I recently returned from another stint down in DC with the Dance Exchange. This time I was participating in an institute for mixed abilities, and a crafting institute geared towards professional dancers. The next few posts will discuss new discoveries.
First days. Whatever you are, own it. “I own my vagueness.” If the exercise has the potential of being boring, make it interesting. If you’re hesitating recognize it. What is governing your choices? What is governing your habits?
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
New Hoizons... One Year Later
I'm back! Back at the Dance Exchange, having returned to freshen up on skills, and revisit old places with new perspectives.
Conversations on movement, on experience and resistance. Do dancers experience resistance? YES!!! I think I (and perhaps many, many people can relate) resist most strongly the things that I feel most strongly about. Excluding chocolate of course.
The Dance Exchange is not a place where you come to learn how to dance. Yes, many people who take workshops or even perform with the Dance Exchange may have limited dance experience, but no one at the Dance Exchange will instruct them on what they should or shouldn't be doing. The dance is already there. You are shown how to find it.
It's not about a certain way of moving, the dance is about you moving in a way that suits you. The art is not about trying to be something you're not, but rather being honest to who you are in movement. Uncontrived, perhaps awkward, yet always beautiful, movement that comes from an honest place is ultimately human. And, I think, being able to create that, organize it, repeat it, and place it on the stage for everyone else to experience is the ultimate act of artistry.
Conversations on movement, on experience and resistance. Do dancers experience resistance? YES!!! I think I (and perhaps many, many people can relate) resist most strongly the things that I feel most strongly about. Excluding chocolate of course.
The Dance Exchange is not a place where you come to learn how to dance. Yes, many people who take workshops or even perform with the Dance Exchange may have limited dance experience, but no one at the Dance Exchange will instruct them on what they should or shouldn't be doing. The dance is already there. You are shown how to find it.
It's not about a certain way of moving, the dance is about you moving in a way that suits you. The art is not about trying to be something you're not, but rather being honest to who you are in movement. Uncontrived, perhaps awkward, yet always beautiful, movement that comes from an honest place is ultimately human. And, I think, being able to create that, organize it, repeat it, and place it on the stage for everyone else to experience is the ultimate act of artistry.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Dance, Artist?
I began a new workshop today and encountered an experience I did not expect. I introduced myself as a dance artist (in a workshop composed of dancers and actors), and had my identity called into question. They questioned not that I identify as a dancer, or as an artist, but that the identity I choose encompasses both these ideas equally, as opposed to 'dancer' or 'contemporary dancer' or 'interpretor... whatever. Caught off guard, not realizing that I stood alone in how I chose to identify myself, raised a slew of questions about how we perceive dance apropos other art forms, and how we identify within the realm of dance.
Dance 'artist' for me encompasses everything that my realm of profession involves, be it taking class, rehearsing, teaching, choreographing, filling out applications, brainstorming ideas over coffee, or writing blog postings from home. For me, it also distinguishes my relationship to dance as different from the one I had as a dance student, or even emerging professional. The term also differentiates my artistic profession from other dance forms (pole dancing and commercial gigs come to mind) while also remaining open enough not to limit me to a particular approach to dance, or otherwise limit my role in the dance community.
Dance 'artist' for me encompasses everything that my realm of profession involves, be it taking class, rehearsing, teaching, choreographing, filling out applications, brainstorming ideas over coffee, or writing blog postings from home. For me, it also distinguishes my relationship to dance as different from the one I had as a dance student, or even emerging professional. The term also differentiates my artistic profession from other dance forms (pole dancing and commercial gigs come to mind) while also remaining open enough not to limit me to a particular approach to dance, or otherwise limit my role in the dance community.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Puting the tools to use..."Drift Walks"
My experiences with the Dance Exchange have begun to inform how I interact and work within the dance community here in Vancouver. And I had the opportunity to introduce some of the 'tools' in rehearsal the other day.
