Reflecting on March and April

The Easter holidays meant that March was a short month so I've decided to combine my March and April posts.

During March, I really enjoyed the improvisation and skinner releasing classes with Polly.  I feel like after the stress of my dissertation was out of the way, I was free to really enjoy moving.  Below is an extract from my journal from a class with Polly from the penultimate week of term...

Gentle.
Tumble.
One Move falls seamlessly into another.
Natural.
Like waves.
Water tumbling over rocks.
Calming.
Peaceful.
Movement.
Moving.

Journal entries similar to the one above have become more common for me this year.  I tend to draw stick images and explain my experience very literally so this makes a nice change.

After the Easter break, I was suddenly in my final term at University.  It has come around very quickly!  Below is an image from my journal from my first session back.

 

 

 

I've been spendind the past month preparing for my Viva that is taking place this afternoon.  Hopefully it'll go well.  I'll post my thoughts on it later this week.

 

Reflecting on February

February feels like another short month, like I haven't done much moving but looking back through my journal, I have actually done a lot in these 3 weeks (We had reading week towards to beginning of the month).

The month began with a Movement Studies class with Natalie.  As we only have 4 months left of our degree, she asked us what our goals will be for these last few months.  My goals are to be more present in my moving and to taske advantage of all that we do.  I will achieve this by doing more self study and reading a lot more.  As our Peer Teaching was fast approaching, we then began looking into teaching strategies.  I did a lot of work on this when I was 16 years old and taking part in the pilot scheme of Youth Dance England's 'Young Dance Entrepreneur' programme (now know as 'Stride!'), so what was discussed was already very familiar with me.  Something that came up for me in these discussions was how I feel like I need to remember who I am teaching.  I've spent over 8 years teaching children but for my peer teaching, I would be teaching my peers; people who already had a lot of dancing experience.  I had my peer teaching assessment on 22nd February and I posted my thoughts on it a couple of weeks ago.  The link is below.

http://abisdanceblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/peer-teaching.html

In Andrea's sessions this month, we've been doing lots of phrase work which has been great.  I've really enjoyed these classes and we don't get to do that much phrase based work. 

I thought I'd share a couple of extracts from my personal journal in this post.  The first is from a class with Katye.  We've been doing a lot of work with the head to heel connection and this journal entry is from a session where I felt very 2D and I was struggling to regain a sense of the 3D self.

 

The next image if from a class with Natalie.  To be honest, I can't really remember the details of this class.  Only that I was working with Joana and we had a discussion about moving, drawing then moving from the drawing.  My journal has very little colour and very little pictures.  I tend to use words instead of images.  I feel like I can make sense of words.  They have meanings so there is little interpretation to be made.  As you can see from my image below, there are a few words on the page but not many which is very unlike me.

 

 

 

February ended with a Skinner class with Polly which I really enjoyed.  I posted about it on Thursday.  Here is the link,

 

http://abisdanceblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/skinner-releasing-class-280213.html 

 

We are now in March and we have 3 weeks left before our penultimate term at Coventry University is complete.  I start my Final Major Project tomorrow afternoon at a local primary school.  I'm going to keep a journal of this so you will be able to read about it soon.





Skinner Releasing Class 28/02/13

Here is an extract from my journal from today's Skinner class with Polly Hudson......

Light touch.

Like the fine, delicate point of a pencil dancing on the page forming intricate patterns.

Gentle.

Peaceful.

Calm.

Feather light touch.

Soft as a whisper.

Moving like sea breeze.

(image from Google images)

Peer Teaching

A few days ago, I completed my peer teaching session as part of my Movement Studies 3 assessment.  For this, our task was to lead a 15 minute session for 3 of our peers.  The session was to be drawn upon our personal interests from the module.  My session was called 'A Shift in Weight' and focused on the last three movement patterns we'd been working on, Homologous, Homolateral and Contralateral.  I decided to create a lesson plan for a 90 minute long lesson where my 15 minutes would sit.

