The Art of Dancing

I am currently in the process of my final year of my BA Hons Degree in dance making and performance in the new environment of Coventry University. I am creating this blog to reflect on my development as an artist and my experiences as a person.

[alixsliwinski]

Non-judgmental???

Over the past few months i've been battling with making judgement of myself when correction or comments are made during class. I automatically start questioning and analysing as to whether they are about or relevant to me, and with this I immediately start adjusting what I am doing. I feel that these comments and rules developed as part of a score in some classes restrict my movement and therefore I remain in my brain constantly analysing and thinking about what I am suppose to and not suppose to be doing, while making sure I keep my shoulders down and make direct points of contact with the floor just in case these critiques are aimed towards me. My frustration is that I was under the impression that this process of moving was based around listening to my body, moving how I feel today, with what I want to explore and challenge and in the way that I choose. I do however understanding that this is about challenging my habitual moving and my ability to work with a set score, but in a large class it gets awfully confusing when you’re not sure whom the comments are relevant and irreverent to, along with fulfilling the elements of the score without becoming uncomfortable, uneasy and alien in my body. Constantly in thought and judgement so far from the authentic movement and internal listening that has been so heavy preached.  To resolve this I find myself trying to block out some of the external input and focus on one or two elements that I feel comfortable challenging so that I remain present in and true to my own body, if this comes across as I am doing it wrong or not fully listening to instruction and not moving how I am asked then I apologises but I guess I’m not, I am listening to my body. 

[alixsliwinski]

Authentic Movement-Authentic Witnessing???

During weekly practice of authentic movement I have developed a series of questions or observations (im not sure which) during the process of witnessing a mover.

-Firstly I wonder when moving from an authentic place of sensation or emotion what balance underlies intention or impulse within the body, what level of control do we have with our mind over our movement. interest in the level of intention we apply and allow in our movement in a playful, inquisitive or observational manner. sensing impulse and consciously if not subconsciously applying layers of intention to create a journey from this impulse, allowing this to settle to find a new impulse. how do we control this and if we do not control or response what happens to these impulses. 

-Secondly, as a witness there seems to be an understanding that stillness is a sign of respect, that attention and service is being fully provided. however isn't part of empathetic witnessing to merge with the experience of another, therefore it feels uncomfortable and forced to remain or encourage a degree of stillness. when really to join in with the experience of the mover i want to move. I want to witness not only with my eyes but to physically be witness to their movement through movement. although where it the balance of this without loosing the role of mover and witness. (perhaps mover and moving witness)

- and finally, after witnessing when sharing and discussing as the witness we reveal a self experience or observation of what has been witnessed, this may or may not have been present for the mover however i have experienced that a lot of the time it reveals or highlights something to the mover that was not initially prominent but relates to something in the moving or was subconsciously in there awareness. As a witness however i still find myself deeply trying to empathize with the mover trying to mind read almost, to feel or understand exactly what they are experiencing, how i can let myself simply to witness to see what comes up without trying to mind read!  

[alixsliwinski]

The witness works to create an active receptive bodily container in which he allows himself to be affected on an kinaesthetic, intuitive and feeling level

Wyman-McGinty, 1998 cited in Garrett-Brown 2007

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Questions on witnessing in authentic movement.

[alixsliwinski]

Peer Facilitation

For my movement studies peer facilitation I decided to work with the homolateral movement pattern as during movement explorations it was one that i felt fairly comfortable to me while still challenging me to find balance and support within my body. I chose to create a set phrase of material inspired by the homolateral pattern as i felt this was a nice way for me to experience identifying the pattern within movement material and working with the pattern within choreography.During my planning I also became aware that i wanted to balance my instructional and facilitator teaching strategies by starting the session with an individual exploration exercise based on imagery and color.  

I started my research progress by returning to text that we had been guided to within class. This brought me to Making Connection (Hackney,P. 2002), we had previously read the core to distal chapter in this book but i felt that the Body-Half Connectivity chapter gave me a great insight into the homolateral pattern, along with Sensing Feeling and Action (Bainbrigde-Cohen,B. 2008), which discussed two movement reflexes present in this pattern, the Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex and the Hand to Mouth Relfex, both of which were further developments on the learning we had explored in class. 

