At the beginning of the workshop the question “What is your pallet?” was asked. This was a simile for the paint pallet which an artist would use. Just like an artist has a selection of colours ready to be used in a painting, a dancer has a selection of movements which they can look to to create a masterpiece on the dance floor instead of on a canvas.

Eyes, we all have them, we use them daily. But how much do we actually see, how much passes us by because we aren’t paying attention? It is okay to see things but different things can be a stimulus for movement to stem from, a reaction to an influence.

“At its roots my dance work is focused on everyday movement, the functioning of the body, how we navigate physically and how the mind and body work together to compose our movement.” (Lepkoff, 2005)

Due to the fact that much of dance is taken from everyday movement, we should always be  present in the moment. We should be observing and analysing to some extent in order to draw upon these experiences while dancing. Just as we can see things, we can also initiate movement from the eyes. In an exercise, simply twisting the torso, but initiating from different areas had a very big impact on the overall outcome of the movement. For example initiating from the hips or the arms had an impact on the amount which the body moved and the speed at which the motion happened. Initiating from the eyes was definitely something which I found uncomfortable. I found it made me very dizzy quickly as I was seeing everything around me at a very fast pace. In hindsight this may not have been so bad if I had done it at perhaps a slower speed.

In ballet and other dance styles, the positions call for pointed toes and fingers in order to make the lines seem infinite, instead of cutting them short with a flexed foot for example. We had an exercise which in some respects echoed this. In partners we began on hands and knees, connected by the crown of the head. The spines were an  extension of each other, the movement of one person carried on through the other. We found that although the intention was to try and work together, there was usually a leader and a follower. The sensing which we experienced was more feeling the initiation from the other person and reacting to it or vice versa.

The rolls are becoming much easier as the weeks go by and they are more embodied. The connections are beginning to become more evident. For example in the reverse crescent roll, the movement is initiated by the hands and feet and the aim is to look for the spacial awareness between the hands and feet. You are concentrating on the side of the body and relaxing it into the floor. It should be a smooth transition as opposed to flopping from one surface to the other. The aikido roll is something which needs more work. Every time I try it I end up turning it into a forwards roll. However some of this could be psychological as I really don’t like rolling over my head.

Works Cited

Forti, S (2005) The Movement of Attention, The Movement Research Performance Journal: 29