In creating my lesson plan, I asked myself what my perfect lesson would be and I picked out what I enjoy most from sessions that I've experienced both at Coventry University and in other classes.  I came up with the following structure for my lesson.

In the Experiential Anatomy classes, we tend to do a lot of improvised scores and partner graphics, so in my 15 minute session I decided to do something a little different.  I taught my peers a short phrase and asked them to find moments that highlight the 3 movement patterns we were working with.

My personal aim for this session was to remember who I was teaching.  I have 8 years worth of experience teaching children so I needed to remember that my peers already knew a lot and I didn't need to go back to basics.

I feel like my session went well.  It went by very quickly and I felt like I wanted to teach the entire session, not just 15 minutes of it.  I tried my best to remember who I was teaching but maybe this didn't come across as well because my feedback was to continue working with this further.  In terms of the content of my sessions, the feedback I received was good.  I knew that doing a phrase based session was going to be a bit risky but it's something I would enjoy experiencing and enjoy teaching.  I feel like it was a nice change to the partner graphics and improvisation of my peers' sessions. 

If I were to lead the session again, I would like a slightly larger group to work with.  I would also ask more questions are the participants' experiences and get them to investigate and find answers by themselves.

Reflecting on January

January has been a crazy month for a number of reasons.  The month began with a lot of travelling for me which unfortunately meant I missed some classes.  I had my skills tests for my PGCE then I had my interview down in Eastbourne for the course.  Although this isn't exactly related to Movement Studies, I would like to share my thoughts on this topic. 

I've always known that I was going to be a teacher.  Ever since I was 8 years old and I would teach my little sister and her friends in my pretend classroom, and when I was 12 years old I knew I would be a Community Dance Worker.  As far as I was concerned, Community Dance was my destiny!

On the 15th January 2013, I made my way down to Eastbourne and I had to stay in a hotel over night because Eastbourne is so far away.  I was sat in my hotel room which looked out onto the beach and I felt like I could be happy in Eastbourne, that I could really enjoy living and studying there.  I got out all my notes and audit forms to do some preparation for the next day's interview and I suddenly burst into tears.  Absolutely out of the blue, I was in hysterics and for a while I couldn't understand why.  Once I'd calmed down a bit I began trying to find a reason for my emotional outburst.  I looked down at the audit forms on my lap and realised that I hated everything on the secondary school dance curriculum.  How could I be expected to teach something that I had no interest in?  I then began questioning how I got to where I was.  How did I get to be sat in a hotel room, 200 miles from home after applying and taking my skills tests?  How did I get so far without having a single doubt in my mind before now?

After some thinking, I figured out I came up with this plan around last June.  I spoke to my family and friends about it and they all said that my idea of doing a PGCE in Secondary Dance was very sudden and came out of nowhere!  I think I must have got to the end of my second year and had a bit of a panic.  I had one year left at University and I needed to make a plan asap for what I would do once I finish.  I knew there aren't many opportunities in Community Dance and even less money, so my solution was to do a PGCE.  With this decision, I completely lost sight of who I am and what I love.  I'm not a secondary school teacher.  Not at all.  I'm a Community Dance Worker.  I always have been.

I feel like a million things have been staring me in the face for months saying "What the hell are you doing?!"  The fact that my parents contiuously questioned my plan, I've spent months writing my dissertation on community dance and people always seemed shocked when I told them I was going to be a high school teacher.

I've been trying to figure out a way to explain how I was feeling at the time and the only way I describe it is in this analogy... 

Imagine you're at your wedding.  You're about to walk down the aisle.  You've spent so much money on what you think is your dream wedding.  The church is full of your family and friends.  Then suddenly you realise that the man waiting for you at the alter isn't the person you're meant to marry.  He's the wrong person for you.  You're making a huge mistake.

That's how I've been feeling for the past month.  Yes, my interview was a month ago today (I wrote this post the day before I posted it on my blog).  Maybe the fact I finally plucked up the courage to write this blog post today, exactly one month after my interview date is some kind of sign?

