During last week’s lesson we looked upon weight distribution towards the end of the class, for me personally I struggled I couldn’t grasp the idea of somebody carrying my entire weight.

This week was different we looked at different ways of transitioning through contact:

• Handstand
• Released side rolls
• Half handstand with legs lowered in a deep second
• Cartwheel with flexed legs
• Grounded leg spin

After doing these positions several times I noticed myself feeling a lot more confident with my weight and where to place it. So doing the next task ‘points of contact’ felt a lot easier this week, only with the weight distribution because I felt a lot more in control of myself, knowing that if I can handle my own weight then possibly somebody else could too. There were definitely times when I thought with certain people that I could experiment with the lifts, this lead me to involuntary just give them my weight.

The outcome for this was good to experience in the moment as I also had to figure a way out a way to come out of the lift while remaining in contact. As I went on to change partners I did notice I had taken the role as the over dance and even though I felt adventurous with my lifts, I didn’t want to be predictable now that I was aware of other transactions. How can I experiment with my weight as the under dancer is still basic? Saying this am I still being basic if I’m the under dance? Maybe that’s what we need to work on as a class to see how we can develop different stances.

Our final task became a group one; helping each other to be comfortable with just giving our weight. Getting in a big circle and having to stand in the middle, counting down from 3 while people catch you is nerve wrecking but going through it myself, didn’t seem so bad. I think I may have been careful with my head weight so I didn’t fully release it, this may have been because the initial idea is to catch the person more than to gentle and place them down, so I was still being precautious. With so many of the activities being one on one partners and having their sole attention on you, I feel it’s difficult to feel relaxed with more people and things going on around me.

Ongoing Research Lab

What do I want to discover from Contact Improvisation?

As a group we decided to choose two questions we thought would benefit the class:

How do we incorporate eye contact? We’re using this question to see if it would change the way we feel while doing contact to the audience and performer.

Who initiates movement after a weight bearing position, the under or the over dancer? This is to look at it more reflectively, to see how one person can feel about each role.

Brown, B. (1997) Is Contact a Small Dance? Contact Quarterly: Contact Improvisation Sourcebook, 1(6) 72-75.

Ravn, S. (2010) Sensing Weight in Movement. Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices, 2(1) 21-34.

Focusing on Steve Paxton’s idea on Contact Improvisation I got a real insight in how he wanted it to be; it’s a form of dance that shouldn’t be taught be but to be expressed through movement. We were able to watch one of his pieces called Magnesium (1972). My thought on the performance is that it’s very raw, it brings a sense of aggression, excitement and dangerous feeling to it. It’s not pre-determined or careful. From what I could tell it was an all-male cast, this led me to believe that they have more weight distribution to play with, which is why it’s interesting to watch them play around with weight balance and the pace they perform in.

Another video that we watched was Blake Nellis and Brando @ Earthdance (2010). My initial thought for this piece was that it’s too bland compared the Magnesium (1972); it seemed slow paced and careful with the movements. Even though the two males performing this piece has good chemistry, being able to trust each other and to do intricate lifts it felt as though they were playing it safe, the movements were too soft and the way they flowed looked as though they had practiced before.

I say that the way Earthdance (2010) looked was bland but it’s also the style of contact that is taught today, which brings me back to the thought of Steve Paxton’s representation of contact and how it’s supposed to break the norm of dance. ‘Paxton, for his part, desired “unique and personalized forms” (131) of dance practice.’(Turner, 2010, 125). Comparing the two different videos there’s a massive difference as to what was and what is; it makes me question what’s changed? When did Contact Improvisation become a set style to be taught? As an overall judgement I would prefer learning Contact in the way of the Magnesium (1972) video, it’s challenging and creative.

The starter task for this lesson was to get connected to the body again and to build momentum in the foetal position, during this task we needed to concentrate on the placement and weight of our head and feet. At the time I didn’t understand why we needed to focus on them two specific areas because we had done this task several times but leading on from this task helped me understand why.

