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!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Stone collector; Heart protector
On February 19, Avodah Senior dancer Connie Procopio and myself traveled to Baylor Women's Correctional Institution in New Castle, Delaware. As we prepare for our annual week long residencies at two women's prisons, we are including the women from each facility in the company's creative process.
This year's theme "LAYERS" addresses key areas within the body where we carry physical, emotional and mental layers. We are specifically focusing on the Head and Heart as centers for exploration. In "Head Trip" we are working on the many different tangents of thoughts that continually draw our attention, sometimes blocking our ability to connect intimately with our surrounding environment and community. In "Stone Collector" (working title), we are looking at hardened places around our hearts and within our bodies that serve as either protection or obstacles in our connections with others and in our yearning to express who we really are.
The women at Baylor explored movements based on chiseling, carving and jackhammering and together we created a short phrase. The phrase included gestures reflecting the actions mentioned as well as movements reflecting being carved. Splitting into two groups, the women followed different leaders improvising on the phrase that we created together; each leader based their movements on the ideas of chiseling, etc. , and the dancers were able to experience the movement ideas for some time. After this, I led "Motivating Movements," an exercise based on the work of Avodah founder, JoAnne Tucker and former Avodah dancer and Board Member, Kezia Gleckman Hayman. The exercise generates movement ideas and vocabulary. The women were asked to imagine they were collecting different size rocks and putting them in a bag or basket. They had to carry the bag around as it got heavier. Then they put the bag down and took out a rock. Next they put the rock on different parts of their bodies and tried to move around the room-even stopping to have a conversation with a friend. This definitely got them using their imaginations as well as experiencing an exaggerated feeling of carrying stones around while trying to go about one's business.
After the movement improvisations, we sat in a circle and discussed the idea of Layers, especially those layers around the heart. I shared the idea that different experiences and decisions get stored in our bodies and frozen, much like the quality of stone or cement; we carry these 'stones' around and may not even realize it! I asked the women to write about this idea as well as the movement improvisations. Any impressions they may have had throughout the class.
Finally, within the circle, different women volunteered sharing a brief movement phrase in the middle of the circle. Each of the volunteers was very brave! New movement ideas were shared: a piece of stone coming loose and falling off, kicking a stone and hurting oneself in the process, throwing stones, carrying the load of stones-setting them down and breathing a sigh of relief,...and surprisingly Appreciating the beauty of one's stone!
We finished the class with a shaking exercise to free the body of any remaining heaviness.
Connie and I drove home to NYC with new ideas and an excitement to go into the studio to explore!
This year's theme "LAYERS" addresses key areas within the body where we carry physical, emotional and mental layers. We are specifically focusing on the Head and Heart as centers for exploration. In "Head Trip" we are working on the many different tangents of thoughts that continually draw our attention, sometimes blocking our ability to connect intimately with our surrounding environment and community. In "Stone Collector" (working title), we are looking at hardened places around our hearts and within our bodies that serve as either protection or obstacles in our connections with others and in our yearning to express who we really are.
The women at Baylor explored movements based on chiseling, carving and jackhammering and together we created a short phrase. The phrase included gestures reflecting the actions mentioned as well as movements reflecting being carved. Splitting into two groups, the women followed different leaders improvising on the phrase that we created together; each leader based their movements on the ideas of chiseling, etc. , and the dancers were able to experience the movement ideas for some time. After this, I led "Motivating Movements," an exercise based on the work of Avodah founder, JoAnne Tucker and former Avodah dancer and Board Member, Kezia Gleckman Hayman. The exercise generates movement ideas and vocabulary. The women were asked to imagine they were collecting different size rocks and putting them in a bag or basket. They had to carry the bag around as it got heavier. Then they put the bag down and took out a rock. Next they put the rock on different parts of their bodies and tried to move around the room-even stopping to have a conversation with a friend. This definitely got them using their imaginations as well as experiencing an exaggerated feeling of carrying stones around while trying to go about one's business.
After the movement improvisations, we sat in a circle and discussed the idea of Layers, especially those layers around the heart. I shared the idea that different experiences and decisions get stored in our bodies and frozen, much like the quality of stone or cement; we carry these 'stones' around and may not even realize it! I asked the women to write about this idea as well as the movement improvisations. Any impressions they may have had throughout the class.
Finally, within the circle, different women volunteered sharing a brief movement phrase in the middle of the circle. Each of the volunteers was very brave! New movement ideas were shared: a piece of stone coming loose and falling off, kicking a stone and hurting oneself in the process, throwing stones, carrying the load of stones-setting them down and breathing a sigh of relief,...and surprisingly Appreciating the beauty of one's stone!
We finished the class with a shaking exercise to free the body of any remaining heaviness.
Connie and I drove home to NYC with new ideas and an excitement to go into the studio to explore!
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