Mindfulness in Movement Exercise
Mindfulness in movement exercise- feeling the sensation of moving.
Close your eyes
Focus on one part of the body with your mind
Start moving it
Be mindful of the sensation of the movement
Continue with this part for a while
See how you can expand the awareness to a body part near by
Continue until you have the whole body in your awareness
Notes:
Move or being moved isn’t so important
Questions:
How much were you aware of the body part?
What was the sensation/feeling that came?
How/did the sensation change over time?
How much of your body could you hold in your awareness?
Simple Authentic Movement Exercise
The latest ideas I have been delving into are to do with Authentic Movement and Embodiment. I am no practitioner of either of these fields, but the ideas I read about inspire me to try out exercises in my classes.
My interest in Authentic Movement has gone on a while now. After reading interviews with Mary Whitehouse and Janet Adler, a lot of the concepts and ideas they present really resonated with me. It’s the idea that the body has its own self. Of course it is integrated with our mind, but there is a lot that we can learn from it. There is also the idea that the body contains and expresses our feelings, finding it hard to lie. Therefore the expression from the body, of the body is generally authentic.
The exercise is asking 2 simple questions:
How does my body feel right now?
Where do I have this feeling?
Then focusing on this point with my awareness and waiting for an impulse to move. All movement should come from this point. While moving the question to ask oneself is: is this movement from my impulse? If not reduce and refocus.
The results an my experiences are really interesting. Mostly at the first attempt there is little movement… It perhaps has to do with awareness. What is the impulse that I feel? What is it that am I actually looking for? How much do I allow myself to release into the feeling or sensation that is there? Holding a simple focus on the feeling/point seems to intensify it. Remember it is a feeling or sensation that we are looking for that can include but is not exclusive to emotions.
In doing the exercise, my body generally wants to play with the feeling, moving it around, roughing it up as I go with it. It somehow intensifies the impulse, by being curious and experimenting. The movement itself is initiated from my body and the chosen point. A lot of the time I find the point is in my chest or back area so the arms and legs are initially not so involved. As the impulse expands and I further connect with it, the movement grows to “infect” the extremities. It’s a beautiful feeling, the reconnection to my body and self. It comes out of the resonance and vibration that is left over, and maybe a smattering of resolution and restoration of energy to its natural state.
In working with amateurs especially beginners I have had mixed results. Sometimes they just stand there waiting for an impulse, that never really seems to come. I question whether it is that they unsure, or just not yet physically tuned in enough yet? My guess is it takes a bit of time, awareness and trust, but as with anything, practice expands the skill.
Sometimes I too wonder then personally about the movement they make. I can’t say that it is not authentic, but there do seem to be patterns and certain types of learned movements that seem more produced than coming from an impulse. Structured steps. Whether this is authentic or not is really only for the person moving to know.
With more advanced students there is naturally a greater connection and it seems easier for them to establish a connection and follow the impulses presented. A quicker transition into the state, but in comparison to regular improvisation tasks there is a difference in the build up and direction of the movement. The body is focusing on a feeling or sensation that is generally abstract.
There is the question as to how music influences the process? I find it important that the feeling is established first. The above questions are asked of the body in silence and a short short pause is left before playing music. Naturally the rhythm and mood of the music played affect the way the movement component is developed. Whether it changes it totally I am unsure. I see it for the moment as inspiration.
As a second stage to the exercise, I have expanded it in pairs so that one person dances and the other observes. The dancer does the exercise as above and the person observing has the task of watching with the task of describing to the dancer what they have seen after the dance is finished. This has worked really well.
Though having someone watch what you move can be difficult at the best of times and descriptions may be different to what one felt, the experience has been positive so far. It is a setting that one may find in dance therapy, but here the purpose here is self-awareness and connection. There is something very comforting about moving with a feeling and being seen. Then hearing feedback about ones movement whether it be in pictures or feelings, specific or abstract gives a certain recognition and empathy, which feels good, just like having one’s thoughts reflected. I’m guessing it also builds trust and confidence in oneself, as one is exposed vulnerable and at the same time being seen.
