Sunday 27 November 2011

Performance Projects

Things have got so crazy recently, Performance Projects have really kicked in and we're all very busy.

A couple of weeks ago, Influx had our intensive with our choreographer, Matthias Sperling.  It was a hectic week, where we were set a variety of tasks including creating evolving walks, learning tongue twisters, singing songs as well as lots of stuff.  Eventually, Matthias pulled together all the little elements to create our piece.  The basic concept is, our company is split in half each peforming the piece after eachother.  We travelling around the edges of the gallery twice performing different tasks at each 'station'. 

Some of the tasks in our piece really involve involve using your brain.  We really have to think about our movement.  Something that required a lot of time and effort was working on the 'clock faces'.  We had to rearrange the numbers 1 to 12, three times.  My number sequences are the following:

A)  4, 5, 7, 2, 8, 11, 3, 9, 12, 1, 6, 10
B)  3, 6, 9, 12, 10, 7, 2, 5, 11, 8, 4
C) 2, 7 ,9, 5, 11, 8, 3, 4, 12, 10, 6, 1

We then had to imagine a clock face on the floor and step to each number in our sequence to create a phrase.


I'm really enoying this module but its a lot of hard work.  We have our performances next week and then its all over.

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Influx Rehearsal 1

This afternoon, we had our first company rehearsal.  Although only 5 of us turned up, it was still a productive session. 
The day before, we found out that Matthias had changed the whole idea about the piece and the superhero theme went out the window.  We are now working on something called 'Walking Piece'.  The basic idea is that we will be walking in a continuous loop around the edges of the Lanchester Gallery space.  There may be some obstacles in our way and will be talking as well.

Earlier, we tried out the idea of walking around the edge of the space talking and trying to maintain an equal distance between each dancer.  I found it really difficult.  It may seem easy just walking and talking, but trust me, it isn't.  The first time we did it, there was mainly silence and nervous giggles, but this felt really natural and a genuine reaction to what we were doing.  The second time, we decided to talk about our weekends, and although it was easier to talk (because we actually had something to talk about), I found it quite forced.  It felt like we were in our own little worlds not acknowledging the other company members.

It was interesting because Jenni sat out the first time and watched as an audience member and she said that it made her feel quite uncomfortable.  As if we were all sharing some kind of private joke that she wasn't part of.  This is definitely something to consider as we continue with this piece.

We spent some time at the end of the session writing in our company journal.  We have another rehearsal tomorrow so hopefully, there will be more of us there and we'll have a different experience.

Sunday 6 November 2011

Influx - Red Disaster

This is my red disaster.
A volcano is about to erupt when a plane full of people is flying right over the top of it.



Influx - Orange Disaster

This is my orange disaster.
A car has broken down on a train track.  The doors won't open and the train is approaching.



Influx - Yellow Disaster

This is my yellow disaster. 
A child is chained to a tree when lightning strikes and sets the tree on fire.  His mother is locked in the house unable to help.

First Session with Matthias Sperling

On Tuesday, 'Influx' (Our Performance Project company) had our first session with our choreographer Matthias Sperling.  We'd been set some tasks before he came but we still didn't really know what to expect.

We spent some time working with the concept of 'what lights, leads' so whichever body part lights up for whatever reason, leads your movement. 

Towards the end of the day, we started working with 'yellow, orange and red disasters'.  We each had to come up with 3 different disasters and create some movement.  The idea was that if we were dancing superheroes, how would we rescue or solve the situation usinf our skills as performers?  I'll upload my disaster images and explanations soon.

I really enjoyed our first session and I'm very much looking forward to working more with 'Influx' and Matthias over the next few weeks. 

Organs

Polly's Experiential Anatomy class last week focused on the organs in the body.  When moving, we never really consider the organs so this class gave us the opportunity to experience something totally different.  We did some partner work to further explore the organs, and below are some of the notes I wrote in my journal.

- Feel the weight of the organs
- Lots inside the body
- Understanding their texture, function and location
- Moving from the organs is difficult, its easier to move from the pelvis or limbs
- Hands on makes it easier to understand
- Feel a pressure and warmth which draws attention to the organs
- Rolling felt heavy and laboured.  Feel the weight slowly shifting within the organs
- Never think of the organs when moving

Journal Entry


Here is the journal entry from Katye's class.  During the session, I became really interested in the lines of the space we were in.  These lines became my focus for the whole score.  I found it really difficult to include another person in my moving because of my strong focus on the lines.  I really enoyed this class and would love to do more work like this