From constantly doing score based work in improvisation last year to having the freedom of exploring, unplanned contact with anyone else in the space makes me wonder; is there a way to combine the two? To be able to have guidelines to follow but the surprise elements of people coming in and out of positions. Scores is the topic for this week and each group present their own version.

Half Way Score

-The audience are placed in the centre of the room in a line.

-Anything can happen in the space: trio, duets, solos, weight baring positions, upper and lower movements.

-People already pre set

-Can only entre the space as a duet

With the intention of merging both contact and scores we hoped that it would develop in to something contrasting. Using the audience as a barrier between the two spaces, we thought that by including more set people on one side compared to the other which was only set a soloist, would change up the dynamics on both sides, fast and slow. In actual fact the complete opposite happened, they all stuck to their regular movements and speed, creating the habitual atmosphere in the score.

We chose to play music in the background for our score, seeing if the pace of the song changed their speed in the space. I personally wanted everyone participating to succumb to the music, to see if it would change their own movements or the way they would contact with somebody else. Yet again the music had barely any effect on them.

The only rule that seemed to have an effect was entering the space as a duet. In our normal jams most people would have struggles to find a person to keep a contact duet going on for long enough. Our rule changed that, they would go in and stay together for as long as they could till one drifts off. It was interesting to watch them explore with new people and in new ways, as the hesitation was lost due to the sudden involvement in the space.

Mouse Trap Score

The object of this score is to travel through four sections of a square but only allowed to move into the next section once there are Five people in one section.

The reason I found this score particularly interesting is because it challenged both mind and body for me. With it being in a set pathway I wanted to move in a way that wasn’t just space consuming, that it involved interior movements also. With this being week 9 I feel I have gained much knowledge and was able to adventure out or my norm movements- low kinesphere, spiral movements to be able to move around the space using my high kinesphere and also contact with another person.

Another way it challenged me was how long we had to be in the space for, I usually take my time when moving but felt rushed this time, it may have been because I had a destination to reach. The second time I went round I focused on the new aspects we learnt for contact and tried to hone in on myself but slowly noticed the habitual movements I was performing. I still need to work on relaxing more and thinking less to achieve my full potential in contact.

Stover, J., 1989. Some Considerations When Structuring an Improvisation (to be seen by an audience). In: V. 14, ed.Contact Quarterly’s Contact Improvisation Sourcebook. Northampton : Contact Editions , p. 185.

This week I was ill and was unable to attend lesson but was given the opportunity to go to a contact workshop. My initial idea of this workshop led by other people worried me, I thought it would just be a long jam with experienced people which I didn’t think I was trained enough for and would embarrass myself.

When I arrived at the jam I felt a sense of relief when I saw how casual the ladies were who were running the workshop. They started off with letting us warm ourselves up and then introducing what their jam is based on- partner work. I thought this was interesting as we normally just get straight in to weight baring positions and lifts. We worked on building trust exercises that involved each pair giving the other their weight with added speed, as well as walking around the space with my eyes shut and my partner as my guide. This particular exercise showed me how much trust I lack in other people; I didn’t know the exact reason I wasn’t just going with my partner but all I knew was that I didn’t feel comfortable enough to fully release myself.

After this for the majority of the jam we practiced different ways of travelling along the room in our pairs, but while doing weight bearing movements that required certain anchor positions (hips, shoulders) that I noticed from the last time I was in a contact lesson. I worked with Claire in this particular part of the session as I felt we both needed to get over the fear of contact; me from being hurt and her from initiating a move too quickly that created the injury. This also gave us the process of building trust within each other so it wouldn’t happen again and because of this I notice how easily we found each other’s strengths and weakness.

During this process I also realised a change in my attitude, I wasn’t afraid to work with other people even if they were taller than me. Having that initial shock from last time made me recognise that accidents happen, it’s how to handle it afterwards is the key to getting over the fear. With these weight bearing positions we also had to figure the best way suited to smoothly come in and out of the, some were easier than most but I think it’s because we hardly do low centre positions.

Leading on from this we worked with just moving across the room in our pairs but making sure to keep a body part connected, I found this quite easy, maybe because I built a good connection with my partner as I normally struggle with keeping in contact as well as continuously moving. Even though this workshop is quite similar to what we would do in lesson it felt completely different in the space while contacting. It was possibly due to it not being in an environment that I’m normally used to, giving me the freedom of exploring more and worried less about what I look like.

Focusing on developing our partnerships for contact has been interesting, working on how we can sense each other and notice the specific movements we do in our bodies as well as build enough trust to start including weight bearing/ balancing positions.

