Contact Improvisation

Our final session consisted of a recap of the basics of contact – such as body surfing and table top. Then proceeded into a jam to practice Stark-Smith’s Underscore. The underscore is

“a score that guides dancers through a series of ‘changing states’, from solo deepening/releasing and sensitising to gravity and support; through group circulation and interaction.” (Koteen & Stark-Smith, 2008, 90).

This ranges from collision, confluence, skinesphere – and many other forms of connections I experimented with. This particular session I felt so deep into the jam and internalized in my body. The professional lighting rig and photographers made me work harder and bring my energy into the space, as a soloist and duets/small groups. I worked with new partners this session also which was successful to me – as I have been wanting this for weeks. I believe that this session was an achievement for myself and my peers and I am proud of how I have developed these skills which I hope to maintain for the rest of my dance career.

This semester, contact improvisation has brought me fresh and familiar knowledge for my body to experience. To begin, I was nervous and shy to make contact with people in the space, and lack sense of gravity, release and momentum. By the end of the semester I was not afraid to approach people and use the skills I have been taught – which can also be applied to technique. I have the confidence to have mutual connections as the over/under dancer and am willing to try new experiences in my body. The trust for my peers has also grown, making my time spent with them valuable and safe practice.

References

Koteen, D. & Smith, N. S. (2008). Caught Falling: The confluence of contact improvisation, Nancy Stark Smith, and other moving ideas. Northampton, Massachusetts: Contact Editions

To begin this week’s class, we spent some time watching videos which reflect our practise from this year. Especially watching Roehampton dance (2011) and WarSaw Flow festival (2012). Both videos explore both slow/fast pace in the space, exploring the range of kinespheres and maintaining the momentum in partners. I noticed that the partners use their sides of the ribs frequently as a safety zone on the higher kinesphere which is useful to know for future jams.

We briefly had a recap on Stark-Smith’s underscore, which will be major in our final jam. Watching the documented underscore class Stark-Smith (2014) taught was incredible to watch. Seeing strangers come together and bonding through contact improvisation is mesmerising to watch. It’s great to see how universal contact is. Starting to feel assured after recapping the underscore and I feel comfortable going into class next week – as I have gone through everything I need to know about contact improvisation.

This week’s jam was based on the underscore. I thoroughly enjoyed myself during this session, and part of me is relieved for the assessment next session. For this assessment I feel well-prepared after having practiced the run through of the underscore. I feel like next week is the perfect opportunity for me to practice different connections and grazing. I am confident working as a soloist in the jam, however I find it difficult to apply my knowledge from the underscore into duets/trios.

Since the jam next week is going to be longer, I believe I have more chance of fitting all my knowledge into practice. I am looking forward to the last session and hoping to proceed contact improvisation out of working hours.

 

Kanał użytkownika szimi82 (2012) Poland Contact Improvisation festival WarSaw Flow 2012 – Jam. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyaHk7KN9bY [accessed 30/11/16].

PERFORM fundacja artystyczna (2014) GLOBAL UNDERSCORE with Nancy Stark-Smith. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOGLMZdm2uA [accessed 30/11/16].

RoehamptonDance, (2011) Contact Improvisation jam 20^th May 2011. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdKZlryJ4HY [accessed 30/11/16].

Exploring new anchor points was useful to the whole class – however focusing on the front of the body now distracts us from all our knowledge on rolling onto the back/ other parts of the body. Working with new frames and new anchor points made it hard for me to balance on a body, as I am not used to working with these movements. It was difficult to listen to bodies whilst exploring follow-on movements – only suitable whilst moving at a slow pace to keep the connection between bodies. Moving at a slow pace is in my comfort zone which I tend to stick with.

Observing the 4-man jam was inspiring to watch and to identify new movement material from my peers. Slow-going movements establish on-going connections and explorations which I needed to work on myself. Keefe states “Just think of the endless variety of ways in which the dancers may move.” (232, 2003). New movement feels fantastic if carried-out correctly – nevertheless, because there are many variations of movement, I find it uneasy listening to my partner and accept that I will not be prepared for some actions. Still, this task opened my eyes to see how a jam is supposed to run.