I'm involved in a process called "Drift-Walks," with Julie Lebel, artistic director of Ensemble Independent and current artist in residence at the Dance Centre. The process has been focused on tracking our experiences while engaging with the natural environment, and then experimenting with movement, to draw out moments that stood out to us on our walks. We direct our attention and sensations in a specific way, helping us to find the physicality within the experience of walking outdoors alone. "By looking at physical forms, small and large, listening to sounds, touching the material world, our mind creates associations that can be creatively documented along the participants' journey." - Julie Lebel
The 'Drift-Walks' and our associated creative explorations in the studio began to raise a few questions for me. What are the different components of an 'experience'? In this case, the experience of observing some aspect of your surroundings, (although the question could be framed much larger as well.) What components are we using when we translate this moment of heightened attention into movement?
Having been working towards a better understanding of the Critical Response Process, I began to refer back to how observations are discussed as part of the process. In observing someone else's work and forming opinions about that work, it's important to note the array of possibilities for observing something, and that the type of observation is entirely dependent on individual experience or world view. In other words there is a huge variety of possible observations for one work, and the more people you have, the more types of observation you will come across. In particular, a guideline of the Critical Response Process is that it is important to notice the meaning that other people find when responding to someone else's work, and how that expands your own perception of what you are responding to.
I started relating this to Equivalents. And thought that I could use it as an example to notate the different ways that movement can be created from one word/ one 'experience'. An 'Equivalent' is the direct translation of a word into a movement. The tool is usually used to find interesting phrases of movement from text or phrases where each word has it's movement equivalent with a clear beginning, middle, and end. What's interesting and became very useful for us, is the variety of ways that one word can be translated into a movement. For example the Dance Exchange often uses the phrase "I came into the world..." As I led rehearsal we used "I" as an example. We could do this exercise with numerous people numerous times, and the results would be numerous and varied? Why? Because how we observe, how we translate, the types of impulses we have and how we listen to them vary from person to person. It makes us individual. (One reason why I find the work and methods of the dance exchange so interesting, is because it honors the individual!) It's interesting to note that first impulse is always useful, but can sometimes also result from pattern. (If repeating this exercise several times over, the next step may be to notice your patterns.) In order to notice patterns you need to know/ be able to identify with what you are doing. The same goes for if you know what you are doing, and you are familiar with the other possibilities, you can figure out what you're not doing. For example: "I" can result in a movement relating to the way the word looks ("I" or "eye"), how it sounds, it's literal meaning, its personal meaning (for example, if referring to myself, how I see myself that day, at that time might affect the movement that results),the rhythm of the word, the literal meaning and an associated action (for example "eye" could be a pointing at the eye, or the entire body mimicking the opening and closing of the eye, or the act of seeing, seeing something for the first time... etc.) Innumerable associations are possible.
The next step was relating this work to our efforts to capture movement inspired by our "Drift-Walks." I had everyone choose one experience from their walk which stood out to them. We then did a prompt writing exercise - dividing a paper into three columns and starting with "I see...," then "I feel...," then "I observe, taste, question, notice, smell, or hear...". I did this in order to try to capture every aspect of our experience of observing something in detail/ interacting with it in such a way that it's memory had a lasting impact, and possibly to discover something new about what we were observing. I then added across the bottom a row, where for each column we attempted to identify how we were arriving at our observations. For example: I see the rough texture of the log, and bright green moss - I am standing outside looking at the surface of the log. Where as "I feel the pull of the hills and valleys of the bark, perhaps "I am placing myself on the surface of the log," or I feel it's weight in my pelvis and it's texture on my skin, "I am placing the log in me..." Again this exercise I thought might be a way to pull out images that were concrete enough to explore at length in the studio and to also figure out patterns - what are we doing, what are we not doing....?
In any case, it was what I thought, was an extremely successful rehearsal that resulted in rich material (shown last Tuesday as part of our open showing), and many thanks to Julie for allowing me to introduce the Liz Lerman tools into that part of the process.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
An Attempt At Structure
It worked! I finally have been able to upload this video. "Pause" (working title) performed at EDAM, for a MACHiNENOiSY's fundraiser performance showing of works in progress, September 30th, 2007, Vancouver. I apologize, the focus of the camera is at times quite frustrating. Approximate length: 9 minutes. Dancer: me. Text and sound arrangement: me. Music: Nannou, by Aphex Twin.