This week we were introduced to two contact videos both including a pair and their version on contact.

• Martin Keogh and Neige Christenson- The play of weight (2009)

The first video for me was my typical idea of what a contact pair should look like; female and male taking on the stereotypical role of the man always lifting and the female up in the air. As for the chemistry the flow of their movements were constant as well as their points of contact, by keeping them interesting in using more than just their hands and feet. What was interesting to watch was their dynamics and speed, as they look comfortable with each other and the noticeable trust they had was used to build the dynamics and speed element in to their improvisation to also use levels.

• Mirva Makinen and Otto Akkanen – Contact Improvisation

This video was definitely different, comparing this to the previous one it had less elements of dynamics and speed. This may have been to the obvious lack of trust in this pairing with it also being a male and female pair but what I believe to be with the male having a lack of strength. What was fascinating to watch were their exploration of the space and how they broaden their bodies also which did create new points of contact but for me I didn’t feel as though they were as in sync with each other.

Even though these two pairs represented how contact improvisation is performed today I still feel there is an element that is missing, I think this may be from the Steve Paxton video we watched previously and how I thought the raw energy added a unique look to the typical look of a contact pair.

This week we focused more on our movements than weight baring positions, so increasing our technique by specifically moving in spirals and playing around with levels and speed. From this we learnt a new way of continuously moving called ‘surfing and rolling’. I found it difficult to do this as I kept struggling to find new points of contact with my partner, I mainly went for my stomach and back, creating the habitual pattern.  Within building this close connection to my partner we then went on to learn a new weight baring position- Aikido Roll.  This requires the two people in the position to be able to move smoothly in and out by aligning the hips together. We had previously done this role but on our own. I still haven’t been able to master the direction that I needed to go which worried me because I didn’t want to hurt my partner in the process.

I noticed that while I was the over dancer I could roll over smoothly but struggled getting back up with my partner, I feel that this was due to my lack of core strength and also my partner being a lot taller than me. When it came to my turn being the under dancer I panicked, this was my first time with working on a lift with someone else and my previous thoughts of not being strong enough waved over me and I froze. Being too scared to even do the role I needed extra assistance from Kirsty, she led me even though she was the over dancer, showing me that all I needed was to push up from my feet and hips.

After this we changed partners and with one lying on the floor and one on top of the other person. I was the under dancer at this point and with my partner on top me of we needed to create a simple connection by syncing our breath with each other. This led on to then creating a small contact duet. It was about a minute in the duet when my partner tried the aikido roll and I was not in the correct position or aware of what she wanted to do and because of this, it ended up with me being injured.  Having to sit out for the remainder of the lesson I observed the class in attempting other lifts such as: paper clip lift and cradle lift each having a development of their own. The only thing I was able to pick up while watching was how to use less muscular tension to create a smoother transition and anchor points for the body to help control the movement also.

Curtis, B. and Ptashek, A. (1988) Exposed to Gravity. Contact Quaterly/Improvisation Sourcebook. 13(2) 156-162.

Neige Christenson (2009) the play of weight. [Online Video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltq6y06E8ew  [Accessed 15 November 2015].

Omegabranch (2011) Contact Improvisation Mirva Mäkinen & Otto Akkanen. [Online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMLbWxujoGw [Accessed 15 November 2015].

Back from after a week off and it felt so unusual trying to connect to another body. This week’s task was to start developing contact work by practicing lifts. We started the lesson as usual by strength training and travel work to loosen us up, which I found difficult for some reason.

After the warm up I sat out for the majority of the lesson but it’s interesting to watch everyone else try to attempt each lift, coming from last year I can see a massive improvement in the trust they have in themselves and that’s what I could see when they attempt the lifts as well as the drive to be able to get them right.

Kirsty started off with just small counter balances this week, not anything we haven’t tried in lessons before but with more focus on getting in and out of the positions smoothly. The first exercise was for the under dancer to be in table top position and the over dancer to roll over their back but with a slight flip of the legs. With each pair taking on the balances as an observer I could see the struggle they had with starting or even doing it, and while watching I wanted to correct them; lift the hips higher, or move the supporting arm closer but then understanding that if I were in the same situation I would also make the same mistakes and that’s the part of the process between partners, to build a strong relation.

