Chloe Brasier- Contact Improvisation

In this research lab, we had to chose a question we were most interested in experimenting with. We chose the question ‘how can we transition between levels without just standing or falling through them?’ because we all agreed that this was what we struggled with the most and that we didnt use a range of different ways to get up from the floor during jams or improvisations. We experimented with the following ideas to help us come up with more complicated ways:

• Keeping different body parts in contact while moving through different levels
• Using a time limit to put added pressue on us
• Using the most complex route to get from the floor up and vice versa

With ‘keeping different body parts in contact while moving through different levels’, we all firstly thought that “belly to belly” would be the most successful however when we performed the task itself, it became apparent that that was the most difficult. We all agreed that head to head was the easiest as we had more freedom to move around. As our stomachs are the centre 0f our bodies, it was difficult (verging on impossible) to move from down to up whilst our stomachs were in contact. The other body parts we used were knees to knees and back to back.

When we were put under pressure with a time limit, I feel like it had a negative effect rather than positive. This is because we were rushing rather than still using our skills. When observing, I noticed that people were just trying to get to the floor in the quickest time possible rather than the most effective. So we thought we would move onto getting to the floor in the most complex way. This was more interesting to watch as people were actually thinking about what to do rather than just standing up or sliding to the floor. It was most effective in partner work as people were using lifts to make interesting transititions.

 

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I was feeling confident about this week as I am most comfortable with being the over dancer. I was intrigued to see what exercises we would be doing. I was slightly apprehensive about if we were swapping roles as i wasnt confident in taking peoples weight. We started by learning some new, interesting ways to lift and be lifted by our partners. I was partnered with Georgina and she felt more comfortable with being the under dancer where as I felt more comfortable with being the over dancer, so this worked well. The lift we experimented with involved me leaning over Georginas shoulder blade and hip as she leant over. Then she stood up so it created a balance where my feet were off the floor and I was lying across Georginas back.

During this exercise, I was intrigued to see how we could incorporate these more complex lifts into our improvisations as there would have to be a clear initiation from a fellow dancer for it to be obvious and for it to work. I was determined to try and attempt some more complex lifts in the next jam. I feel like to be able to acheive this, you have to be confident in what you are doing, because if you go for it half heartedly, it doesnt work  or doesnt reach it’s full potential. Because of this, I feel like I have gained so much more trust in the people I work with as I know that they will be able to lift me.

 

 

 

For our research lab, the question we studied was ‘how can we explore momentum alongside the idea of coming off the floor without using the support of our hands and how does this change when working with new or old partners?’. To try and achieve this, we explored different ways to get off the ground with our hands clasped then unclasped to see which we personally found easier. I preferred doing the task with my hands clasped as it took the concentration away from the hands. When I had them unclasped, the focus was on my hands and I found it much more challenging to not use my hands at all.

When performing these exerices myself with my hands unclasped, I found using my arms to give me some momentum a lot easier than not using them at all. Although members of my group who were observing told me i looked awkward and uncomfortable. I also noticed this whilst watching the other members of my group perform the task. The movements looked tense and uncomfortable.

It was interesting not being able to use our hands as it showed how much you rely on them when you are moving in the space, especially when you are on the floor. It was interesting to see how people got up from the floor without using their hands.

During week 4 the class was started by focusing on Steve Paxtons ‘Small Dance.’ We watched a youtube clip of the small dance which showed a skeleton moving ever so slightly. It continued to show us this from different angles. The small dance showed that our bodies are always moving even when we think that we are standing completely still. After watching the video, we experimented ourselves with the small dance to see how we felt and to see whether we noticed the small movement. We were told to close our eyes and immediately I felt unneasy in my body as I hadnt noticed these small movements before. Because I was concentrating so hard, I felt myself going off balance. When I felt unbalanced, I let my body take me in whatever direction it was moving. This felt uncomfortable with my eyes closed and it felt like i was moving further than I actually was.

After this exercise, we were the put into groups ready for our research lab. We were told to write down questions which we were interested to explore, then pick two questions that linked in some way and study them to create one main question. The question we chose were ‘what would happen if I come up off the floor without using my hands and how does this change when working with new or old partnes?’