. (2011) Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdKZlryJ4HY (accessed 01/12/16)

Global Underscore with Nancy Stark Smith. (2014). Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOGLMZdm2uA (accessed 01/12/16)

Keefe, M. What’s the score? Improvisation in Everyday Life. In Albright, A. C., & Gere, D. (2003). Taken by surprise: A dance improvisation reader. Middletown, Conneticut: Wesleyan University Press.

Stark Smith, N. A subjective history of contact improvisation. In Albright, A. C., & Gere, D. (2003). Taken by surprise: A dance improvisation reader. Middletown, Conneticut: Wesleyan University Press.