We warmed up with a variety of exercises today, it was one of the first weeks where we hadn't been working on the floor. Rather than completing stretches we had previously learned, we warmed up by using a lot of different parts of the body, moving them all in different ways so as shaking the hands and wrists, standing up and crouching down with different sounds at each moment, some heavy breathing with sighs which became quicker and quicker so that it became a sort of panting. Upon warming up all of our body, we were asked to gather round as a group, Liz stuck a poster on the wall which introduced us to 'phrasing', specifically the classification of phrasing by Vera Maletic. They are as follows;
1 - Increasing. 2 - Decreasing. 3 - Accented. 4 - Even. 5 - Vibratory. 6 - Resilient.
Liz then asked us to think about what each of these meant to us, and in small groups we had to think which of our warm ups would be categorised as which category of phrasing. It was hard for us to do, we hadn't been told anything about the phrases and had to try and work out by their titles what sort of action would go with both, we picked some right and some wrong. As a group, we then went through a warm up which included each type of phrasing to ensure we understood them all.
We then lay on the floor, on our backs, with our arms and legs extended so they were completely flat. Liz asked us to close our eyes and listen to any sounds from within the room, picking up on any vibrations we could feel in our bodies from the floor. For this, it was important to allow my body to relax into the floor so that it could pick up any small vibrations. Liz moved through the space, making sounds with her feet and hands, we listened and took in all the different noises. After, she asked us to start copying the noises she was making, it was hard because we didn't know which part of her body she was using as our eyes were closed. We really had to focus on the sound and then repeat the noises to her. These became more pattern-like and we had to repeat them in the same pattern. We formed a group circle with the whole class and, with our eyes open this time, began to perform and copy one another's patterns using different part of our body to move the noise.
This led into an exercise where we worked in pairs, each pair stood in a line, the one behind would use their hands and feet to make some sounds either against the floor or their partners back, they then had to copy the rhythm using claps to replace any moment when they had been patted on the back. It was really hard to focus on the pattern because there were so many being performed at once. It was essential to feel the rhythm/beat with your body and then copy this. We then combined the pairs to make groups of four, again we stood in a row and the person at the back started a pattern, the third person copied and passed on to the second, and then the second on to the first. As a group, we were asked to try and repeat the pattern at the same time and pace as each other. I found this a lot easier as there was less noise within the room and therefore easier to concentrate. However, we had become more comfortable and so the patterns became quite adventurous.
Following on from that exercise, we worked in pairs to communicate with one another, we weren't allowed to use words, only sound and movement, a lot of the time the performance didn't work, I feel that it was because rather than watching and listening to what my partner was doing, I spent a lot of my time trying to think of what I could do next. Over time, after changing partners a few times, the exercise started to become a bit easier. After swapping a few times, we were then asked to change the task quite a bit, now one person would speak as though telling a story, and the other would move in response to those words. Initially we found it hard to talk about the different subjects, we soon realised this wasn't the most important element and that we could say whatever we liked. Instead it was more about the reaction and movement from the other person, in the beginning, a lot of us found ourselves simply trying to re-enact the story, but Liz told us that we should instead be focusing on the tone and pace of the story and convey this within our movement instead. I felt very uncomfortable performing one on one, especially as the person speaking was watching to see how you responded.
This became a bit easier once were put into groups of four or five, and the elements of logomotion were introduced. We started the exercise the same way, however now, we were to move in accordance to our own story (I think this is why I found more comfortable), once a signal had been made, we were then to cut out all sound, we were to move through the space the same way we had been doing, and upon hearing a further signal, we were then to keep moving, but add sounds to the performance, not words. It was weird trying to transition from one to the another once the signals were made, and we often found ourselves pausing in between and then starting again. Making the sounds was very surreal, it was hard to imagine a story in your head but be saying something completely different, also, it was hard to think what sort of sound would match with the movement and tone of the story trying to be conveyed.
To finish off the session, Liz played some music and told us we were free to move anyway we wanted in response to the music, I remembered Ionization by Bill. T. Jones from the previous week and decided that it was important to really listen to the music, as well as being aware of the performances around me. Liz then created a space in the middle of the room, now we were free to enter the space and perform the music when we felt like it, or we could sit on the outside and observe others. It was great fun to be part of, being able to tell an improvised story with other people from the music was interesting. It was also a great opportunity to see all of the different styles of movement from the group.
No comments:
Post a Comment