Another aspect I personally find interesting to the exercise is using it to creating choreography from feeling. There are many ways to create and instinctively from my feelings I do this already. The difference I find between general improvisation and creating from this exercise, is that other shapes, forms and dynamics come out different to my standard habits. So far it seems to widen my movement vocabulary and offer another possibility to find movement. Some construction to clearly express an idea is still needed, but within a broader framework such as a phrase of music or a preconceived idea there are many possibilities. The inverse is possible too where the feeling comes first and is then given a structure on the movement created.
More to experiment on!
Darkness - a Concept
Theme: Darkness
How does darkness affect us? How do we under its influence as things become uncertain and unknown?
Darkness heightens our senses the loss of sight. We become more sensitive and the uncertainty of less information about our environment means we have to trust or we feel insecure. Trust in the belief that something is where and how it was, and will be there when we need it. Insecure when we feel we cannot depend on something to be the way we perceive it. Things are where they are, except when they are not. That is the dissonance between seeing and not seeing - being able to know where something is without actually physically touching it. The shroud of darkness.
Darkness also changes our sight and our eyes. It obscures things, changes their shape. Due to the amount of light things can become blurry, appear or disappear . It is a world of limited colour - even greyscale, which can range from pitch black to dim light. Darkness shrouds the light on which we are dependent to see.
Shadows are malleable. They can change shape and grow just simply from where the light comes. A perspective change eg. A change in height can have drastic effect. Shadows can creep, they extend further than the original object that casts. They can become smaller and even disappear.
In darkness there is an intimate world. An inner world, enclosing rather than expanding. Darkness concentrates and focuses to a point like a tunnel or a cave. In darkness there is intimacy and closeness by necessity as our perception of the world is much closer and confined.
In the dark and its uncertainty, a world of fantasy is unleashed. Fantasy is only limited by what we can imagine, rather than what is possible. In the absence of knowing, our minds fills in the blanks, constructing and fantasising about what is and what could be. Human fantasy is such a powerful tool. It makes things appear larger and more intense than they ever could be. It creates and grows, engaging our emotions and senses especially those of anticipation and fear. .
In darkness, by necessity we are forced to explore the world around us to grow and enrich our perception. Not knowing where something is can give us the desire to find out, map and ascertain our surroundings.
Purpose:
To choreograph a dance piece which explores these ideas and concepts. To use the theme of darkness to develop dance about is effects looking at exploring space, fantasy, intimacy, uncertainty and the tension it creates.
4-5 dancers. Solos duets and 4/5 dancer pieces. Abstraction of the ideas, with concrete expression through movement. Use different movement qualities to express the feelings and sensitivities. Find contrast in light and how light is used
Method:
Co-creation with dancers and pre-prepared choreographed ideas and pieces. Find music that fits the theme of in the direction of classical pieces and soundscapes/collages.
To be performed in a black box space where light affects the room. Use candles, use different light sources of different intensities, close by, far away, back-lighting, strobe effects.
Intended Outcome:
One hour of dance with dramatic effect, that heightens the senses of the audiences, explores space, takes the viewer into an intimate world of fantasy and the unknown.
Next Projekt
I have a few new projects in the works, at different stages of creation. They are moving forward simultaneously, which is a new development for me. It is all because time has allowed it… thank you Corona virus!
With Light Art Dance we will have a performance on the 3rd and 4th of October at the Kulturforum in Wiesbaden. The concept for the new piece has been developed over many months and most of the choreography is finished. It has been a fantastic process for me, pulling together many thoughts and ideas around the theme emotions, to present in a dance piece. They are ideas I have been working on over the last year and the process of creating and focusing has grown grown them even more. The great thing about a performance is always to express the work that I and the dancers have done.
Emotions - they make up such a large part of who we are and how we approach life. Even the short moments influence us profoundly in how we think and act. They are our “caveman” response. Emotions defined are physical reactions and expression inside of our body. Linking this to dance is personally very deep because through dance we express ourselves and our thoughts physically, reflecting on who we are and how we are in that moment.
There are so many different emotions that we experience, that in the creation process and for sake of clarity, I had to I had to narrow them down to a smaller more manageable amount. The eight basic emotions defined by Robert Plutcik as I have previously written about in this blog have been taken as a basis. The 8 emotions are are universal, experienced by all people of different cultures and in theory recognisable to all. Their beauty is also in how they connect and combine to create complexity. Just as we are complex in our being, so are the emotions we experience.
