Lepkoff describes contact improvisation as ‘the body’s innate ability to respond physically to its environment’. Exploring movement with confidence whilst also working to communicate with your partner is a constant learning process. Things that are successful one week may be a real struggle the next. This is something that I am only just allowing to resonate in my mind and body.
Learning new techniques in class on how to take our partners weight from standing was incredibly interesting. By establishing a good connection, finding the point of resistance and distributing equal weight, movements were able to be performed almost effortlessly. Once myself and my partner had become comfortable with the motion of levering; going down to come up and efficiently finding the different anchor points and platforms needed for weight bearing, we were able to play with the fundamentals to see how the outcome of the movement would change. We discovered that altering pace, momentum and suspension during air time has a dramatic effect on how the movement is performed.
This week’s reading takes us through the process of improvisation, explaining that the whole idea of it is ‘to put the dancers body into unusual, disorientating and often emergency situations […] rather than a predictable and familiar environment of support […] in this situation one is not able to rely on habits, the reflexes take over and the rest is history.’ (Lepkoff, 2008) This is something I have really tried to apply to my practice this week. Rather than finding frustration with the movement that is not working, I was able to allow my body to relax to create the flow of movement. ‘Releasing is not simply release of excess muscular tension but releasing deep physical pre-conceptions as well’ (Lepkoff 1999) without this apprehension in my mind my body felt free to move this not only helped my confidence grow, it also allowed for a stronger connection between me and my partner’s enabling us to experiment with new movement without hesitation.
I hope to eventually be able to confidently explore ‘never-before-seen movement pathways, the never-before-experienced physical sensations, or the never-before-imagined relationships with another person that emerge from the experience of dancing Contact Improvisation’ (Lepkoff, 2008).
Bibliography:
Contact Improvisation: A question? Daniel Lepkoff. May 2008. Full text available at http://www.daniellepkoff.com/Writings/CI%20A%20question.php
What is Release Technique? Daniel Lepkoff. June 1999. Full text available at http://www.daniellepkoff.com/Writings/What%20is%20Release.php