I was invited to the space to delve into a creative research lab, I was partnered with Hannah, a new body that I had worked with, working with manipulation of one another’s movement by initiation. Firstly we improvised with vision (eyes open) and were later advised to close the eyes, throughout this exercise I felt I had limitations to explore. Therefore because I was unable to see where my partner was, I tried to avoid the vulnerable parts of the body such as the ankles and legs. I also had sensations and connections with the floor, I felt safer to be grounded so this is why I did so. I was also concerned of other bodies in the space, my partners and my own. The group administering the instructions spoke clearly and were easy to understand, when asked to stand in a line we were informed we would be placed with new partners I was curious to who my partner would be, however I initiated movement by my hand attempting to sense my partner and due to this I knew it was Hannah as I had just danced with this body and just touched this persons hand. I fully relaxed and tried to keep concentration throughout as we did stumble into other bodies a few times as our eyes were closed, so at times this broke focus but the group taking this research lab had thought about safe practise and this as a risk and they helped gravitate myself and my partner away from other bodies by touch, I was comfortable during this exercise as I felt the group had our best interests and would take care of our bodies when our vision was out of use.
Enhancing the. knowledge of surfing and rolling during our Thursday jam session, attempting new variations from seated positions, keeping the connectivity and not allowing the bodies to loose contact, following the movements with fluidity. Exploring the weight transference from table top to rolls exchanging weight through both bodies, relaxing the full body weight to acknowledge the quality of movement and sensations.
Kirsty informed us that” The quality of movement will depend on grade levels” so I will work in this mannerism as I did today to concentrate for safe practise and enjoying the challenges which arise.
Throughout this lesson I felt the ‘Sensing weight in movement’ (Ravn, S. 2010) reading made more sense when challenging my body to relax into another body, feeling the sensations of movement rather than what it looks like, taking time to connect and finding contact. I was able to think about weight tranference and how to move with the weight, I enjoyed this session. We are informed that ‘across the different qualia and content of the dancers’ subjective experiences two dimensions of self-consciousness could be recognised. In one dimension the physical mass of the body is objectified and related to scrutinisation of sensations’. I understood this as examples of how the body move, with the sensations of smaller movements(1-D) it is harder to notice the sensations and relation to the body, however it is easier to see the sensations with a 2-D movement as it is usually bigger and initiates from a body part, making the sensations more noticeable than small(1-D) internal movements.
‘Sensing weight in movement’. Full text available by: Ravn, Susanne Journal of Dance& Domatic Practised, 2010, Vol. 2 Issue 1, p21-34,14p.