We started the forth Contact Improvisation session by sharing our findings in our reading groups from the asked readings. I enjoy sharing these, as I always learn new things about the texts I did not fully understand.

Kirsty then began the physical aspect of the lesson by asking us to stand as still as we could with our eye closed, she asked us to think and recognise what was happening in the body. I asked myself:

What do I feel internally in my body?

I felt myself slightly swaying back and forth. I noticed a habitual pattern that I gave way in my knees a lot; I think this is due to having injuries from a young age in my knees. I found it interesting feeling the intricate movements I would not normally notice. Kirsty then asked us to give in to these movements and create bigger actions initiated by these ‘internal’ triggers. When I allowed my body to do what it wanted I felt relieved as I was able to relax and listen to what my body wanted which felt good, because I am so used to being upright and putting my body into positions and alignments that do not feel natural. I feel this is because I have been trained in ballet since I was young. I can see how this relates to the reading taken from Sensing Weight in Movement, because Susanne Ravn investigates how ballet dancer’s weight is generally well centered as their movement comes from the engagement of the core, which is why ballet dancer’s alignment is generally upright, similar to me. (Ravn, 2010, p. 24) Therefore this helped me understand why I felt relief, because in Contact Improvisation you are able to experiment and explore with different placements of weight within the body, to which I am unfamiliar.

A thought that came to my mind throughout this exercise was:

The body is never actually still!

I found that this linked to a video we were asked to watch in preparation for this lesson smalldance by Steve Paxton. This allowed me to visually see these movements you may not actually see externally which was fascinating to see.

After this we looked at getting used to the idea of being upside down and coming in and out of the floor in different ways this included:

• Rolls
• Handstands/Variation handstands
• Adapted cartwheels
• Grounded elevations

It was a great experience to play around with different ways of putting the weight into the hands, and it was a good way to explore different transitions we could use to get out of balances and moments that do not quite connect when contacting. I could sense fear in the room, including myself as going upside down is not an everyday thing to do, which led me to the question:

Why is there such a fear of going upside down?

I believe there is a bigger fear of just going upside down, alongside falling, balancing and being lifted. I think this can be conquered by learning to trust one another as well as ourselves. I feel that what I learnt from the reading Is Contact a Small Dance? very fitting to these ideas I asked myself. As I now understand that there is a connection between contact and nature. There is a well-known saying ‘form follows function.’ I think that this is a principle that explains that the movement of the body should be primarily based upon its intended function for example: when catching yourself as a recovery the arms automatically come out to absorb the fall. (Brown, pg. 73) Therefore we should be able to rely on bodies to work for us when we need them too.

We then developed an exercise taken from one of the first weeks of Contact Improvisation, where in pairs we improvised and then one created a frame for another to balance on/give weight to. We advanced this by making the frame none static so the movement was continuous and fluid. We then incorporated these new transitions we had looked at during the beginning of the class. These ideas really helped improvising become much smoother, I felt like I could just go with the flow and my body could easily move in and out of different movements better due to gaining the new skills.

As the lesson progressed, we had not actually been in contact with anyone yet, so Kirsty led us through an exercise to ease us back in to being in contact with someone. The exercise involved being chest to chest with a partner, and pushing against each other to roll to being back to back. As a group we found this quite difficult as it is a combination of allowing the full body weight to be given to find the counter balance, to also being very closely contacted with a large part of the body. I found it a fun way to get involved again.

We then looked at a couple of trust exercises that involved lifting. As this is the first time we have thought about lifting during Contact Improvisation it was important we could gain each other’s trust first. We began by forming a circle, at any point anyone could walk in the circle and fall back and they had to trust that people would run in to catch them and place them safely on the floor. I observed that people found it hard to let go of their entire body, in particular one girl tensed her entire body due to fear and it actually made her become twice as heavy. We had to learn to relax, I personally was afraid to begin but once I had done it I realised that it was not daunting in the slightest and I quite enjoyed having no responsibility for myself for once. It was sad to see that not the entire group had the sureness to do this, because I feel their doubts would have vanished instantly, but I am sure their confidence will gain in time but it made me think:

Why do some people have difficulty trusting others?

The class came to an end by Kirsty introducing us to part of the assessment which is the ‘research lab’ we began to investigate this by in groups looking at questions that we have discovered and thought about through Contact Improvisation so far. Here is the mind map our group created:

(image)

 

We then had to choose a couple of these initial questions, and think of tasks we can use in the session next week to explore what we think the possible outcomes may be. We chose the two questions that we find the most interesting and difficult to find the answers too, as it gives us chance to experiment with live bodies to find our answers. The two questions we have chosen to explore next week are:

• Why is it that eye contact is so intimidating?
• Why do some people find it harder than others to trust?

 

I felt that throughout this class I worked with people who I usually don’t and this led me to finding new sensations which was good to explore. I found it exciting to start our research labs and I look forward to leading a small session on our set tasks next week.

I would like to briefly comment on what I observed in the Contact Jam this week as I found it very interesting as an outsider watching the entire class. Throughout the entire process all I could think about was how much I wanted to join in, and it got me thinking about the reading from last week Steve Paxton’s ‘Interior Techniques’ and Lisa Nelson’s discussion how audience members watching Contact Improvisation often join in, and feel they can embrace performers after performances as they feel like this contact is appropriate and the norm after what they had experienced as spectator. (Turner, 2010, p. 128)  I could really relate to this, as it summarises how I felt as an observer.

Works Cited

Brown, B., n.d. Is Contact a Small Dance? Contact Improvisation Soucebook I. Vol. 6 ed. s.l.:s.n.

Ravn, S., 2010. ‘Sensing Weight in Movement’ Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices. Vol. 2 Issue 1 ed. s.l.:s.n.

Turner, R., 2010. Steve Paxton’s ‘Interior Techniques’ The Drama Review. Vol. 54 Issue 3 ed. s.l.:Black and White Photographs.