I've been wanting to discuss Dance Exchange ideas around 'structure' for a long time, and I think I can use the process of creating this piece as a means to do so. I was easily able to create movement for this work using some of the Dance Exchange tools, (see previous post) but I was left with a great deal of material and little sense of where to take it. I knew it was leading somewhere, but that somewhere was away from the poem - the place where the dance began.
Talking about structure with Liz Lerman. 'Structure' can be a means to craft material you already have or to generate more material. However, it is different from a choreographic assignment in that it acts as a container, forming the overall arc or development of the work. For example, imposing the idea of a logical beginning, middle, end, and arranging the material to fit into those boxes is imposing a structure. But it's more complicated then that. Structure is framing even larger. For example, perhaps you insert announcements between each section to define them, and this creates a through line. How do you decide what is beginning, middle, or end; where is the meaning? How can you categorize what you've done? Take every inquiry seriously, as nothing is too small to notice. Once choosing a structure it can be an in road to discovering more about the work, or it can send you back to the generating room.
There are formal structures and many dancers are familiar with them:
The MASH structure: little stories that have a through line connecting to a bigger story
The Palindrome: ABCDCBA
Chance: arbitrary selection and arrangement of material. Example: numbering sections and picking a number out of the phone book to put them together.
Narrative
Theme & Variation
Accumulation
ABA
Imposing a structure can make it easier to access different material, or difficult material. Structure, and ideas about structure are forever in the world around us, we just have to be curious about it and willing to play. With Liz we did an exercise where she asked us a series of questions about structure. Societal structures, structured experiences, learned structures, organizational structures, and environmental structures. We created movements based on these responses. For example the structured steps of how to drive a car. The structure of how someone organizes their ideas before writing a paper. The structure of a day. The structure of a week. How you organized your room as a child. The structure of an ecological system. Etc, etc... We then annotated our movement in small groups, and noted something that surprised us. We then took it a step further and asked if there were structures within our responses. I think we did this simply to broaden our idea of structure, to underline that sources and ideas about structure are everywhere, and you can always add or subtract meaning from something, you just need to be willing to play. Perhaps the structure you choose will have nothing to do with what the work is about, but it will lead you somewhere else and open new doors.
There is a difference between an arbitrary vs an organic structure. An arbitrary structure imposed on the work from another source can add meaning or give you clues about what the material is. An organic structure grows out of what you've done. None the less, it's a game to help you notice what you're doing. You need to ask questions to discover information within an arbitrary structure. The answers may be bizarre or useless, but they might also provide information. For example, based on the structure of organizing your room as a child you arrange the material into various clumps. How many steps do you take between sections? What age were you? Can you take 7 steps?
So that's what we did at the Dance Exchange. But what did I do? I returned to the poem, and decided that it might be about one becoming the victim of their own perceived reality. I imposed this on my own experiences and started thinking about the process of writing an email (sometimes used as a therapeutic way to confront one's perceptions) and the structure that my thoughts would take. Post script made me curious. The idea of adding on thoughts, taking things away, saying things in a different way, or saying something you shouldn't say, or thought better of and this is why you didn't say it in the first place. I looked at the word post script, and created two other phrases that P.S could stand for. Parallel sentences, and paradigm shift. I think I then also imposed a structure from personal experience. Starting off in a place not seeing eye to eye, or feeling unseen as if in a hallway, on a parallel path but in a different room. Something to say, but no one to hear you (perhaps because you refuse to send that damn email!) And evolving to a place of 'seeing.' Seeing surroundings, and shifting to a place of new perspective, and some sense of resolve. How did this effect the material? Accumulation and adding on is easy. Introducing new ideas. Inserting other material from a different creation period when my perspective was in a different place. This is still a starting place, I think the work can still evolve from here, but my experiments with structure were effective in adding new meaning.