In drawing parallels, the importance of emotions is well known. Advertisers realise that most often the reason why we buy a product is the way it makes us feel. Hollywood its has the emotional pathos that draws us to films especially those which incite emotional responses inside of us with highs and lows. Intrigue is also created by connecting us emotionally to characters, leaving us wanting to learn even more about them and their lives. Instant gratification in Social Media uses emotion to entangle us and incite response often inciting emotions such as envy and outrage. This is much deeper and perhaps a theme for another post, suffice to say that there is plenty of emotion involved!
A piece about a single basic emotion would be interesting in itself, but lack any dramaturgical impact. What is needed is contrast. In exploring ideas that use basic emotions combined, I have found much more interesting forms of expression and ways to create dance.
To create a piece of dance I am looking firstly at the theme, finding a piece of music that expresses this theme and then filling in the music with choreography to represent the idea. Coherency is key, that every ingredient connects and supports each other.
The music that inspired me to create this time has been pop music. There is something emotional to pop music that is much more common and easier to relate to. Yes, a great piece of classical music is extremely powerful and emotive, but I think the reason why I chose pop music was it’s relatability. It is something that surrounds us in our daily lives, whether jingles in advertisements, streaming music services, radio and television or background music in a shop or restaurant, it is always not too far away.
To form the basis of the choreography, through my classes, I have been working on how movement and emotion connect. Emotions are physical reactions, so there is a natural connection to expression there. Each person has a slightly different form of expression making us unique, but there are a lot of generalisations that we can reach in analysing the movement. Using Laban Movement Analysis has helped to distinguish and define typical types of movement that each emotion has. The research I have done has been focused on using authentic expression - connection to an emotion through conscious focus on memories, images, sounds etc. Then it is a process of allowing the body move in its own way through following internal impulses relating to the feeling involved. It’s a process that has been deeply engrossing. Through it I have learned much about the depth that dance has.
More to about the piece itself to follow…
Short Update
My first blog post in a while. Many thoughts but as always I need tot start somewhere!
The phase with the Corona virus has been an amazing time. For all the restrictions and limitations, there has been a certain ease in the changes that have helped me in my life. For me it’s been focusing on my health, myself and most importantly what I want in life. This has previously been clear at times, but the extra time that I have had, through not running from one commitment to the next, has meant I have had time to focus and actually focused on doing the things that I love… Creating!
Creation is always a time consuming, step by step process. Anything that is worthwhile takes a bit of time to achieve and develop. When you have a passion for something, that time and effort put in makes me feel alive. I’ve noticed a certain resistance I have to putting the energy and focus in, though it has more to do with getting started than the actual process. A weakness of mine, that I want to improve on. But once I am in, engrossed in the task at hand, time flies! Setting reachable goals in bite size chunks has been the key. Even just setting aside 10 mins at the start of my “working” morning to focus gets me going. Sometimes I set a timer to create a space and purposely intensify or tunnel my attention. This has really helped. The distractions go away for those 10 mins (that often turn into 45 mins or more). It’s a positive tunnel that I enter, being able to block out externalities and having random thoughts disappear. It has given me a general improvement in my focusing ability and this is very productive. Combining that with prioritising and putting the important tasks first each day no matter what, I feel like I am making progress, developing myself, spending more time doing that which I love, which creates a feedback loop, wanting to doing more and more!
Setting fixed routines yet being flexible about what happens inside the time or the way of doing them has helped too. Helped me to stick to my goals!
Also having small tangible goals, that I can achieve within a few days and growing my skills at the same time have helped. Writing applications, pulling out a piece of music that I want to choreograph to and mapping a plan. Spending time in the studio for myself, to create. Organising rehearsals with other dancers so that I actually come to creation. Now, again blogging my thoughts. Reflecting on classes and watching videos of where I am with my choreography. It’s a passion and a love for the process which I have managed to continually make time for. Nothing is a waste. I’m not afraid to make mistakes and I actually even enjoy them, for I learn a lot more! The whole time spent is developing me, my skills and my knowledge of who I am - giving to myself.
It is a phase itself, but as my life gets busier with classes returning and more projects filling up my time, I am determined to keep the balance that “Corona” has given me. And also move further in the direction of creating, researching and exploring - the things that I love doing!
