After the 21st of March 2014

If you checked the previous post of beautiful day on 21st of March 2014, this is what followed it.
About the task which I gave that day I got peer feedback,
from movers point of view:

• feeling of connection with the partner
• physical exchange that became a duet
• easy to give up and let go of rolls
• taking a different role than usually in life
• longing someone to take you 
• enough even a small impulse to react 

from leaders:

• interesting to explore 
• building up a choreography

in general:

• adequate sound - taking, inspiring 
• great solution for selecting the roles - tapping on the shoulder.

My personal feedback contains of things that I was working on while my peers where working on the task.
Few things that I was considering:

• trial for combining patters
• not giving too much information, but giving enough
• letting go of my own expectations of how exercise should look like  
• multitasking - in the same time managing music in combination of giving enough information for task as well as observing class.

It happened on Friday 21st of March 2014

It was a wonderful morning of spring when birds were singing and alarm ringing.
The way to the studio was rushed. By 9 am I was in studio for the peer facilitation session.  I was exited to give the task I had prepared for my colleagues.

Theoretical base of given task was from Michael Hoeye's 'Adventures in Real Space: An Alternate Mode of Thinking and Problem Solving' essay in 'The Body Can Speak' Essays on Creative Movement Education with Emphasis on Dance and Drama'.

'Creative work is physical and pragmatic. Engagement and accountability are its hallmarks – not self-absorption or idle freedom. Creativity is a form of problem solving that uses time and logic differently than traditional analytical thinking. It is a continuum of computations, assessments, and adjustments in which solutions evolve through time. Creativity uses thinking itself differently, linking it much more closely to action of some sort' (Hoeye 2001 in Mertz 2002).

I honestly participated in the tasks of my peers and hoped that they will do the same in return. When my turn for leading came I started my exercise trying to stay as calm and confident as possible.

So I started:

• Pair up (facing partner/each other);
• Stretch both your arms forwards towards partner's arms till both of partner's/ all four palms are touching/osculating;
• close eyes and breathe (try to feel the surface of your own palms and the surface of your partner's palms; feel the life processes running beneath the skin – blood running through the blood vessels, sense how with each breath oxygen fils every cell providing your body with the fuel for metabolism, try to feel trough the palms the bubbly and effervescent processes that are happening while you are 'motionless' in this stillness. All of it happens here and now with both of you/ with all of us);
• There following is a leader& follower task. I am going to tap on the shoulder to the person who is going to open his/her eyes and will be a leader for the first half of the task. The other person is going to remain with closed eyes and will be a follower. All communication is allowed only through palms (try to remain with the light cellular touch, listening to partner's push and pull signals sent through the palm to palm);
• Task/challenge for the leader is to follow your own movement curiosity remaining fairly simple in choreography as you have to stay in contact with your partner and take care of his/her safety;
• Exercise for follower is to stay alert and attentive to fulfill the goal which is to extend, interpret, amplify the intention/choreography of the leader sent to you through his/her palms;
• Music on!;
• Leaders try to find the starting impulse for your movement from within, start simply, moderate your speed;
• Check your breathing, are you holding it;
• Find the ending (lower the volume of music);
• Exchange roles (Leader closes eyes, find a moment of stillness, breathe, feel your palms touching. Exchange roles, new leader opens eyes when she/he is ready. Start slowly). 

My planned outcomes of exercise was:

• Cellular touch;
• Push and Pull through the leader's hands;
• An active, self-conscious, physical presence trough the following task;
• Raised awareness of limb connection to the whole (underlying navel radiation pattern) as follower must manifest moving by assuming a navigable posture where 'hands and arms must serve a steering mechanism for the body' (Hoeye 2001);
• differentiation between upper body and lower body. Initiating movement from upper body (arms&hands).

In addition:

• gaining self-knowledge in both roles – taking and giving responsibility, decision making, empathy.

