I was very apprehensive to see how the second class of Contact Improvisation would unfold. However, I came in with a positive attitude and was keen to get started. We started the class on the floor, similar to last week. We put all of our focus on specific body parts, and for me personally this made the certain part of my body feel much heavier than the other, a sensation I have never come across before.
We then moved onto a game that unfolded to mean much more than we thought. The game entailed the group walking around randomly, we then were able to touch another person’s shoulder and this person had to melt to the floor and wait for someone to help them up. At first, as a group we were just going through the motions instead of actually thinking about how this exercise could relate to Contact Improvisation. We were then told about how we should value and look after our own and other’s bodies, this made a shift in attitude towards the exercise, and we suddenly began making stronger connections and worked together more, which showed how our trust with each other was growing. According to Holt and Bannon’s work with students, they also had the same perception from being touched. As one of the students said ‘Touch allows you to connect with another, from my experience it has helped me engaged with my group members to a higher level of trust.’ (Holt & Bannon, 2012, p. 221) This is similar to what I experienced from this exercise. I learnt that authenticity is vital!
In pairs, we explored and played around with being able to give our fully body weight to another dancer. I personally found it very difficult to be able to just relax my fully body into somebody else’s. I was reassured that it does not matter how much I weigh, or the size of my body because any body can take any weight in the right way, it just may take more time for that reality to sink in for me. An exercise we did later on in the class in pairs also explored this idea of giving body weight to another, as well as counter balance and resistance. These were:
- The Pendulum
- The Walking Squat
- The Rugby Tackle
I found these exercises difficult and was unable to complete them, I think this is due to my fear or not being able to trust another with my full weight. This is an area I need to work on as it is important skill to have to be successful at Contact Improvisation. I need to let go of the idea of being too cautious!
We looked at the idea of ‘over’ and ‘under’, which is where one dancer is under and the other is over (just as it sounds) when improvising. This could mean one dancer is always one way or the two dancers can switch between the two roles. The idea of this is to go with the flow and listen and connect to the other dancer’s body and the two bodies should automatically take on the roles. We began experimenting this idea by closing our eyes being back to back with another dancer. I found closing my eyes to start a good way to connect with the inner skin and motion. It allowed me listen to which way my body and the other dancer’s body wanted to move and work with one another. I found the quality of touch between me and another dancer very strong and informative, which related to what I read in this week’s reading by Holt as he talks about how being touched affects us and stimulates awareness. (Holt & Bannon, 2012, p. 216) I found that this awareness created by touch motivated the movements between me and somebody else.
Leading on this from idea of giving weight, we then in pairs started to create frames for our partner to come and lean on, balance on and give weight onto. I learnt that being able to adapt to connect your body with another is important because, any dancer could be in any position when improvising as it is an organic process. I personally find it difficult to improvise it has never been strength of mine, therefore I find myself falling into habitual patterns, which I need to avoid. I learnt that trying new things will help me lead to exploring different sensations which I find a good motive to stop me ‘playing it safe’. I can see from this exercise that it is good to experience new things, which helped me understand Holt when he discusses how we should all support one another to become versatile and articulate in recognizing shifts in our knowledge to help us explore and explain the complex interactions in our learning process. (Holt & Bannon, 2012, p. 224) A question that emerged in my mind from this exercise was:
How can I stop myself from falling into habitual patterns when improvising?
This class was challenging, but I enjoyed how fast we are learning new skills. I look forward to how we progress next week as things seeming to be moving fast which is exciting.
Works Cited
Holt, D. & Bannon, F., 2012. Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices. s.l.:s.n.