Dance and Life
I’m preparing a new course (Ritmovida, Thurdsays at 18:45 and 20:15 in Mainz) about dance, feeling and expression. It’s a culmination of me putting my current ideas together and being able to present them as a coherent concept. It’s exciting as I am forcing myself to be clear about all aspects of what I am trying to teach. To be able to explain an idea or concept and to teach it to others, I need to know and understand it truly myself.
There are a few things that are becoming clearer and clearer to me. They are more philosophical than practical. They give me a concept, the details of which, such as exercises and goals, fill in themselves. The ideas are not really new, but their importance and connection to each other is growing in my mind. They originate from to my desire to investigate the reasons as to why people dance. I keep coming back to the belief that we live and dance to experience life. So here is my list:
We live to experience life
Movement is key to life
Physical Awareness helps us sense what we live
Authenticity and connection is key to self
The emotions that we create make us feel alive and connected to our self
Creating and learning are our expressions of growth
We learn through experience (experiential learning)
The amazing thing about the above list is that dance has all of this. Dance in itself, is an extension of movement, with self-expression and (biology 101) movement being the basis of life.
I’m pretty convinced that most things that we do and desire in life are for the experience. Sure, we often do things to move away from fear or harm. Yet for fulfilment, it all lies in the experience. Whether it is seeing a movie, spending time with friends/family, travel, working on a project, dancing… our motivation can be broad, but the experience of doing these things is key. It is how it affects us physically through our emotions.
The importance of movement to life can never be understated. I could go so far as to say that movement is life (for without it nothing would change). The physical body moves and dance is an extension of this movement. To distinguish dance from movement, dance is about quality of movement, how we move. Of course, how we move is also a sign of our state of being and health. Our quality of life is directly influenced by our freedom of movement, expressed through our physical body.
Awareness of our physical body is key here. How the body feels right now in this moment. It is a picture of exactly where we stand and therefore what we are also capable of. Taking the time to really feel where we are can be scary, but also satisfying. There is no other me! Through feeling and listening to the body we can get in touch with ourselves creating and deepening our connection with who we are.
Having a deep connection with oneself allows for authenticity. Knowing how I move, how my body feels, being aware of me, my thoughts and feelings, I am then able (through trust and allowing vulnerability) to express myself. I express feelings and emotions that come from inside my body. To be able do this also requires a level self-acceptance. The more I express my authentic self, the more I feel alive, seen and true to me, deepening and enriching my experience of life.
Awareness also facilitates our ability to change, influence and direct our physical experience. In doing so we create and learn. Awareness helps us to express ourselves more clearly.
Dance is so lucky to be an experiential learning subject. The only way to learn dance is through experience. Being there in the moment and physically going through movement, allowing the body with all it’s receptors to sense and learn creates physical stimulation that is much greater and more powerful than any thought (see post on body mind ideas from November 2019). There is little that you can understand from theory alone and the body itself learns through movement.
And in relating that back to performance and dance as subject, it is a tool not only for the art form, but also for physical well being and self expression, alive, here and full of life!
EUROLAB Submission
Writing submissions for conferences or applications are always interesting. It’s a good chance to clarify my ideas and get them written down in coherent forms.
Here is my submission for EUROLAB 2020 a conference for people using Laban Movement Analysis
Laban Movement Analysis is a great tool to define and explain the movement that I am working with. Different dance styles have different terms for their movements, but in modern dance where any type of movement is possible LMA helps to deepen the understanding of what is required.
The theme of emotions and connection are those which I have been working with recently. To explain the diagram at the bottom of the page briefly, there are 8 basic emotions and they are grouped in the flower shape by their intensity (closer to the centre, more intense, further away less). Surrounding the flower are words that combine the two nearest emotions together. It would be possible to term these words feelings.
The diagram is a base for my work with emotions to define them in movement and learn to express them at different levels of intensity. This is of course just the beginning…
EUROLAB Submission — Matthew Tusa
Emotions are a physical reaction coming from inside the body. They effect how the body moves, which can be defined using Laban Movement Analysis (LMA).
With 80% of communication being nonverbal, movement is a highly important part of our self-expression. Much of what is expressed physically through the body is emotional. This expression of emotion needs to be congruent and genuine to be believable. Authenticity of movement is critical in dance to convey emotions, portray roles and express ideas to an audience.
