Sarah and the Chiselettes

Today in rehearsal, we worked on a solo for Sarah Zitnay, Avodah dancer since 2006. We tried to use some of the ideas from our visit to Baylor and incorporate them into the solo.
A very interesting improvisation developed when I asked Sarah to keep her left shoulder close to her body and tight while moving freely throughout the rest of her body. We explored the idea of one part of the body being "stone" while the other parts were "normal." We explored Sarah moving between two points in space expressing a struggle between the stone/protective part impulsing her away from the outer world and the other parts of her body impulsing her to move outwards into the world.
When the other dancers arrived, they also explored the idea. We changed the body part from the left shoulder to a fist and then a foot becoming frozen. The frozen foot created two responses: one dancer became stuck in place with her body trying to find a way to move and another dancer began accomplishing movement despite the stuck foot. In the latter improvisation, the frozen foot stood out as different but not a complete handicap.
As we continue to explore the ideas for this solo, I look forward to integrating the ideas that came up in the prison including:
1)Becoming aware of Hitting a brick wall/Trying to kick,move, push the wall out of the way
2) Once we realize that '1' is not serving us, to start to pay attention to our 'stone' first appreciating its beauty, shape, individuality and purpose
3) Then with attention to detail, carving, chiseling until the stone may reveal a new shape, maybe some of it drops off, breaks off, turns to powder
4) Trembling earthquake movements that clear away large chunks
5) The soft spots that are revealed when we are able to pay attention to the stones as opposed to denying their existence or resisting them!