16/11/2020

Day 1 - Notes and reflections

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Study of 3 gestures.​​

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Drawing (4)

 

The hands are wrapped around the waist, palms resting on the hips. The fingers are coming closer to each other, pointing at each other. The grip of the left hand seems quite firm whilst the right palm seems to have a looser tonus. Maybe these hands are wrapped around somebody else’s waist. The weight of the body seems to be loaded on the right leg since the left hip seems to be slightly lifted.

 

 

 

Drawing (28)​

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The face is hidden between the arms. Palms and knees one in front of the other, wanting to cover the intimate part of the body. There is tension in the legs, one placed behind the other. The front side of the body is hidden, but palms exposed, one holding the other. The torso is falling towards the floor. The top of the shoulder blades and feet framing the position of the body.

 

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The drawing of the body reminds me of a landscape.

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Drawing (50)

 

Palms are hidden behind the had. Arms are tensed, as if collecting energy just before throwing something. The left elbow, pointing to the left, is reaching far away from the torso, creating an accent in the composition of the body. Eyes are looking in the opposite direction. The right arm, wrapped around the neck, is covering the mouth. The knees are close to each other, pressed tightly together, one to another. There is a relationship between the wrapping arm and the knees.

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Thoughts

 

When talking about the gesture, is it about a more or less complex position of the body which is expressive by itself without the need or intention to be narrative?

 

When translating the drawing into movement I find myself to be quite literal, which didn't feel right. Questions appeared.

 

When continuing with the task, moving inside the box, the movement felt more interesting, engaging different parts of the body, feeling it as a whole.

 

It´s a process. Today was the first day.

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17/11/2020

Day 2 - Notes and reflections

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First group meeting notes

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-What is it that we are doing?

-To BE on something, to physically BE.

 

PURPOSE

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Defining the state /atmosphere/character of each gesture. Playing with them.

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Second group meeting notes

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-The idea is to focus on the physical presence of the body.​

-When you are standing you are doing a lot, you work agains gravity, projecting, expanding, breathing.

-Every time you go into the gesture you experience something new; the gesture grows through repetition, as the path is never exactly the same.

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Reflection of the day

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To start with, I went really slowly into each gesture, trying to scan what was happening, how and where the different parts of the body where positioned in each of the gestures. Slow paths led me to new discoveries. So I went back to study my notes and the drawings.

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18/11/2020

Day 3 - Notes and reflections

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Question: How we organice information in our head can be translated into how we organice/structure movement in our bodies?

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Choosing 3 more drawings of Egon Shiele.

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Drawing (3)

 

Fingers on the palms are pointing out of the space, into the distance. On the left hand the thumb is hidden, two fingers are spreaded and the other two are touching each other. Fingers on the other palm are parallel to each other. Palms are placed close to the armpits, framing the torso. Right shoulder is slightly lifted, left slightly lowered. It seems that the posture of the body is slightly chrounched, supported by the legs. The head is facing in the same direction as the palms, and so are the eyes. Eyebrows are lifted, eyes relaxed, but look fixated.

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Drawing (9)

 

There is a connection between the arms and the foot. They are aligned, framing the picture. The whole body is set on the upper side of the picture. Right hand is grabbing the left arm between the elbow and the shoulder. Left arm is folded in a Z shape, hand resting on the pillow. Fingers are detailed and visible. They have a character. Body is slightly bent as it’s lying on a soft surface, maybe on a bed or a sofa. One knee is bent, bringing the foot closer to the back. The whole weight of the body is on the frontal side. Body is relaxed. The face is hiding behind the hand only the eyes are peeking out.

 

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Body is relaxed.

Body is relaxed.

Body is relaxed.

Body is relaxed.

Body is relaxed.

Body is relaxed.

 

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Drawing (21)​​

 

The position of the body is very imposed into geometrical form. The weight on the right leg. Left leg is reaching to the back, foot stretched, toes bent. There is a connection between the right arm, touching with its four spreaded fingers under the armpit, and the left foot. A diagonal path runs from the left arm to the left toes. Left arm and left tigh (femur) are parallel to each other. Left arm is lifted up covering the face as if it’s touching the right cheek. Head is turned slightly to the right side. The face is hidden, the intimate part exposed. The body is active and has a strong tone.​

 

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My movement practice​

 

​-Revisit the 3 gestures embodying the new ones.

-Score for 6 gestures.

