End of a long week

Tired, oh so tired. Coming to the end of a long week. But I'm feeling much more excited then I was yesterday. That's hump day for you I guess. I feel like I reached an exciting creative place today, and have begun to process a lot of thoughts I was having earlier in the week. For those of you who don't know, the Dance Exchange is a very unique place for a variety of reasons; because of the work they do, how they do it, and who they work with. (Who gets to dance and why? See the website...) The "institute" or workshop that I'm taking this week as a way to start off an internship with them is but one small example. Hosted by the company, led by artistic directors and company members, as well as the much esteemed Gerri Houlihan. Participants of a variety of experiences and abilities working together to figure out who they are behind their dance. Inserted into the institute are a number of creative/dance generating and group facilitation exercises from Gerri and the Dance Exchange. Here is a short summary of what we have done:
Day 1
Blind Lead
Blind Lead with scriptive elements placed on top. (Sliding/sweep, airplane/dive, breathing/length, taken from a phrase learned in the mornings technique class).
Blind Lead/Script: creating a short movement phrase from experiencing the previous exercises. The phrase is then witnessed with a partner and then half the room at a time.
Creating our own Script: Scripting the same phrase from the mornings technique class in our own words. Then creating a movement phrase based on the new script. (Group split in half to divide task of scripting the phrase).
New Phrases shown and process discussed (see personal response below).
Parameters: (used as a warm-up after lunch). In partners, improvise for a few minutes and your partner makes note of what is happening physically describing movements and patterns that they witness. This forms collum A - collum B, we discuss what the opposites might be. Choose three, and then improvise again focusing on this new script. Discuss then switch roles.
Day 2
Go Shopping: Find a partner who scripted the other half of the phrase and learn their phrase. (might be an interesting idea to learn their script, and create a different phrase as well - or combine scripts and work together on a new phrase).
Scripted duets: new full length phrases (in duets) performed as quartets.
4 Corner Writing: Divide a page into 4 quadrants. The first quadrant take 5 min to jot down highlights from the last 36 hours - can be anything from meeting new people to what you had for breakfast. 2nd quadrant: a journey that you and someone else made together. 3rd quadrant: we started to learn a bench duet choreographed to Shuman. What did the music make you think of? 4th quadrant: your life if it were a musical score. Would it be an opera or musical theatre? How would it be written, what would it look like? What would it sound like?
(over lunch we were given more time to delve deeper into a quadrant of our choosing.)
Script from writing: look back at your 4 quadrant writing, and put on your choreographer's lense. What is the choreography? Pull out statements, phrases, or sections that denote movement. Change images into action.
Point A to B: with this new script, with a partner get from point A to point B. Use movement from your scripted duet created previously (can be the same partner or someone new.)
End of Day: In a circle turn to the person on your right, and share with them a personal highlight of how they contributed to your experience.
Day 3
Arms and Legs (Gerri): Group split in half, one is to choreograph a 16 count phrase individually, using only their arms and upper torso, the other half of the group the same but using only their legs.
Arm/Leg Phrase: partner with someone from the other group and combine arm and leg phrases. Perform as duets.
Physical Detail: observe the room. Find something that captures your attention and create a shape or gesture (go with first impulse). Do this twice.
Physical Detail #2: recall the journey that you wrote about. Picture three postcards from that journey - moments that stand out to you frozen in film. Choose one. Pick three physical objects from that postcard. Set a shape or gesture for each. Combine these with the first two.
Shopping for details: Find a partner (we used the same partner from the arms and legs exercise) and learn two or three of their physical detail movement/shapes.
Quartet: With your partner, find another duet to work with. Use this score: movement from physical detail and arms/legs duet can be used, there must be a moment of unison, a moment of group improv, a moment of distance, and near or physical contact.
End of Day: Grid. Create a grid. 1st collum: importance to me, importance to my community, importance to the world, and wild box (for errant thoughts.) Top row: each exercise that was used that day. (this exercise has many applications - can be used for reflection on a project or work... anything).
Day 4
Build a Phrase: "I packed my grandmother's bag" (Gerri). In a circle each person adds something to grandmother's bag through movement or gesture and the phrase is repeated as it grows. Phrase is performed. Phrase is improvised (same material, moving through space, using movements however you wish - and relating to the group).
Environment Detail: standing in a circle, come up with a synonym for bag. Pick a type of bag and explore it. What does the space inside feel like? Look like? How can you fit into different nooks and cranies of the bag? What are the details of the bag?
Detail + Phrase gestures: Take the gestures from the grandmothers bag material and put them into the bag you were just exploring. Set or improvise a phrase.
Postcards: You have 2 minutes to write each postcard. #1: To someone who has proceeded you in life. #2: To yourself. #3: To someone who will follow you in life.
Phrase with Text: Place the text from one of your postcards over the movement phrase in the environment of the bag.
Commision: We learned a bench duet off of video on the first day (choreographed by Gerri). Now asked to create a beginning and or end to the duet with a partner, using whatever material from the week we wish.
Day 5
Time spent learning Critical Process (to be discussed later.) And working on duets, performed at end of day.