As a professional dancer and choreographer I have been using LMA to define and explore emotions in dance. I have found that there are typical movement patterns of shape and effort for different types of emotions. Through identifying a physical movement and recognising its meaning I have sorted them into emotional categories defined by Robert Plutchik (2002).
The use of LMA is to give dancers the knowledge and tools to deeper embody the meaning behind a movement and to be able to clearly and consciously express themselves in their performance. In doing so they develop their self-awareness and broaden their range and intensity of expression.
I would like the opportunity to present on my practical application of LMA in combination with the eight basic human emotions as defined by Robert Plutchik. I would like to show LMA use in developing emotions and expression in movement, from the perspective of a dance instructor and choreographer in the form of a lecture performance or workshop.
Plutchik, R. (2002) Emotions and Life, Amer Psycological Assn
Authenticity
I wrote a post about the Authentic voice in December, a lot about letting go of filtering to be more natural and speak ones mind. It’s about openness and honesty, creating communication and giving space for others to respond.
Well of course there is Authentic Movement too. It’s part of dance therapy and was developed in the 50’s by Mary Whitehouse and then continued by Janet Adler among others.
There is a lot of information in the book (Authentic Movement - Patrizia Pallardo) I am reading about Authentic Movement that I find really interesting. It’s the same authenticity that comes from the inner monologue of our thoughts, though with one main difference. It is an inner monologue of our bodies or physical feeling. I guess you could put it that it is heart based rather than head based.
Whitehouse talks about how as children we expressed ourselves with our whole bodies, when saying yes or no, when looking up or down and how as adults we have trained ourselves to show less in the name of secrecy and efficiency. Yet her opinion is that the body never lies and whether it is connected or disconnected, it is still expressing our real emotions in relation to any situation. You just need to look hard enough!
It is interesting as a study. I was in Paris over the weekend and went to a party. My French being pretty rusty and with a room of people I had only met for the first time, I took some time, just to observe both peoples body language as they were communicating with one another and also as they were dancing together. I had nothing to compare it against except for what was happening, but there was a lot of clear information about how they felt being expressed in their posture and movement.
I also liked Whitehouse’s thought “The body is dead. We give it life by moving!”
In the classes I give, I have been setting exercises with improvisation that actually (unknown to me) touch on the philosophy of Authentic Movement. Quieting the mind, getting in tune with the body, moving from ones own feeling place, going with the feeling and seeing where it takes one. There is more to develop in the improvisation exercise as to where to take it, but I do find that it is quite intuitive if one is true to the philosophy behind it.
My one comment to the experience of setting the exercise is that I usually see is dancers that start in their bodies but revert back to their head space. I am presuming this is happening, because they start with natural movement which is spontaneous and impulsive, yet at a certain point something changes and they move into doing stylised movement with clear forms. Sure, this is habitual movement that becomes clearer as the size of the movement expands, yet I am thinking that this comes more from a thought space than a feeling space. At least my perception (and I can be wrong) is that the impulses from feeling have less generic form and are more sensual. Or can it be we are just not aware of our habits!
Hopefully, if you continue to practice at something and give it some thought/reflection, you will get better at it. By connecting with ourselves, we definitely get to know ourselves better and experience physically how we feel. Authentic body movement as a continuation of body language helps this cause. In the end it is a connection with ones sensuality and a deeper experience of oneself.
Partner connection, Desire and Suspense continued
I have been working through the ideas that I have previously detailed in other posts and I thought I would write down some thoughts, observations and things that interested me.
There is something very instinctual in us that judges and senses the distance between people. The first time that I was consciously aware of this was a couple of years ago in a Somatic Experiencing session (on the basis of Peter Levine’s work). Somatic Experiencing works with the Autonomous Nervous System (ANS) to heal trauma in the body by working with the bodies regulation. (More information can be found here Somatic Experiencing Handout)
The exercise in question is briefly explained, where two people stand facing each other at a distance. One moves slowly towards the other and the person who is standing has the job to listen to how their own body feels and tell the other when to stop based on its reaction. There is a point where our nervous system reacts and shifts from comfort to discomfort. As far as I understand, due to the ANS being much quicker than our thoughts, it is not something that we can influence or decide, rather it is an instinctive reaction. The exercise has to do with boundaries, safety and recognition among other things. What interests me is the bodies response as well as the comfortable distance.