Focusing on the weight and alignment of the pelvis seemed smooth as a soloist, exploring the lower kinesphere in depth. However, I found this image of the pelvis to wonder whilst dancing in duets and focus on the new material we have learnt. Next week I am determined to attempt more trios to challenge myself and experience different bodies in the space.

 

Keefe, M. (2003) What’s the score? Improvisation in everyday life. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press.

This week we delivered our research lab to the class, we challenged the class by asking: How does the change of pace and momentum affect contact in duets?

We set two different exercises for the class to practise their contact and to help explore new platforms and movement. Starting on a low kinesphere aided finding platforms on the body – therefore they could apply this to different kinespheres. We then added different kinespheres moving across the space at faster pace – changing the music to influence their movements.

From our view – the pace maintained the same throughout the experiment. Therefore, our question failed. However, the feedback was different to our visuals.

The feedback we received:

• Found it difficult to move at fast pace and they could not explore movement at the high pace.
• The only fast pace movements could be explored on the higher kinesphere.
• Students was not aware of the higher kinesphere in the exercise.
• Move at fast pace independently before going into fast pace-contact.
• The music had slight impact on the atmosphere and pace.
• Slower pace helped explore new anchor points and new movement material.
• Fast pace led to more communication to keep surrounding people safe.

I also found this feedback relatable, from demonstrating in this experiment. I found at times it was uneasy to work in the space at this pace.

 

The jam did not work for me. Having a bad day/week affected my performance in duets, so I decided to use my improvisation knowledge last year to keep my body active as a soloist. Tried to focus on gravity whilst working in duets but I preferred to work alone this week. A quote I thought about this session was:

“I don’t usually think about how to keep from falling, but rather, how to use the momentum or a quick push off a nearby surface to help me arrive on the ground in a safe manner”. (Curtis & Ptashek, 1988, 157).

This is helpful advice to know during duets – when accidents do happen; to keep moving on and making something of the fall.

Sunday 13^th November we travelled to Dance4, Nottingham, for a workshop with Feet off the ground dance. I had an incredible time working with new practitioners and new movements in my body in such a positive, welcoming atmosphere.

 

Curtis, B. & Ptashek, A. (1988) Exposed to Gravity. Contact quarterly/Contact Improvisation Sourcebook I. Vol 13.

Comparing the two videos before class helped me understand the standard of contact we are heading towards. Christenson’s The Play of Weight (2009) is slow paced and fluid with activation of the eyes. In addition, the male is mostly the under dancer and acts as the anchor. Whereas Mäkinen and Akkanen (2011) are quick paced exploring a variety of kinespheres, both having a chance as the over/under dancer. Both videos show momentum, body control and effortlessness which I attempted in class.

Moving across the space felt natural in my body this week. The atmosphere in the room was creative and experimental – this meant everyone was willing to try new things in partners. This week I focused on maintaining momentum with my partner – I tried this out with numerous new partners and it was a new sensation which felt natural but adventurous. Working with new partners meant experiencing new movements and exploring different rolling points which prepared me for the jam.

I found I still worked well as the under dancer but pushed myself to try act as an over dancer – which worked surprisingly well for me. I took on last week’s feedback and released my body, using the breath to melt into bodies. I felt what it was like to sustain my body in the air with a partner which required core strength – in future I will take any opportunity to be the over dancer as I am usually the under.

The jam exploded the positivity this week. Our confidence and trust has gradually grown as a whole this week. I personally found this jam difficult to remember all skills we have learned to date, but the energy maintained for the full jam which made me forget about my faults and helped me proceed dancing.

 

 

Neige Christenson (2009) The Play of weight. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltq6y06E8ew [accessed 8/11/16].

OmegaBranch (2011) Contact Improvisation Mirva Mäkinen & Otto Akkanen. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMLbWxujoGw [accessed 8/11/16].