Dear All,
Today (for the majority) was testimony to what Paul and I have talked about a lot but perhaps until you experience the moment, it makes little sense. Today, most of you managed to emerge through the brick wall you hit upon last week. This does not mean all of you hit a brick wall last or that all of you came out of this morning's session feeling a hundred percent buoyant. However I think it is fair to say that overall a far more positive and productive environment was created in this morning's session and at different levels, people achieved different things. I see this due to the following:
1. Excellent focus during the warm up
2. Tangible creative atmosphere and energy straight after the warm up
3. Positivity with which you attacked the sequence learning process
4. A sense of maturity to deal with little failiures to work towards a bigger pay-off
What we all need to continue to build on now is a truly focused working environment where there is never any need to talk, never any need to apologise, never any need to giggle and mock. Never.
Questions for this week:
1. What were the strengths you discovered in your own learning style/process while learning the sequence? Can you compare this to learning the sequence with JVC two weeks ago?
2. What were the challenges you faced while learning the sequence? What do you need to work on harder?
3. Reflect briefly on how your body responded to the task of revisiting the falls and catches from last week - but in a newly constructed set up of the circle.
4. Reflect briefly on the importance of the 'pivot' as the point where weight transfer takes place whether the 'table' is on all fours, raised or fully standing. Talk about the basic principles of carrying and transferring weight.
5. The phrase 'active weight' was discussed at the session. Any ideas on what this means?
6. 3 words to sum up the session.
Looking forward to your thoughts.
Royona
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As a studio Instructor I am at a slight advantage or disadvantage, my strengths; I use 8 count beats to work with all the time, however I am then lead into moving with the music, my challenge with this work is to disassociate music and movement. This took time, but with practice will hopefully be achieved. Departmentalising helps, P&P head on in the session, Directing head on on mondays, so on and so forth. Building the sequence today was an easier process as it was broken down in the best way to suit us, as I am sure if we worked with JV Company on a more regular basis we would settle into their style more easily.
ReplyDeleteI felt instinctively that body memory took over; the circle was a fantastic way to lose inhibitions as when you closed your eyes and opened them at the moment of falling was a great way to extend your trust barriers. We already responded better to the technique being taught in this way.
The basic principal of catching someone is the same no matter of the person’s size or height, the catcher must ground themselves in which ever position needed and apply the same basic technique, spreading their weight evenly through their legs, straight back and braced abs, The key is ‘THE CORE’ without this working properly the work is dangerous. The faller, the pivot point at which the weight is transferred from themselves to another person is an unsettling feeling, although we must feel confident in ourselves to allow this action to ensue.
‘Active weight’ being ‘passively active’, being aware and conscious of distributing our weight evenly (in time and body mass). Talking through your body with your partner, allowing your confident connection of muscle to move to allow weight transference to take place.
high-quality, directed and inventive.
‘My advice? Do it only if you cannot live without it' ‘My father told me that I should always cultivate my curiosity. It made me unafraid to try new and different things.’
Quotes from Jasmin Vardimon to inspire. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2007/may/08/dance)
Learning the sequence today was, for me, fairly straight forward. Being a dance student, I am used to learning movement phrases and working at degree level means that we work very quickly, therefore making this session very manageable. However, it is also difficult to remember not to think too much as a dance student in some of the exercises as you can become obsessed with making everything perfectly presented when this is not necessarily the aim of all the exercises in P&P.
ReplyDeleteRevisiting the falls today was reassuring for me as I had a very successful week last week and did not want to forget what I felt like I had learnt. Working in the circle gave me a greater sense of the group working as an ensemble, although we were only ever working in pairs we had to put our trust into several people throughout the session.
The pivot point of a fall is the most important. It is the point of contact (with the floor or another person) where the weight transfer takes place. It needs to be strong and controlled, the catcher needs to be prepared to take the weight with placed feet, a strong back but give in the knees. The faller needs to have control of their own weight, knowing how to move and allowing the weight to fall on the other person.
‘Active Weight’ is a principal where the person giving the weight is not a dead weight. They are actively controlling their weight allowing the giving of weight to happen but without just falling limply onto the catcher.
Recapturing, targeted and different.
I thoroughly enjoyed learning the sequence during the session, the movements were at a level which I was comforable with so I didnt hesitate to give them a try. I suprised myself with how quickly I picked up the movements, and I felt that I performed them at a fairly good standard, making very few mistakes. I feel that my level of focus was to thank for this. I was extremely keen to learn the routine and so I was able to detach myself from distractions. When working with JVC, I felt that they took us into the routine far quicker than in our session on Tuesday. I wasnt comfortable with the speed that JVC taught us the routine, especially because of the difficulty of the moves.
ReplyDeleteThe main challenge I faced whilst learning the routine was remembering every movement. There were a few times when I would have a delayed reaction as I was frantically trying to remember what point we were up to. I need to try and work on a method of learning movement sequences so that I avoid such moments.