Getting into partners we had to lie on the floor and give the full weight of our head to somebody else. The idea of this was daunting but it was an easier than I thought, I guess it all depends on the person you’re working with. To get me to fully relax I still had to breathe deeply and let the focus out of the back of my head, this was my way of fully releasing the weight. It also helped that before I gave them my weight, they needed to create a connection with me to reassure that they are secure. Moving on from there I slowly moved my body while it’s on the ground so I could build up the pace and let my partner at times be able to fully carry my weight even when I’m in full movement. It felt interesting to see what I could do without using my head to lead and even if I could balance with them holding my head.

The last task was head to head contact, to be able to move when and where we liked but still connected by the head. To do this was difficult at time, wherever the point of connection was, for me I felt that I needed to move the oppositional point to even it out, but there was only so much one side of the body can move, especially when connected with somebody else. Transitioning between partners was even more difficult, by the time I figured out my partner’s movements I would need to go to another person. At one point I was in a trio and I kept loosing focus with at least one of them. I think for me I couldn’t figure out the task for myself which I why I struggled connecting with other people and finding a good rhythm. Hopefully in the near future I will be more in tune with myself.

Aaron Brando (2010) Contact Improvisation: Blake Nellis and Brando @ Earthdance. [Online Video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQRF2sLK1vY [Accessed 13 October 2015].

Turner, R. (2010) Steve Paxton’s ‘Interior Techniques’: Contact Improvisation and Political Power. TDR: The Drama Review, 54(3), 123-135.

Paxton, S. Start Smith, N. [DVD] Magnesium; Peripheral Vision; Soft Pallet. East Charleston:  VT Contact Collaborations/Videoda.

This week I feel adjusted to the idea of contact improvisation, I don’t know whether this is because I’m used to the style now or whether learning this type of improvisation is just a lot more interesting.

Starting off this week we did an exercise that required us to lie on the floor and to feel each and every muscle in the body, to be able to connect to them all. I felt that this would have been a tool for the next exercise, which is to create a strong connect with anyone who is in our path. We did this by running up to people and using a resistance force on their shoulder, to guide them towards the floor. We would have to melt our bodies to the floor which is why I think the pervious exercise helped, it made me loosen up and use each muscle to slowly get to floor. From that we would have to connect arm to arm and pull each other, so using our weight as much as we can to balance each other.

This week’s reading by Fiona Bannon focuses on the touch and feel of the skin and I kept this in mind while we practiced the next task. Getting in partners we sat on the floor and slowly built up the connection and moving in synchronisation with each other, by first using the upper body to then using the entire of the body. From this task I learnt that it really is about whether you gel with the person you work with and with our task we moved through different people. It made me a lot more aware of people’s habitual movements and how to work together without losing contact, so it was sort of felt like picking up other people’s habits to keep the flow of it going.

My favourite task of the day was the under and over task, it was interesting to see how each person took on a role, whether to carry the weight or be the weight without saying anything to another. Each had their pro’s and con’s I thought; whether you were comfortable enough to leave the full weight on another person or strong enough to move with the weight on top. As a small person most people would assume that I’m light and would be an over but I feel a lot more comfortable being the under, I think this was because the role was simple and all I had to do was shift my weight, whereas the over had to try and change positions to keep it interesting.

The final task involved balance between the partners, I found this difficult as my idea of balancing on someone would include complicated moves; such as lifts, hanging poses etc. Trying to figure out a balance in the space while moving was an easier adjustment because we could use our bodies in any way possible without having to think, it was fun really to just mess around with the weight and not having to worry about if it looks good or not. It’s great to expand on this type of improvisation, I feel connected and open minded to what I can achieve through this and learn new skills for myself.

Bannon, F. and Holt, D. (2011) Touch: Experience and Knowledge. Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, 3(1&2) 215-225.