Now to link this to desire:
There is a specific distance that is comfortable. A little further away, either distances the two people causes one to want to move closer -> chase (elastic band effect) to maintain the connection creating longing. Should there be little interest, the connection is dropped.
If the distance is too close it goes in the other way. Being to close either causes discomfort in the ANS (stress), making one push away to maintain the comfortable distance. Should the interest be present, there can be an acceptance of the new distance.
The regulation of space between people has a better picture: a spring between two people.
“I can't live with you But I can't live without you” - Queen
Suspense is especially created, especially when the distance is uncertain or unclear depending on the level of interest. It is also created when the reason for change in distance is unknown.
Each person has their own personal space too, a distance that is often culturally defined as well as to do with one’s upbringing and natural needs.
In general coming closer to each other builds up in intensity. Pulling away creates tension.
It has often intrigued me with latin dance styles, that are based on partner work, what the attraction to them is. Maybe it can be explained as follows:
There is the close distance to a partner that is accepted as part of the dance.
The accepted roles (man leading, woman following) to be able to dance together and the physical and spontaneous (creating a small amount of uncertainty) communication that occurs. This creates a live connection.
There is the feeling (physical intimacy) as one is physically active in close proximity. There are also the continual (and natural) changes in the distance between partners through movement that pulls and pushes like an elastic band, all stimulating the nervous system.
In my dance classes I have been doing various exercises with different groups of dancers, simulating closeness and distance, varying the push and pull and adding in elements of uncertainty and spontaneous decision making.
What I notice is that it’s highly stimulating and a rush. There is a lot of adrenaline (sympathetic arousal) pumped into the body through doing the exercises. It has been described to me by a dancer as sensual…. I notice too, a sense of exhaustion afterwards, which could be due to the need to balance out the senses. The parasympathetic nervous system engages and calms the body down and balances it out.
The human connection is fascinating. Especially as a our reactions are seemingly out of our conscious control…
There is something too about how the situations influence the way we feel. It’s external as we are reacting to what is happening outside of us. It is a different stimulant to the feelings that arise from inside of us.
I go on about dance being an experiential learning form. We learn from the experience… That’s what is great about it…. And so am I!
Still many questions to explore:
I’m still wondering how this relates to self-expression in a broader sense? It’s definitely in the realms of feeling but different as it is externally influenced.
What is the connection between the internal feelings we have and the external?
Is it possible to transfer this to larger groups of people? Or does it have to be an individual?
Is it, the more we care about the person (level of relationship), the higher the intensity?
Partner Connection
What is partner connection? In dance it is a physical communication method to facilitate often synchronised dance movement.
It is the driver of suspense in physical contact. It gives information and signals that can be used to transmit power and energy.
We have:
tension or leverage connection <- ->
Compression connection -> <-
Neutral - -
The three types can also be separated into three contrasting modes:
leading and following where a pair have opposite reactions - one is pulling and the other is resisting but only to an extent that creates tension or leverage to create a movement. This slight resistance builds energy like an elastic band between partners allowing the pair to move “as one”
resistance where we are opposing our partner which can be seen as fight for control or a test of strength. This creates the energy between partners by tension or compression yet the elasticity is gone
neutral where there is no reaction. This can be either completely passive as no-one is creating tension/compression or when one partner pulls or pushes. Movement is contained in the body as there is no resistance from the partner resulting in movement only in the body part where one is manipulated This causes the energy to dissipate
There is a physical connection in feeling the signals from one to another. There can be a transference of control (depending on the type of dance/the movement) where one is leading (giving an impulse) and another is following. There is also a need to be able to understand and feel the amount of energy required to create resistance if so required, build tension or
Exercises to try:
Tension/leverage - moving as if an elastic band connects the pair, trying to maintain the set amount of distance and not let the elastic band fall. This can be done with distance or close by
Compression - the reverse as if a pole or rod is connecting the two. This takes out the elasticity and becomes more aggressive/static
Mixing the three elements of tension, compression or neutral together (perhaps better described as pull, push or relaxed) with a physical connection ie. holding hands.
In each of the exercises, there is no set leader, causing communication between the pairs.