I've been wanting to discuss Dance Exchange ideas around 'structure' for a long time, and I think I can use the process of creating this piece as a means to do so. I was easily able to create movement for this work using some of the Dance Exchange tools, (see previous post) but I was left with a great deal of material and little sense of where to take it. I knew it was leading somewhere, but that somewhere was away from the poem - the place where the dance began.
Talking about structure with Liz Lerman. 'Structure' can be a means to craft material you already have or to generate more material. However, it is different from a choreographic assignment in that it acts as a container, forming the overall arc or development of the work. For example, imposing the idea of a logical beginning, middle, end, and arranging the material to fit into those boxes is imposing a structure. But it's more complicated then that. Structure is framing even larger. For example, perhaps you insert announcements between each section to define them, and this creates a through line. How do you decide what is beginning, middle, or end; where is the meaning? How can you categorize what you've done? Take every inquiry seriously, as nothing is too small to notice. Once choosing a structure it can be an in road to discovering more about the work, or it can send you back to the generating room.
There are formal structures and many dancers are familiar with them:
The MASH structure: little stories that have a through line connecting to a bigger story
The Palindrome: ABCDCBA
Chance: arbitrary selection and arrangement of material. Example: numbering sections and picking a number out of the phone book to put them together.
Narrative
Theme & Variation
Accumulation
ABA
Imposing a structure can make it easier to access different material, or difficult material. Structure, and ideas about structure are forever in the world around us, we just have to be curious about it and willing to play. With Liz we did an exercise where she asked us a series of questions about structure. Societal structures, structured experiences, learned structures, organizational structures, and environmental structures. We created movements based on these responses. For example the structured steps of how to drive a car. The structure of how someone organizes their ideas before writing a paper. The structure of a day. The structure of a week. How you organized your room as a child. The structure of an ecological system. Etc, etc... We then annotated our movement in small groups, and noted something that surprised us. We then took it a step further and asked if there were structures within our responses. I think we did this simply to broaden our idea of structure, to underline that sources and ideas about structure are everywhere, and you can always add or subtract meaning from something, you just need to be willing to play. Perhaps the structure you choose will have nothing to do with what the work is about, but it will lead you somewhere else and open new doors.
There is a difference between an arbitrary vs an organic structure. An arbitrary structure imposed on the work from another source can add meaning or give you clues about what the material is. An organic structure grows out of what you've done. None the less, it's a game to help you notice what you're doing. You need to ask questions to discover information within an arbitrary structure. The answers may be bizarre or useless, but they might also provide information. For example, based on the structure of organizing your room as a child you arrange the material into various clumps. How many steps do you take between sections? What age were you? Can you take 7 steps?
So that's what we did at the Dance Exchange. But what did I do? I returned to the poem, and decided that it might be about one becoming the victim of their own perceived reality. I imposed this on my own experiences and started thinking about the process of writing an email (sometimes used as a therapeutic way to confront one's perceptions) and the structure that my thoughts would take. Post script made me curious. The idea of adding on thoughts, taking things away, saying things in a different way, or saying something you shouldn't say, or thought better of and this is why you didn't say it in the first place. I looked at the word post script, and created two other phrases that P.S could stand for. Parallel sentences, and paradigm shift. I think I then also imposed a structure from personal experience. Starting off in a place not seeing eye to eye, or feeling unseen as if in a hallway, on a parallel path but in a different room. Something to say, but no one to hear you (perhaps because you refuse to send that damn email!) And evolving to a place of 'seeing.' Seeing surroundings, and shifting to a place of new perspective, and some sense of resolve. How did this effect the material? Accumulation and adding on is easy. Introducing new ideas. Inserting other material from a different creation period when my perspective was in a different place. This is still a starting place, I think the work can still evolve from here, but my experiments with structure were effective in adding new meaning.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Breaking apart the process
Looking back at some of my posts, I get the impression some of the information I've posted may seem a little ad hoc. If someone's reading this (damn I hope someone's actually reading this!) And you encounter questions or confusions - just send me an email, and I'd be happy to share more or clarify. lauraliann@yahoo.ca
In any case, so the project continues. I'm attempting to expand my learning curve in the methods of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange through several means; teaching the Critical Response Process, hosting creation workshops (teaching the 'tools'), and using the tools to create and share my own work.