-Experiment with the suggested beat. I was trying to arrive into the gesture before the beat, but didn't really happened after the first 3 gestures.​​

 

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PHYSICAL PATHS

From standing position​

 

DO - HOLD - UNDO the gesture, thinking about the physical paths you follow to form it, proyect it (expand it) or abandon it. Think about the inner connections, think physically, think about how long your mind takes to recognise where every part of your body is. Keep your mind where the action is.

 

 

Second group meeting notes​

 

-How to work the materials in a pleasurable way. The idea is to PLAY with it. It is enjoyable because the act of "playing" always embrace a challenge. 

 

Suggestion for movement practice:

To move as if you where entering a place of silicon and you were imprinting yourself into the space.

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19/11/2020

Day 4 - Notes and reflections

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First group meeting notes

 

-We are starting to step into the space and work on a fixed score.

-Readjust the position of the body in order not to tremble. To be solid.

-Play with change (direction) and speed, see what happens.

-The legs are the roots of the tree.

-When we release from the gesture we still have to be on something. We need some type of connection in order to feel this something.

-To follow a score can help. You can choose to work on REPETITION. Every repetition is an opportunity to find a new path, ​​​new extensions, new spaces of movement.​​

 

 

My movement practice​

 

360` Mind-body connection exercise.

Moving and placing exercise.​

 

I continued trying to fix a part of the score to be able to work on it. Practising with the beat felt pretty much like rushing through the gestures, rather than transitioning from one on to the other in the space.

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Second group meeting notes

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-Think about how we walk, pushing from the floor-releasing, pushing-releasing,...

-You decide where your next step is going to be and how you are going to do it.

-By repeating the same paths, you are opening space for the little things.

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​​​​20/11/2020

Day 5 - Notes and reflections

 

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​First group meeting

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-There is too much intention, do we need to "show" the gestures?

-Play with distances with the body parts -hips, ribs, shoulders- in order to give more dimension to the gestures.

-Try to find the DIMENSION OF EACH GESTURE.

Play with the spine, in some gestures the spine is elongated, in others is CURVED.

-Constructing and deconstructing the spine, finding the DISTANCES between the body parts.

-Don't forget to BREATH, its what helps you to TO ARRIVE TO THE GESTURES CALMLY AND SOFTLY, economising the tensions involved, ENJOYING IT.​​

 

 

My movement practice

 

Mind-body connection exercise, 3 times in 3 different spots on the space.

Exploration on the curved spine, curvy pathways with: head, rib-cage and pelvis. Bringing more awareness to the soft transitions.

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Questions:

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-How to bring more curves into the gestures when their origin is geometrical?What makes you move (from one gesture to another)?

-What makes the transition? Letting go one or more connections in the body?

-How to be fast enough on the spot in a solid position without being tense? 

 

 

Second group meeting and discussion

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-Calmly doesn't always mean slow.

-The intention is to move through the task. When we play with movement we are doing what we need to do physically. Its about finding balance.

-We always look for meaning. Is about making sense of what you are doing. It's about being honest.

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be on something   -   embody

transition.     -   surrender the structure

eyes. -   hook on the space

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-What is a clean movement for you?

-How to be solid and fluid at the same time?

-In order to move fast you need to loosen the tension. Disconnect and quickly find where everything is so you can connect it back again.

-Let go-release one part of the body keeping others connected. As it is a constant negotiation, is also a constant decision making between how much, where and what you let go, and what or where and how much you hold.

-Often when dancing we through our arms around, searching for movement, but somewhere on the way we forget about them.

-ISOLATING one part of the body, but keeping it connected with the whole.

-How can we separate the upper and lower part of the body in quality? Finding arrangement in the space. Tension- connection -distance.

-Why/how you make the transition? With muscles, with bones?
The spine is the center of the body and everything else is moving around it. It’s elastic. Muscles are elastic and bones are giving the weight.

-Empty spaces. You can scoop inside your body to find/give space.

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Reflection on my work

 

Only today I started to feel the possibilities of transforming the material, not through form, but through the physical feeling of doing it. I am still not sure where this is going, what that is or will be, but I feel as if I am on the search for something.

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What I would like to discover is how to move soft (not tense) whilst being precise and solid in the gestures. How I see it at this point is that it is more about the paths that about the gestures themselves. I would like to play more with the qualities of the movement, with the qualities of the transitions.

 

I would like to invite the elasticity of soft tissues to play a bigger role, meaning, me using these characteristics of the body in order to play with my inner physical connections.