I didn't go through with my interview.  I left Eastbourne early the next morning and who knows if I'll ever return there.  I wanted to share my feelings on my blog just in case somebody else is feeling or going through the same thing as me.  Leaving university is terrifying, it really is, but don't ever feel pressured to rush into something that isn't right for you.  Yes times are hard at the moment; there aren't many jobs available, you probably won't earn much money to begin with and you will almost definitely have to move back in with your parents, but it is important to remember who you are and what you love.

Anyway, back to Movement Studies!

This month I've been working with my patterns of movement.  In Katye's classes, I have noticed that I fall into familiar patterns of moving, particularly when travelling across the space and in and out of the floor.  In Natalie's classes, I've been noticing the movement patterns (Homologous, Homolateral etc) in the moving we do in class.  I've been trying to work out which of the movement development patterns are most comfortable for me and if I trying to be more aware of the patterns less available to me, whether my moving will change and if I'll break my movement habits.  The result of this will be explored in next month's blog post.

Reflecting on December

December was a short month in terms of my moving.  I began the month exploring gravity asking questions such as "What is gravity?", "What does it mean?" and "How can I allow gravity to pull through every part of me all the time?".  This echoes back to the moving we were doing last month with the falling score. 

On the 4th December I wrote the following list in my journal in relation to the work we were doing in class...

Feel the body.
The Limbs.  Arms.  Legs.  Head.  Tail.
Organised around one special point.
The navel.
Centred.
Middle.
Whole.
My body isn't 2D.
It has many surfaces.
Remember that.

The rest of the sessions this month were preparing for our group tutorials.  Below are my notes for that tutorial.

Any questions with BMC patterns?
Mouthing Pattern – I don’t really connect with this pattern.  I understand the concept but find it difficult to experience it.

Themes
I’ve found that I’ve been noticing the patterns in some of the other classes.

Practices
I find blogging and journaling a lot easier and more enjoyable this year.
Witnessing and Hands On work is the most useful to me.  I feel like I learn more through these two practices.
Self study is useful for really understanding something we’ve been doing in class.  Its good to have some time on your own a few days after class to work at your own pace and explore things more.

Movement Principles
The floor phrase demonstrates the movement principles best.

Individual Questions
Books from the module guide
Anatomy Colouring book
Making an Entrance
Body, Space, Image
Wisdom of the body moving
Looked on some of the web resources

Class reading – most interesting and why?
The most recent reading pulled everything together and was enjoyable to read.

Moodle
The videos of the babies was useful when you got over the cuteness and knew what you were looking for.  Inside the cell, changed the images I have in my head when thinking of my cells.

Blog Posts
Can’t access Anita’s blog.  Nicci’s posts are short but I like the images.

How has my practice developed?  Reflective practice.  Connections across classes.  Which movement principal is most useful?
In other classes I’m using the cellular breathing and yielding at the beginning of classes.  Also through witnessing, I can understand the notion of awareness of self, others and the environment. 

Develop practice next term
Layering the practices in my movement, especially the mouthing pattern.

Reflecting on November

I feel like November was a good month for me.  I had a breakthrough in terms of both my moving and my understanding of the work we’ve been doing.

 

The month began with workshops with Jenna Hubbard and Park Hill School.  As part of Movement Studies 1, the first years had to teach a small group of children.  I was invited to also take part in this because my final project is teaching based and it was a way for me to make some links with the teacher and with the possibility of working with her class for my final project.  After spending the morning with the children, in particular the group of 5 boys I was working closely with, I found it had an effect on my moving for the rest of the day.  That afternoon, I had studio class with Katye and I felt quite disconnected from the moving we were doing.  I wrote in my journal “I want to be back in my body” and phrases such as “feel my body”, “stretch”, “move fully”, “move like me” and “I am a dancer”. I spent most of the session trying to regain a sense of self and how I usually move.  I also found myself trying to lose the sense of having fun and being child-like and to become a 21 year old dance student again.  Towards the end of the session, we had to travel across the space speaking to a partner about our moving.  I found myself embracing the playfulness of the children I had been working with earlier that day and I was saying “I have a body.  I am a body.  It likes to move.  I like to move.  Stretch.  Play.  Bounce”.  This sense of play is something I have continued to notice in my studio classes this month particularly in Katye’s class and improvisation with Polly.