I've begun a series at the memelab, an evening comprised of a tutorial in Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process, an open showing, and then the Critical Response in action. We hope to eventually make this a once a month happening where by different disciplines will share their work in the same evening and well get a cross discipline dialogue started using the CR process. The Critical Response Process is a multi step structure designed by the Dance Exchange in order to create an environment that promotes dialogue and aids the artist in receiving useful feedback and inspiration to step back into the studio and continue working. It is extremely versatile, and useful for all kinds of situations where one is looking to develop their work further, or just simply interact with others in a way that avoids defensiveness and promotes understanding. The current dates are Oct 21st and Nov 30th, 7-9 pm at memelab. Please contact me if you would like to take part/show your work in this series.
I am also interested in teaching the creation 'tools' of the Dance Exchange. Extremely adaptable and versatile, both the experienced dancer and the less educated mover can be equally challenged by the same exercises. Let me know if a creation/generating dances workshop would interest you.
With the generous cooperation of the memelab, I've been able to produce a semi final version of the process I began in the Dance Exchange studios. Posted here are excerpts of the work very early on in the process (created and recorded June 14th 2007 at the Dance Exchange - there is a meeting happening in the background). Originally I was creating using the text of a poem "Yipiyuck" by Shell Silverstein. I used the Dance Exchange tool 'movement metaphore' - creating three movements for each of the words or phrases; "desist," "would not let go," and "bit" (as in to bite something). These movements were then rearranged in a short phrase which is the first section you see in this clip. The second phrase, I did the same with "fall," "blow," and "mudglumps." The third, "Whoa!," "whisper," and "soft and low."
In any case, so the project continues. I'm attempting to expand my learning curve in the methods of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange through several means; teaching the Critical Response Process, hosting creation workshops (teaching the 'tools'), and using the tools to create and share my own work.
I've begun a series at the memelab, an evening comprised of a tutorial in Liz Lerman's Critical Response Process, an open showing, and then the Critical Response in action. We hope to eventually make this a once a month happening where by different disciplines will share their work in the same evening and well get a cross discipline dialogue started using the CR process. The Critical Response Process is a multi step structure designed by the Dance Exchange in order to create an environment that promotes dialogue and aids the artist in receiving useful feedback and inspiration to step back into the studio and continue working. It is extremely versatile, and useful for all kinds of situations where one is looking to develop their work further, or just simply interact with others in a way that avoids defensiveness and promotes understanding. The current dates are Oct 21st and Nov 30th, 7-9 pm at memelab. Please contact me if you would like to take part/show your work in this series.
I am also interested in teaching the creation 'tools' of the Dance Exchange. Extremely adaptable and versatile, both the experienced dancer and the less educated mover can be equally challenged by the same exercises. Let me know if a creation/generating dances workshop would interest you.
With the generous cooperation of the memelab, I've been able to produce a semi final version of the process I began in the Dance Exchange studios. Posted here are excerpts of the work very early on in the process (created and recorded June 14th 2007 at the Dance Exchange - there is a meeting happening in the background). Originally I was creating using the text of a poem "Yipiyuck" by Shell Silverstein. I used the Dance Exchange tool 'movement metaphore' - creating three movements for each of the words or phrases; "desist," "would not let go," and "bit" (as in to bite something). These movements were then rearranged in a short phrase which is the first section you see in this clip. The second phrase, I did the same with "fall," "blow," and "mudglumps." The third, "Whoa!," "whisper," and "soft and low."
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Back in Van
Well, what can I say? Another entry or two has been due for a long time coming, and I'm one of the world's greatest procrastinators, even of activities that bring me joy.
I've now returned home to Vancouver, thus looking back on my experiences with a removed perspective. I believe I left off as we were stepping into the Teen Institute...