I feel that the falling and catching exercise was extremely beneficial. To begin with, when I was falling, I kept turning around to see who was going to be catching me. This was a bad idea, because If I was faced with someone who was alot smaller than me I would automatically doubt their ability to catch me. I eventually managed to stop myself from looking, and I was suprised to find that people alot smaller than me could easily hold my weight. This practice of the falls and catches improved my technique from the previous week, and I have now managed to resolve some difficulties which I was having.
When performing the act of transferring weight, the person preparing to carry the weight must be focused and in the correct stance. Straight back, feed shoulder width apart, unlocked knees. The person being caught must be aware of the weight they are transferring onto another person, or onto a floor or object. The 'Pivot' is important, as it is the point at which this weight is transferred. The point of pivot must be correct in order for the tranfer to be executed correctly.
'Active weight' is when a person is aware of the weight they are tranferring, and in control of it. If a person is active weight, they are prepared and able to safely fall if a weight transfer fails.
3 words to describe the session:
Ensemble, Exciting, Rewarding
Liz Nuttall
The sequence- I found this a great way to start the session, it motivated me in various ways. As well as being fun, it relied on focus (co-ordination to the count of 8 beats) and touched upon the notion of working as an ensemble. I found it considerably easier to the sequence we attempted to learn in the JVC workshop. I think this was because the moves were a lot simpler, and the count of 8 made it easier to stay in time with the group. I discovered that when I focus and ‘believe’ I can be successful in the tasks, in the JVC workshop this felt impossible to me, I put up a barrier and went into the ‘CAN’T do it’ mindset.
ReplyDeleteChallenges I need to adhere to: confidence- the jvc session reminded me of a dance tutorial, immediately I told myself I couldn’t do it. In last weeks session when Paul and Royona demonstrated the sequence, I felt intrigued and motivated to attempt it (not scared!), with this frame of mind I was determined to do it right. And by the end of this part of the session I felt confident that I had succeeded in my personal challenge.
Feeling positive and uplifted after doing the sequence, I felt annoyed when I realised we were revisiting the ‘falls and catches’ task. Last week I had put up a definite emotional barrier that personally, I didn’t want to overcome. With apprehension I took part in the activity which was now constructed in the ‘double circle’, and gradually became tolerant of the exercise. I’m comfortable when being the ‘catcher’ but can still not overcome my emotional barrier of falling into people, no matter how many times we discuss the concept of weight transfer being attainable regardless of pounds and ounces. This is a personal journey I need to embark on but at the moment I am not comfortable with this. I found the circle highly intimidating, although by not knowing who would be catching us we could possibly ‘let ourselves go’, I felt more guarded and extremely vulnerable. However, in reflection I do understand the importance of revisiting this task, as it will be a fundamental principle throughout the entire module. Hopefully the more we do it, the more ill overcome my issue with this.
The pivot is substantial to being successful in weight carrying and transferring. We need to calculate the momentums accordingly so that we do movements correctly, causing no harm to ourselves or our partners. The idea of this can be overwhelming but the pivot point needs to be controlled and carried out with discipline.
‘Active weight’- the idea of weight transference being momentarily. We are constantly moving when carrying out a momentum, therefore our partner will only have to hold our actual body weight for a slight second.
Productive, resistant, important.
Sophie Horton
For me this week was not that challenging and I found learning and picking up the sequence fairly easy. I feel this is because, as a dance student, I am used to working at a fast pace when learning routine’s and the routine we learnt this week was fairly short in comparison to routines I’ve had to learn. However getting the intention and some narrative behind it was harder to achieve as you had to concentrate on this but conducting the moments convincingly as well. The pace however was a lot slower than what JVC did, as at points I became overwhelmed with how fast they were working and teaching the routine.
ReplyDeleteDue to the fact I was actually quite uncomfortable when we first started learning to fall, for me when it was suggested we were going to be revisiting the falling exercises, it was again quite daunting and once again uncomfortable. However the more we as an ensemble work together and the more we are beginning to open up, trust each other and let go of are insecurities, the more I feel reassured. By repeating each fall several times, I managed to get into a routine where I was successfully conducting each fall properly and because we were working with everyone plus closing are eyes, I then relaxed. It turned out that quite a few people had reservations about falling but when we were all honest about these reservations we all managed to encourage and relax each other. You could actually almost feel the trust coming from the circle. I even felt that even though I was uncomfortable to begin with I finished the exercise positively and this positivity I felt put the people I was falling on or catching at ease.
Reassuring, comfortable, explorative
Charlotte Swaby
The sequence learnt at the beginning of the session gave the class an insight as to the type of work which we would include in the final performance. The routine was simple and there was a strict discipline to focus and concentrate which enabled the piece to be learnt quickly. The repetition also gave us confidence at working as part of an ensemble and became fixed into our body memory. It is definitely another paint to add to the palette. In contrast, the sequence learnt with JVC seemed more complex and challenging, I remember feeling absolutely exhausted after the session. It was the first time a routine was introduced to the palette and I felt their work was more physically demanding than last week’s session.
ReplyDeleteThere were a number of challenges faced while learning the sequence. Firstly, when I made a mistake I would often lose focus, particularly during the rolls as if you went the wrong way you would collide with someone. My challenge is to be disciplined throughout the performing process and to not lose concentration when something goes wrong.