The lifts started off pretty small just to build up the trust and confidence that we would need to be able to perform them. To develop on the relationship between partners the next exercise was to hold on to each other’s wrist and swing each other across the room and eventually build enough momentum to fly partway. This was interesting to watch as a few pairs had their own variation of the exercise; some were too scared to jump and others weren’t using the weight from each other to fully travel. The next lift was something I generically thought is something that once a pair has built enough trust to be able to perform is a form of the dirty dancing lift; holding the over dancer above the head while they balance with legs and arms out. This was definitely a lift I saw a few people struggle with, from what I could see it was to do with how high they would be lifted. The next was a pencil jump with a preparation, this tested how in tuned the partners were and whether they were in sync so the under dancer could catch the over dancer at the precise moment.

The reading from the week went on to explain centre of gravity and how to connect to it when balancing and also when acting as the lifter/lifte. After watching everyone during the lesson I can see how this can be applied for next lesson when I attempt it for the first time, my worry is seeing how everyone at one point or another struggled whether I would too. As a person my strength isn’t as strong as everyone else’s so I wouldn’t want to put anyone at risk as well as being of smaller height, the limited amount of people I can work with without complications.

Woodhull, A. (1997) Center of Gravity. Contact Quarterly/Contact Improvisation Sourcebook I, 4, 43-48

Research Lab

I was looking forward to this weeks’ lesson as it was our first chance as a class, to gain a better understanding of contact by exploring different elements of it. By getting in to groups we came up with aspects of contact improvisation and see what needs further work.  The research labs gave us time to pick few topics that we’d like for our class to work on, and see what the outcome would be and if it would open their eyes and opinions of contact.

Most groups chose to focus on eye contact, including us. I feel this may be because as a whole we don’t have the discipline to keep eye contact without breaking it; whether it would be through nervous laughter or just the uncomfortable feeling of looking at someone straight in the face. I was a little worried because of the similar topic whether we would be able to achieve the outcome we’d hope for; being able to contact improvise and incorporate eye contact to build a stronger relationship between partners.

As our group went last I got to experience the other’s methods on developing eye contact. Some we’re interesting and some were difficult for me and one in particular was a task to find a partner and sit back to back with our eyes shut and improvise and every few minutes change partners still keeping the eyes closed. Having to reflect back on this task I realized that it was good when you found a strong connection but then having to build that relation all over again with a new person in a short amount of time, especially with the eyes shut was constricting. I didn’t know if I was going to the same people and if it didn’t feel right I would just lie on the floor hoping they would do something interesting, for me to follow through with. What I do know is that I feel a lot more comfortable improvising with my eyes shut, it makes me feel more in tuned with my movements and not as self-conscious.

When it came to explore our questions with the rest of the class I was quite excited, because I personally wanted to know whether they would experience the same thoughts we did, while going through to process.

How do we incorporate eye contact?

It’s our first question for the task and the way we have done this is to get in to pairs and stare at them straight and without breaking concentration, just placing the hands on different parts of the body. While observing them starting the task we could see people trying to concentrate which was good for them because this is a build-up exercise to help them become comfortable. The development from this is to start moving while keeping the eye contact, then to slowly build a small duet. After that get together with another pair and perform a piece while keeping contact and get feedback from the observing pair.

The feedback we received from this task was quite positive, the groups appreciated that we started off small to build up the focus because it gave them a stronger connection while improvising, which also led them to think creatively and as an observer I could see this and was interested in how each pair would flow. A few did mention that while swapping between pairs it was hard to establish the initial connect back again, which meant that they also felt like they wanted to stay in the pairs longer just to explore.

 How can we clarify intent?

This task is to see as a class whether we could feel the connection between partners on who initiates coming out of a weight baring position. As a class we presumed that the under dancer would initiate as they are the one holding all the weight and who would take on the role as under and over dancers. We told the class to get into pairs and just find 3 positions that they could manage and to be the under dancer at least once. When this is done the over dancer then decides when to initiate coming out of the position and the same for the under dancer, repeating the position twice.

From this task the feedback we received was something we anticipated prior to the lesson, as a majority they felt confident in holding their weight but also acknowledging that the under dancer is a lot more capable, only when planted in the position. They did feel as though there shouldn’t have been a build-up for this task because during lessons we wouldn’t get the chance to plan lifts; in spite of this they did come up with unique lifts with the time they had and enjoyed exploring them.

Hackney, P. (2002) ‘What Are Principles of Bartenieff Fundamentals?’ in Making Connections: Total Body Intergration Through Bartenieff Fundamentals. London: Routledge.

Lepkoff, D. (1999) What is Release Technique? Daniel Lepkoff. Available from http://www.daniellepkoff.com/Writings/What%20is%20Release.php. [Accessed 27/10/2015]