Cecilia Macfarlane - Give your heart to another person

On Friday, the IPP3 students had a workshop with Cecilia Macfarlane.  At the beginning of the class, Cecilia asked us to locate where our hearts were at that moment in time.  In other words, where was a light or a heat in our bodies.  I felt like I had a warm yellow sphere glowing on my forehead that was guiding me and leading the way.  After moving with this idea, we were asked to draw it and make a score.  We then had to exchange scores with a partner and choreograph a short phrase of movement in response to our partner's score.  Both me and my partner Emma had spheres as our heart and this shape was clear in both our choreographies but in very different ways.  I interpreted Emma's large red sphere in the centre of her body as a shape that grew in size and controlled my torso.  Emma interpreted my warm glow as something very gentle and comforting.  While watching her perform, I really enjoyed the peaceful quality she brought to the movement.  After watching our partner perform, we could return to our own personal scores and add anything that we liked when witnessing our partner move.

At the end of the session, Cecilia asked us some questions about the scores and one that particularily stuck out to me was, "How would this session fit into a wider context (community)?".   Everyone seemed to agree that it would be unsuitable to use on anyone younger than third year undergraduate students but I disagree.  The idea of making a score and sharing it with a partner would be interesting to do with younger people, even children.  Obviously a much more simple version would be needed but I am interested to see how it would work.  Instead of giving someone your heart, it could be something less personal. 

Below is my score...

Moving again

I expected my body to take some time to adjust to moving again after having 4 months off over the summer but from the 1st class last Monday I was fine.  I am surprised how my body has automatically switched back to moving this way.

Our first session back was with Katye on the first day.  At the beginning it felt hard to connect with the task we were given but when we moved onto an excerise involving rolling down and hanging, I felt like my body was much more responsive.  This is probably because last year I work a lot with the idea of finding space and opening up which is something this task was quite similar to. 

The beginning of the end.....

I've just completed my first week of my last year here at Coventry University.  It's exciting but also terrifying!!  Although I knew the workload would dramatically increase this year; it has still been quite a shock.  These next 9 months are going to be very full on but it is important to also enjoy myself because it'll be over before I know it.

End of Term Two

Tomorrow, I finish my second term of my second year, which means I'm over half way through my time here at Coventry University.  For the past couple of weeks, I've been writing my Movement Studies essay on how my moving and witnessing has developed during my second year.  I thought this was be quite an easy thing to write about as it is about my personal experience but I'm finding it a bit more challenging.  My moving developed lots in my first year, and I know it will continue to develop in my final year but trying to put down on paper exactly how I've progrssed this year is difficult.  I feel like I've written how I've developed but trying to expand on this is proving tricky.  This does slightly make me worry about my Viva next term, where I have to talk for 5 minutes about this.  Hopefully, I'll be able to work hard and do well

Deadlines!

With modules coming to end, I have loads of different deadlines to meet.  Having three pieces of coursework all due in the same week is hard work.  Its difficult having to switch between Artists in Education and Community Settings,  Movement Studies and Dance Analysis.  It always comes as a shock when we have this much written work to do because most of our time is spent in practical sessions.

Having this blog is really helping with my Movement Studies essay.  I've found it a lot easier to blog this year which is great when it comes to reflecting on what I've done.  I would have never guessed I'd actually enjoy having a blog!  I will definitely keep posting in future. 

My Movement Studies Aim

At the beginning of this term, Katye asked us to identify one thing that we would be working with during our Movement Studies 2 module.  The image below is from my journal (form 9th January 2012).  This has been my focus in each Movement Studies class.  Yesterday, in a Skinner Releasing class with Polly, I felt that the idea of finding space and opening the back and spine was really prominent in my movement.  The curling and uncurling exercises began opening the spaces of the back and the work we did with axis (imagining an axis running directly down the centre of the body) helped me explore the full range of movement of the spine.

Placement Complete

This weekend I finished my placement with Jenna at Kenilworth Creative Dance.  I've really enjoyed my 5 weeks on placement and Jenna has said that I can continue with the classes next term.  

The first class has children between the ages of 2-5 years old and their parents.  The sessions are very creative and involve lots of storytelling.  These classes are so much fun and the children have a lot of say in what they want to do.  One participant made an 'Ideas Box' so the other children can submit ideas for future classes. 

The second class is for 5-7 year olds.  Most of the children in this class have some kind of disability and parents also take part.  This class can be more difficult at times.  It seems that there are good days where the children are very interested and keen to take part but there are also bad days when one or two children decide they do not want to be there so it can be struggle to make progress in the session.

I've loved every minute of my placement and it has most certainly reminded me why I want to be a community dance leader.