The idea of constructing a circle to perform the series of falls was a new approach to the process. Although the people falling felt slightly more vulnerable because they were unaware who was behind them, it was a useful exercise in getting the group working with everyone. It was also good practice for applying the techniques learnt previously on other people instead of being attached to using the skill with only one partner. We were all instructed to close our eyes and then open them before falling and this idea maintained concentration within the group and gave less time for distraction.
Pivoting is a vital element when considering carrying and transferring weight. It is important to begin in neutral position making sure the knees are unlocked so the body is ready for movement. We must remember that the spine is a strong bone which is capable of carrying heavy weight if utilised correctly and that the person’s weight is not important but the technique. When pivoting we must be confident where we are heading and go all the way round and down so we don’t injure either ourselves or our partner.
The first definition which springs to mind when mentioning ‘active weight’ is simple weight which is in motion, and by this meaning the weight which is being transferred onto someone or something is not static but always moving. However, from reading the other student’s blog comments it seems like this is not the case and instead focuses on the person who is giving the weight and their recognition and control over this technique.
I would sum up the session in the following three words:
Enjoyable, Ensemble and Sequence.
Rachel O’Connor
For this session I was pretty scared, as my experience with JVC wasn’t very successful at following routines, perhaps because it was presented far too fast and I was very nervous, or because I felt some kind of pressure given the fact we were working on some rigorous new techniques and of course because they were who they are, such a prestigious company. However, in today’s session, certainly because I had a feeling of familiarity and comfort with Royona and Paul’s instructions, but most of all because they did a wonderful job helping us to acquire the routine in a very guided and structured way, my fears disappeared and my mind and body were more open, disposed to learn and reproduce. This being said, I think I still need to strengthen my memory concerning retaining a sequence of movements, I think I could only improve myself by practicing once and again, until reaching a point where my memory and my body will become one, the one predicting the movements of the other.
ReplyDeleteRevising the catches and falls from last week was a surprisingly rewarding moment. Incredibly I felt more confident and my body knew how to reproduce the technique easily. I think the idea of the circle was great, all together, in the same learning attitude, at the same time. I thought we were in a sort of journey closing eyes, experiencing trust in others, relying on whatever the person was and it was nice, at the end I had the feeling of really being guided, and my technique was definitely better.
In the “pivot” technique, I sort of discovered that transferring and receiving weight are two skills that need to be developed together, I know now that distributing our weight properly is a key factor for the person who receives it, (and I think this refers to “active weight”, I caught some of my class mates whose weight was superior to mine and it was not a problem, because it was well distributed for me) and in the same way this person has to provide us with the right base, so we can use them as a point of support and continue. It is not something where one thing comes first and then the other, it has to be synchronized, we have to work together for the time when it will come to our bodies to establish contact. If we do it properly we should not even feel it, as we are interacting exactly with the same amount of weight put in the right place. I remember readjusting myself to my partner when learning the table as support. It takes time for sure to learn the technique, but if we dominate it well it shouldn’t be a problem.
3 words for the session: creative, relieving, and beautiful.
Personally for me learning a sequence is fairly easy, but not just because I am a dancer. As a dancer I have to be able to learn a phrase of movement pretty quickly but I find it fairly easy because I enjoy learning sequences. I don’t think, I simply watch and concentrate but then I just feel at ease to go into it. With JVC I still felt at ease watching and learning but I felt that at times they moved on a little too fast where as our session moved fast to but at a controlled pace for everyone to feel comfortable.
ReplyDeleteWhen we first looked at the falls and catches I felt really tense and worried for my partner and myself but after the first few times I started to feel more confident, calm and relaxed about falling and letting my partner catch me. When we revisited the falls and catches again in the circle I felt even more tense and worried than last time, as the first time I was able to build a trust with my partner. However I was really surprised that I started to relax as the exercise went on. I think this was because none of us looked at who was catching us, so we didn’t panic and wonder if the person behind us was going to be able to catch us or not. I also think that it was the first time that the whole of the class felt like we were working as a community.
It is vital to get the pivot point right so as to prevent injury to yourself or your partner. It is very important to keep the pivot in control, to make sure the speed that the pivot is performed is not too quick but not to slow at the same time. The transfer of weight will be harder to control and perform if it stops and starts. With a flow the movement should be easier for the faller and the catcher. I know myself at the start I would fall too quick which meant I was not giving my partner enough time to catch me safely, but when I slowed the pace and got the pivot and transfer of weight right it was easier and safer for both me and my partner.
‘Active weight’ applies to both the catcher and the faller or lifter but mainly the person falling or being lifting. Both must always be active and must always keep their centres active because if your core is active and strong, weight can be transferred safely. The faller cannot just think that the responsibility of their weight is solely on their partner to catch them; they have responsibility of their weight as much as the catcher. They must not let they bodies become a dead weight as this can cause an injury to both the catcher and the faller.
My Three Words: Enjoyable, comfortable, challenging
Catherine Hollies