"The infuence of sensual and exploration/assertion motivational systems upon the contemporary choreographer are highlighted, leading to an understanding of the self object function of sensation and movement for the dance artist. Through an examination of the moment to moment ritualized experiences of studio work, the creative process in making dance is discusssed. Ultimately understanding creativity and aesthetically based empathy inform our delination of mental health and the need for aesthetic experience in everyday life." Press, C.M (2009) Self Psychology and the Modern Dance Choreographer. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol 1159 Pg 218-228
Dance is a pathway that embodies us all, the difference is some take note and others do not. This article by Press focuses on the relationship between every day life and how as creative artists we manipulate elements of every day life for dance that people can relate to and empathise with. The links between psychology and modern dance that she provides are eye opening and this article provided me with some questions for thought on the relationship between life and dance. Is everybody dancing through life? Subconciously are we all constantly reacting to the rhythms around us, moving to the soundscape built in our habitat at the time whether that be background noise of traffic, other voices around us or more apparently music. With music being so transportable in the form of iPods and MP3 playes we have the ability to block out our surroundings and create our own sound space. Are these rythms, controlled or not, affecting the patterns of how we move on a day to day basis? She brings out some fantastic quotes from psychologists on life and it is incredible how closely we can relate these to moments in dance, I have used an example below that I felt really applied for me today.
For the first time in a few weeks, I felt truely enegerised as I a woke this morning and headed for class something seemed to click in my body and mind from when I stepped out of bed, perhaps it was the twelve hours sleep I had last night or perhaps it's just one of those days but today I sprung into class with a burst of live I feel I have been lacking in myself for a while. As I have stated in previous blogs, the approach you take towards class can have dramatic effects on your performance and today's class was evidence to that.
"Moment of opportunity, when events demand action. . . Events have come together in this moment,and the moment enters awareness such that action must be taken, to alter ones destiny- Be it for the next minute or a lifetime. . . It is a window of opportunity" Stern, D. (2004). The present moment in Psychotherapy and everyday life. Norton. New York
As I moved through the space, I could feel a sense of drive coming from within me yet it felt managable, I was surpised at how I could control it as opposed to it pushing myself in to letting elements of my technique, most commonly my arms and centre, run out of control. Everything seem to be connecting, working together to excecute more effectively and precisiely. I find this to be a result to the strengthening excercises I have been doing before class to help me connect with my body, a series of varying abdomonal excercises to work both deeper muscles such as the psoas and external such as the obliques to become connected with my centre internally, and my inner thigh lifts so that I can engage with my turn out muscles has improved my strength and helped me over come this hurdle I had.
"Moment of opportunity, when events demand action. . . Events have come together in this moment,and the moment enters awareness such that action must be taken, to alter ones destiny- Be it for the next minute or a lifetime. . . It is a window of opportunity" Stern, D. (2004). The present moment in Psychotherapy and everyday life. Norton. New York
As I moved through the space, I could feel a sense of drive coming from within me yet it felt managable, I was surpised at how I could control it as opposed to it pushing myself in to letting elements of my technique, most commonly my arms and centre, run out of control. Everything seem to be connecting, working together to excecute more effectively and precisiely. I find this to be a result to the strengthening excercises I have been doing before class to help me connect with my body, a series of varying abdomonal excercises to work both deeper muscles such as the psoas and external such as the obliques to become connected with my centre internally, and my inner thigh lifts so that I can engage with my turn out muscles has improved my strength and helped me over come this hurdle I had.
With this new found energy and connection with my body I aimed to focus this class on connecting with the floor, pushing my flexibilty and strength to explore this new found control. From the video I can identify key moments where I excecuted strategies to achieve these goals in class and how I can develop these further for greater improvement.
- The first moment which really stands out for me as a significant improvement is at 7 seconds with the leg swings, I can see the sense of drive as the leg swings outward and is pulled back to centre. I was also being aware of the placement of the leg, attempting to push it closer to the head with displacing the pelvis. However, from looking in the mirror I can see that I need to focus on returning to parallel positition with the feet when the leg returns and passes through to the next one. Generally I appear connected with the floor but I need to focus on relaxing the head and neck also to become truly connected.
- At 14 seconds as I move onto the shift through the space, I trust my body by putting more weight into the arm than I have before, I was genuinely suprised to watch this video and view the height from the push off the floor. At the time I remember feeling that I had tested my balance and the risk had paid off and this was extremely rewarding and drove me on through the sequence.
- The drop to the floor at 23 seconds felt very risk and I came to the floor with a bump, and I have the bruises to prove it, but this element of risk in performance is what I strive for. Sometimes the risks pay off and at other times they do not but if you push yourself that little bit too far the in my opinion that is worth more than holding yourself back.
Overall, with this sequence I can see on the video and feel in myself an improvement and watching this back made me feel proud of how far I have come. I appear controlled and strong yet daring and stylistic, it makes me optimistic of where I can go as a performer, what I can achieve when I really focus and have positive energy running through me and hopefully pass this on to others through my movement.
"Our world and our selves have fragemented to a degree unimaginable in earlier human history, and if there is to be any coherence in our lives, it is up to us to put it there. To this extent we are all called upon to be artists - to shape, find significant aspects of, impose meaning upon, discern or state what is special about our experience. Respose to the mystery of life becomes our aesthetic gesture." Dissanayake, E. (1988) What is art for? University of Washington Press. Seattle