Overall i think that my session was successful in the exploration of homolateral movement, with clearly defined themes and objectives. The phrase itself was clearly linked to the movement pattern while still being a fluid and well structure phrase with a range of levels and facings. The painting with color exploration was clear in visualizing and defining the two halves of the body however if this was a longer session if would have been nice to revisit the use of colors when working with the phrase. I felt that my use of communication was confident and full of the correct intention however perhaps there were some choices of vocabulary that could have been improved to enable my peers to have clearer direction and understanding. During reflection it was suggested that i allow time and options for those who wish to work with smaller elements or at a slower pace, and although this was clear and accessible in my mind i did not make this available to my peers.  Overall i think that this facilitation has huge scope to be expanded into a longer or multi sessions, exemplifying the potential this movement pattern has on the development of our moving.  

[alixsliwinski]

Please follow my new blog for detailed information on my choreographic process for my final major project piece which currently is untitled however is exploring the use of touch either as a stimulus for movement or within culture. This piece will be performed as part of a collaborative art event within the  FromScratch-Subfest in late April early May in Artspace in Coventry. Also visit the collaborative blog page for more information on the event itself and other works within it! fromscratch-subfest.tumblr.com

[alixsliwinski]

Cecilia Macfarlane

After reading the interview with Cecilia in animated magazine 2004, I developed a further understanding of autobiographical work. However something i questioned when reading about her work is the process of making something autobiographical accessible for a wide range or audience something that others can relate to. I wonder what her process is in the making of her work, how she chooses to present something, as she herself is aware that this kind of work can be misinterpreted as something overtly personal and perhaps selfish. 

'To dance an autobiographical work was viewed then as indulgent, private, yet i knew other artist who did this- poets and painters were fed by personal experience.' (Macfarlane, C. 2004) 

However after the workshop with Cecilia i understood the essence of the therapeutic qualities of dance more clearly. As well as Dance Movement Therapy. Therefore i can understand that this autobiographical work is a therapeutic process, her life is her dance and her dance is her life. Dance can hold therapeutic qualities for us all, making  her work accessible in that way.

[alixsliwinski]

Dance Movement Therapy

The mind is not separate from the body they are connect as one. The nervous system runs through the flesh of the body our thoughts and emotional out present throughout our body. Dance movement therapy is a psychotherapy treatment of the mind through the medium of the body. 'It seeks to integrate body, emotions, mind, and spirt in the dance of dialogue between the conscious and the unconscious. Expressive dance movement enables the psychological and spiritual dimensions of our experience to be embodied, made visible, and witnessed clearly by another.' ( Hartley, L. 2004: 56)

[alixsliwinski]

My friend holly and her horse flo demonstrating beautifully the homolateral movement pattern. Condensing on one side and expanding on the other, down the central line of the body. Well done flo!

[alixsliwinski]

Negotiating- contact improv.

There is something that is challenging me in the process of negotiation when working with someone new in a process of baring and receiving weight. I have been aware of this for sometime but only today was it voiced by others and experienced in myself. It is important to take the time to work a process out, to find it. Every action and relationship is new and therefore must be approached as different and explored differently. Taking the time to find this difference and negotiation is something I need and want but i feel it is often rushed though and overlooked by my partners and I'm sure they feel the same. Therefore I have to ask myself. What can I take away from this different experience with each partner and with weight without holding back or coming away.

[alixsliwinski]

Subconsciously layering

Our first experiential anatomy back after the Christmas break time was spent recapping and allowing our bodies to reawaken the patterns that are available all of which I manage to find in some way and with time. However the interesting thing that came to me was the layering process that automatically came when asked to explore the patterns in locomotion. I found that my body selectively layered elements of a number of patterns at points within locomotion. I specifically remember naval radiation and I the visualisation of six limbs travelling through space but with specific awareness to my spinal movement as well yielding tail and floating skull and movement within my vertebra which overpowered the focus on the naval itself. What was most interesting was the specific awareness to the four joints shoulders and hips, that outline the trunk of my body, their link between spinal movement and limbs, feeding the energy out from the spine and centre out to the limbs. I enjoyed playing with the movement they allowed me to have while playing with core and distal movement and spinal explorations.