What a week! The teens were fantastic. I began the week feeling quite discouraged, I'd forgotten what it's like to be a teen and hadn't computed the fact that far from being just another institute to further explore the methodologies of the Dance Exchange, there was a much higher degree of emotion, fledging confidence, confusion, and stubourness that came along with. Surprisingly, I found being a part of their lives for that short time eyeopening to my own disposition: I saw myself as a teen, and what I might have been dealing with then and what perhaps I've been able to let go of (or not) came flooding at me. Needless to say, it was an emotional but hugely fulfilling week for all. I've heard other participants from past institutes at the Dance Exchange refer to their time there as an experience that; changed their life, left them filled with inspiration and excitement, or dramatically changed their perspective, but I am certain that the experiences the teens shared might even compete with such dramatic statements.
As I said, the week seemed to begin very slowly. I feared we might never be able to bring the teens out of their shells. It seemed difficult to get them to engage in or actively participate in the activities in a way that might truly broaden their experience. But none the less, the philosophic approach of Liz Lerman's proved true, and by the end of the week, the teens were so actively participating and enjoying themselves, it almost seemed as if an entirely different group of kids had entered the room.
The philosophy? Well, as the Dance Exchange asks, "who gets to dance?" (eg: why the vertical spectrum?) The idea is that everyone can get to the same place. Or as Liz puts it, everyone can get across the river, different people just need different sized stones. Resistance, is information. Resistance, tells you usually (as teacher, leader, or choreographer) that you missed a step, you've gone too far, too fast. People's experience is always the truth. Asking why when a statement is made may lead you to find out that the expereince is about more then you realized. Figuring out what steps and skills are required for what may seem the simplest of tools (to you) can go a long way in figuring out what steps you need to take first before jumping into an exercise. While also keeping in mind that a: there are different kinds of participation, and b: your well beign is not predicated by the participation of everyone.
For example: How do you get a group of non dancers, and probably strangers, to dance to music together in a room?
We started with 1-10...
I've now returned home to Vancouver, thus looking back on my experiences with a removed perspective. I believe I left off as we were stepping into the Teen Institute...
What a week! The teens were fantastic. I began the week feeling quite discouraged, I'd forgotten what it's like to be a teen and hadn't computed the fact that far from being just another institute to further explore the methodologies of the Dance Exchange, there was a much higher degree of emotion, fledging confidence, confusion, and stubourness that came along with. Surprisingly, I found being a part of their lives for that short time eyeopening to my own disposition: I saw myself as a teen, and what I might have been dealing with then and what perhaps I've been able to let go of (or not) came flooding at me. Needless to say, it was an emotional but hugely fulfilling week for all. I've heard other participants from past institutes at the Dance Exchange refer to their time there as an experience that; changed their life, left them filled with inspiration and excitement, or dramatically changed their perspective, but I am certain that the experiences the teens shared might even compete with such dramatic statements.
As I said, the week seemed to begin very slowly. I feared we might never be able to bring the teens out of their shells. It seemed difficult to get them to engage in or actively participate in the activities in a way that might truly broaden their experience. But none the less, the philosophic approach of Liz Lerman's proved true, and by the end of the week, the teens were so actively participating and enjoying themselves, it almost seemed as if an entirely different group of kids had entered the room.
The philosophy? Well, as the Dance Exchange asks, "who gets to dance?" (eg: why the vertical spectrum?) The idea is that everyone can get to the same place. Or as Liz puts it, everyone can get across the river, different people just need different sized stones. Resistance, is information. Resistance, tells you usually (as teacher, leader, or choreographer) that you missed a step, you've gone too far, too fast. People's experience is always the truth. Asking why when a statement is made may lead you to find out that the expereince is about more then you realized. Figuring out what steps and skills are required for what may seem the simplest of tools (to you) can go a long way in figuring out what steps you need to take first before jumping into an exercise. While also keeping in mind that a: there are different kinds of participation, and b: your well beign is not predicated by the participation of everyone.
For example: How do you get a group of non dancers, and probably strangers, to dance to music together in a room?
We started with 1-10...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