 

I feel like I’ve taken in a lot of information this month, especially in Natalie’s classes.  In Experiential Anatomy, we’ve moved on from The Navel Radiation and have been working with the Mouthing Pattern and the Pre-spinal Pattern and have been introduced to the Spinal Yield and Push Pattern.  The Mouthing Pattern is one pattern that I struggle with.  I understand the concept of it but I find it difficult to experience it in my moving.  The Pre-spinal Pattern is much easier for me to experience in myself.  I really enjoy working with a soft spine.  I feel like one movement is pouring into another and it is all fluid and relaxed.  Some notes from my journal say, “Moving in a way that is comfortable for my body yet still pushing it” and “Relaxed but alert body”.

 

Towards the end of the month, we have been beginning to explore the Spinal Yield and Push Pattern.  This pattern took a while for me to get my head around.  I wrote in my journal about understanding it in my head but not always felling it in my body.  This is something I want to explore more in the last few weeks of term in December.

IPP3 Assessment - My Thoughts

On Thursday 29th November 2012, I had my assessment for IPP3.  My chosen research project was 'Chance'.  I've spent the term researching chance procedure and carrying out different tasks.

 

I felt like my assessment went quite well.  For my performance piece I had a number of different instructions written on pieces of paper that I would carry out.  These were folded up and scattered on the floor so when I picked one up, I wouldn't know what I was going to do.

Some of the instructions I had written myself but I didn't know what order I would get them.

 

I also asked my peers and my tutor Polly to write me some instructions. I had no idea what they had written down so when I picked up their pieces of paper, what was written was a complete surprise.

 

 



One of the pieces of paper had 'The End' written on it.  When I picked up that particular instruction, the performance would be over.  I was slightly worried that it would be the first or second piece of paper I picked up but luckily, it was the 18th!

As to be expected, there were some instructions I didn't get to carry out before the end of the performance. (See Below)

 

I was quite disappointed that I didn't two of the instructions.  These had the words 'Dice' and 'iChing' on them.  If I had selected these, I would have got the opportunity to show some of the chance tasks I had been working with.  If I had chosen either of these instructions, I would have used them to create a small movement phrase and demonstrate some of the research I had been doing over the term.

 

 

 

 

I'd also would have liked to explain to the group and Polly my research and what I had been doing prior to the assessment.  As I wasn't sure how long the performance would be, I didn't really give much context to my performance before hand.  Instead, I handed Polly my journal to look at.  Part of me wishes she had taken it with her to have a proper look through.

 

Something that worked well was where the audience were sat.  I'd asked the group to sit wherever they wanted to in the space.  This added another element to taking things out of my control.  I also enjoyed the audience interaction I had during the performance.

 

I've really enjoyed researching chance through out this module.  Something I picked up on during my research was how well some of the techniques would work with children.  Next term, for my final project, I will be teaching a class of 7 year olds in a Primary School and I will definitely use some chance tasks in our sessions.

 

We have our feedback for IPP3 on Thursday so hopefully I'll get some good comments.  I would really like to hear what my peers thought of my piece as well as my tutor.

Reflecting on October

Since we started back at uni on the 1st October, time has gone so quickly!! This post is to reflect on my practice in Movement Studies 3 over my first month of my last year at Coventry University. 

I began by struggling to get back into moving.  On the first day back, we began by finding connections between the jaw, wrist, ankles and hands with the floor.  I put this down to not having moved in this way over the summer.  As soon as we began moving in a way that opened the spine, everything instantly became familiar again.  I spent my second year investigating finding open spaces in the body. 

I've been really enjoying the Experiential Anatomy classes this term.  I feel like everything we do in these sessions are carried through into all the other Movement Studies classes during the week.  In particular the concept of cellular breathing.  This idea of the entire body breathing and yielding into the floor is something I continue to experience in my moving ever since it was introduced to us. 