[alixsliwinski]

Reaching Beyond Self

Finding the yield in my movement allows me to generate a force and strength to push out of one movement and into the next. The image of softening the tissues on my body can also increase the stability, imagining the surface of my body expanding and fulling the surface of the floor. Once i have found the yielding and pushing force behind my movement i can increase this through the intention of reaching out and traveling through space. Linda Hartley's description of this process and the importance of the push and reach patterns when moving, talks of the support from the ground and desire to reach beyond self, which I experience as  reaching beyond the skin, lengthening and expanding the body to its limit consequently finding the momentum to shift the body out in space.

'Through the practice of yielding and pushing the child has internalized the support of the ground, and is now supported by the space as she reaches out and enters into new realms beyond her own body boundaries. If the push patterns have not been well enough integrated, reaching out and moving beyond known boundaries may feel insecure, unsafe, or she may lose her sense of self as she reaches too far out from her inner ground. Movement is now strongly motivated by desire, curiosity, and playful interaction, once gravity has been mastered, the support of the ground internalized, and the sense of one's own body boundaries integrated.'(Hartley, L. 2004) 

[alixsliwinski]

Layering the patterns

This is a reflective text over the past month for my movement studies module.

Looking at three new patterns this past month, the mouthing pattern with awareness to the digestive system, pre-spinal pattern with the soft spine, brain and spinal cord, and on to spinal pattern with the hard bone of the vertebra. Awareness to all elements has enabled me to understand the density of my torso, what it contains and the connections and systems within it. 

Moving with awareness to the brain and spinal cord has allowed me to connect my skull with the rest of my body the image of sensing and receiving signals and sensations through out the body sending them to the spinal cord and up the brain the center of intelligence to be processed. The nervous system being a web and network throughout my body engages my whole body in the action of sensing and perception. Tiny fibers alive within the tissues of my body travelling towards and away from the spinal cord which runs down the central line of my body and up to the brain. Being aware of the inter connectivity through my body allows me to be present to the many systems working as a whole. 

 Before I think I underestimated the length of my spine, the  journey from tail to skull is a very long journey from the base of my coccyx up into the base of my skull. Visualizing the space between each vertebra has enhanced my exploration of movement capability in my spine. I have explored using the pull of the spine to create a ripple of movement throughout my body. Finding and allowing the length in my spine creates more space for movement. 

Finding the support from the grounding surface allows me to build upwards and find strength and stability, yielding into the floor to push my body out of the floor and into space. I have found that this gives my transitional movement a fluid rebound and bounce by finding and strengthening the foundation through the yield which travels through my body to build my movement and push outward. 

Reaching out of the centre of my body with my limbs finding the intention and initiation points such as head, tail or arm, which travels down to the spine and to the core pull the rest of the limbs with it. The quality that is gives my movements is resistance and connection throughout my body not just moving through space for the sake of moving but I am being pulled through space being I am reaching out for something, moving my whole body with intent and purpose. 

What has become incredibly clear to me over the past month is how all of these patterns do not have to be constantly present in my moving and awareness all at once but how each individual pattern is always available in my body and can be called upon to add a different quality to my moving. Transferring it to technique and phrase based classes or even improvised movement to change the intention and quality that is behind the movement even though the movements may be the same, each pattern can be individually explored. I feel that is this capable because that patterns from cellular breathing to reach and pull, are not independent and closed chapters of moving, they are overlapping and interlinked progressive stages that support each other. They are constantly present in the human body and therefore can be awakened in any movement, however some more challenging than others for each individual. 

[alixsliwinski]

Nervous system from brain down to spinal cord and through the body.

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Sensing the Boundary- documentation of research process- sensing and responding to a range of texture on the skin. 

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With the mastery of each developmental stage, another level of coherence and agency, a new level of expression of the will, has emerged.

Hartley, L. (2004) Somatic Psychology-Body, Mind and Meaning. London: Whurr Oublishers Ltd. 

[alixsliwinski]

There is something in nature that forms patterns. We, as part of nature, also form patterns. The mind is like the wind and the body like the sand; if you want to know how the wind is blowing, you can look at the sand.

Cohen, B. (1993) Sensing, Feeling and Action.