Literature that used in preparation for peer facilitation:

Hartley, L. (1995) Wisdom of the Body Moving. An Introduction to Body-Mind Centering. California: North Atlantic Books

 Mertz, A. (2002) Essays on Creative Movement Education with Emphasis on Dance and Drama. Southern: Illinois University

two steps back and one forward

The end of the final year of my dance studies is approaching, and I am catching myself doing some weird mind dancing with performed choreography titled 'two steps back and one forward'. This involves looking back at things I have learned and gained as well as what did not. And suddenly it seems that I am having balance with minus.
Would it be just me being anxious about the future or it is so common and popular syndrome of pre-graduation?
However, there are many jobs to be done before I can call myself graduate. In preparation to my Final Major Project, I am reminded about one of the readings given in class 'A Sense of Place: Reflection on the Role of Environment in Dance Movement Therapy' by Sandra Reeve where she talks about 'embodied' living referring on Halprin:
'Embodied - means to feel oneself through bodily felt responses in the moment...ultimately the embodied life would be one in which the physical body, feelings and mind are being expressed creatively in congruence with each other and with the changing nature of reality'.
In relation to this quote and some recent discussion with my Final Major Project tutor I have a question ( Voila! No surprises!) : How to stay embodied (including everything mentioned above) and tuned in into the ever changing reality and not get into the certain state of performing?

I twist. You twist. Both of us twist?

Today taken by memories I went to the safe place, this doesn't happen every time when I get carried by my memories. So today was a good day and I would say I felt honored to 'walk in the studio' one more time for Cecilia Macfarlane's workshop which took place some time ago in January. 

Yes, good things take time and come to those who wait :) Some processing take time and so did I with the all vast information that had been generously given during the workshop.

Undoubtedly, information has been running trough my 'brain tubes' and have been filtered trough the filter - HOW DO I KNOW WHEN I KNOW, which is developing and possibly ever lasting research of mine.

In the workshop we were given a task to created small choreography based on the personal and intimate act from our daily routine. Of course, the choice of this act was individual and based on the subjective experience of each person in the room. After a creating choreography, we got to share it with each other. Moreover, we had to give choreography away and let it live in other body. This is how something personal and subjective became shared and objective.

In relation to my 'lifetime' research of knowing or/and unknowing, I am particularly interested in this twist from subjectivity to objectivity. 

It is no secret I like to ask questions. So here it comes, get ready!

Can something that I know you can know too?

And how do you know when I know? 

In other words, when and how knowing becomes not only subjective, but objective too? Can knowing be shared collectively or it will always remain a little bit individual and subjective? 

Pick up!

Just an inspirational quote.
I believe, from time to time everyone of us needs a reminder.
Pick up - there is someone who is waiting to be heard.
Guess!
It is YOU :)

Find a place to be..to hear..to see..to feel

Literature isn't my strength, especially poetry and especially in english.
However, some lines came to me while doing improvisation task today.
There I was sitting on the bench of a green spot in the middle between a car park and a high way, trying to SEE (with capital letters to express how hard I was trying to be involve it the process).
And then picture turned into words:

Stillness versus Run.
Me here in the sun.
I am  because I can.
And even when it isn't fun,
Can job be ever done?

From 'NO' to 'YES'

The third day of New 2014 Year has come and brought me some answer on the question from previous post: 'How to be a fish in the sea?'.

Here it is:

'No New Year resolutions -  it is a revolution!

Leading by following.

Swimming by flowing.

Following&Flowing&Freeing = FFFlexibility'. 

I have found my way of being fish in the sea. It is the ultimate law of three 'F' that hopefully will give me enough flexibility in all possible forms. 

P.S. I do not believe in numerology, but here are  facts:

• On the third day of new year I discovered a three 'F' law of the ultimate FFFlexibility;
• Number of three is a essential symbol in Latvian mythology that most of the times is a good sign.

I don't consider myself being superstitious, but I do consider myself having a bit of sense of humor.

Anyway, I am going to give this a try and won't blame anyone who would like to join me.

Additionally, here is a link with some basic information about the Latvian mythology:
http://latvianhistory.wordpress.com/2009/07/16/the-latvian-mythology/