At the end of the month, we began looking at the Navel Radiation which I posted about a couple of weeks ago, this is continuing to have an effect on my moving.

The Navel Radiation

In an Experiential Anatomy class earlier this week, we were introduced to the Navel Radiation.  This emphasises the significance of the centre.  The navel is the organising point for a starfish.  It has no brain and no one part of the starfish is more important, each limb is equal.

(image from Google)

This make up of a starfish is the same as a human when they are 8 weeks in utero.  At this point in our development, our life source and nourishment comes from the umbilical cord attached to our navel.  Also as new born babies, none of our 6 limbs (2 arms, 2 legs, head and tail) are more important than another. 

As part of this session, we performed a partner graphic using this concept of navel radiation.  We had to lie on the floor (like a starfish) and our partners had to find our navel and trace along our limbs always maintaining a relationship to centre.  When my partner Alix found my navel, I was quite surprised at where it was, I had pictured it being much higher when I was imagining it.  When my limbs were being traced, I felt a sense on length.  Like they were very long and stretching far away from my navel.  I also found that the way I was breathing made me feel like I was floating in water; very gentle, calming and with an even pace to it.  When we began rolling and extending and contracting around the navel, it felt very natural to me.

Below is a sketch I made in my journal after the partner graphic.

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.

First post of 2012!

I am now well into the second term of my second year and things feel back to normal after the craziness of Performance Projects last term.  This term we all do our optional modules and I have chosen 'Artists in Education and Community Settings'.  For this module, I have to do a placement for 5 weeks and write an evaluation.

My placement is on a Saturday morning in Kenilworth.  It is 2 creative classes for children and their parents.  I started my placement last Saturday and I really enjoyed it.  Before coming to Coventry University, I had spent 6 years teaching these kind of classes so it was great to get back into it.  I was meant to spend the first session observing but when I got there, it felt more valuable to join in so I could really get a feel for the class and the children in it. 

The first classes went really well and I can't wait for next week.  Being back in that creative, playful environment instantly reminded me what I love to do and that it is definitely where my future lies.  I've thought for a while that coming to University has taken me back 10 steps.  I felt that what I was doing during my gap year was my dream job and that spending all day dancing around a studio here at Coventry was disappointing and a waste of my time.  I know that sounds harsh but coming from working for companies like DanceXchange and Youth Dance England doing project management and teaching classes with DanceFest, to suddenly being a student and having to spend all my time in class and not 'out there' has been tough.  Taking part in this module and being able to be back out in the community has been great. 

Hopefully the next few classes go just as well, if not better than the first!

Have Fun!

"I always retain the capacity to laugh at my own serious intentions, even while those intentions remain serious."

This was something we were regularly reminded of while working with Matthias.  I really like this idea, as it reminds me to enjoy what I'm doing and have fun, instead of concentrating on getting it perfect.

Influx - Voice Tasks

Here are the some of the 'tasks' in our piece that involved using our voices...

1. "Round the Chimneys!" - We had to shout this while dashing around each other to get into our places.
2. Groans - We had to groan while crawling under a shelf.
3. "Spritely!
     Tightly!
     Slightly!
     Nightly!
     Sightly!
     Brightly!
     Rightly!
     Politely!" - We had to complete this sequence of words 4 times by saying a word each, getting faster.
4. Describe an object for the audience to guess while performing 'turntable'.
5. "Over the Rooftops!" - We had to shout this while dashing around each other to get into our places.
6. Tongue Twisters - We were each given a tongue twister from the list below and had to challenge each other with them.
                                 "Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry"
                                 "Eleven Benevolent Elephants"
                                 "Six Sleek Swans Swam Swiftly Southwards"
                                 "She sifted thistles through her thistle sifter"
                                 "Which wristwatches are swiss wristwaches"
                                 "Plain bun.  Plum bun.  Bun without Plum"
7. "Here" and "There" - A sequence of movement, adding different sequences of the words layered on top