Object placement

Objects in performance really bring a richness to the work. I had the opportunity to play with an exercise I did quite a few times in many of my past movement and theater practices. One of them is object placement, or placing objects/items in a "certain way." The objects used were personal, non-personal, food, liquid, even bodily fluids such as saliva. The motivation and idea comes from a crime scene; what happened there; who was there; or did it just happen and when. The way it works is one person takes any amount of objects/items and places them in a specific space without thinking about it as best as one can. Then everyone else looks at the scene, taking time to take it all in, and look from different angles and levels. Then another person arranges the objects/items in a certain way, either adding or taking away objects. My partner and I did this for 15 minutes. The first two photos above are examples of what we created.

Next, we, individually took 10-15 minutes, found a space to set up our own scene with any amount of objects/items. Then we viewed each others' scene. The second two photos are our individual scenes.

The 3rd photo can depict a scene from an accident, car or bicycle; where someone's stuff was just scattered after being hit. You may not be able to see it, but there was saliva and crushed/bitten pieces of food. The paper was from CPR/First Aid training exam, where the phrase, "attempted to give breaths" was circled. Although, it seemed like it could be an accident scene, the pen impaled through the paper, gave it another perspective or feeling. So anyone can ask, "What happened here?" "Why/How was the pen impaled, instead of just lying down?" "Who was this person and where were they going?"

The 4th photo can depict a memorial or burial for someone. What gave me this idea was the text, "In Silence and Visiting." There was also objects in front of the buried book that looked like an offering: a lipstick and then flowers and a watch encased in pebbles. Also the altoids laying next to text about bad breath, which I thought was clever; then the binoculars, for me, gave a sense of being seen or watched. I felt some sadness while being with this scene. A sense of longing to know more about this person, who has passed on. "Who were they?" "Did these objects represent this person's character?" "Were they loved and/or hated?" And with the watch encased in pebbles, "Was time frozen?"

Also, you have to think about the archetypal images as well for the one who created the scenes. Was this scene made for them or someone else? Did they have intentions before creating the scene or not? It really delves into the unconscious.

Overall, I think this exercise can do many things for creating and developing work. It can also be therapeutic. The binoculars spoke to me a lot. It was kinda creepy the way the binoculars would show up in the scenes. For instance, it's as if you're always being watched; or it's as if they say, "always remember this or whatever happened here." The environment and atomsphere also played a huge role in this exercise and made it better in a lot of ways. There are other objects/items/greenery/concrete around the space to get inspiration, along with sounds and smells.

This embodied memory in objects is quite interesting. I feel lots of objects have embodied memory, for example, the person who made or designed the object; the sentimental value that came from the object if it was a gift or handed down; and if it was old, what was going in your life when you obtained the object/item? Objects can have memory just like people and animals. We can also put our own memories and stuff into the object without even knowing it.

I'm sure I'll be visiting this exercise again.

Movement and emotions

I was thinking about how movement really helps move energy, especially emotions. If you break down the word emotion, you would get e-motion. In other words, energy-in-motion. I think I heard about that in my holistic health coaching program. When I was doing a lot of solo performance work, most of my ideas and concepts came from personal experiences and struggles within my life, present and past. I would put myself back into positions when I was feeling scared, angry or sad, which, in somatic psychology, is a way one heals from past trauma. There was a particular piece I did, where it was so intense, I cried a lot during my rehearsals. I even cried after performing it at a venue! I allowed myself to feel what was happening without any judgment. During the performance, at times, I would feel the currents and tingly feelings move throughout my body.

After showing this work, I got a lot of wonderful feedback from people. They connected to my piece on a personal level. At one of my showings, someone told me they cried while watching my piece. But there was no need to explain why. I didn't feel a need to explain why. It was movement, energy and emotion. Moving with and from the emotion is what I learned from Mexican, ritual butoh teacher/performer, Diego Pinon. I love his mission statement because it really resonates with me and my solo work experience:

“As human beings used the energy of nature to survive, they created the first primitive forms of movement. In the Butoh dance we relive the sense of these primitive forms as a way to rescue all the lost parts of the human being. Butoh questions our habitual actions, expectations, and judgments.

Butoh challenges us to awaken and explore all human qualities ranging from the subtle to the outrageous, both beautiful and ugly. Butoh seeks the emergence of the deeper self, to touch if only for a moment, the inexplicable matter of the human soul.

Through this process of transforming our daily life by transforming our dance, we can offer more creative energy to our community. “

It's amazing what we can access through movement. Do we really honor and feel the emotions that come up through dance in general? As a performer or observer, what awakens within us? What makes us come back for more? What scares us? Excites us?

There's so much to explore with this.

Why I do this

Someone asked me yesterday about my butoh and movement practice. What does it really do for me? I immediately answered "it makes me feel human." It's an opportunity to express the human condition, emotions, and existence. I feel when all people watch performance--music, dance, theater, etc.-they can relate to it in some way. Music is emotional, just as movement and dance. The reason I love butoh so much is that it can go deeper on so many levels. There's expression and transformation happening simultaneously. There are breakthroughs within the work consciously and unconsciously/subconsciously.

I do this because I feel amazing after I do it. I feel connected to myself and those around me, who are either witnessing or dancing with me. I feel connected to those loved ones in my life, who are not on this earth anymore. I connect with the child I once was. I do this because I feel raw, human being.

Katsura Kan workshop Day #2-4

I definitely was transported into another dimension this weekend because I didn't even turn the computer on once all weekend! That's how wonderful this workshop was.

Day 2:

We did more walking, but graduated into a 20 second step. Kan had us close our eyes at one point. I was amazed how shaky my balance was, BUT I walked in a straight line the whole time. When I got to observe my partner during her turn, she walked straight up until a point then she became pigeon-toed and began turning to the right. I feel Kan wanted us to test our other senses, as we always rely on sight. It's a way to sense and feel your surroundings in a different, deeper way. We also did some group movement work, moving in figure 8's across the room. That was such a Brain Challenge, at first, it gave me a headache. I really didn't want to do any thinking in this workshop, but I realized that it's how Kan works, and he likes to challenge you.

Day 3:

This day (and day 4) was a longer day (5 hours). This was all about developing and learning choreography. Kan taught us a 16 count score of movement, and then we got to do it with a partner. Then we moved into two large groups, where each person would take turns being the leader and go through the choreography. It got more fun when he asked each of us to play with the tempo and put pauses within the choreography. Finally, each of us got to start and end with the original choreographed move, but in between we got to improvise anything we wanted. This really got our brains working to not only remember the score of movements, but to pay attention to each other and mirror each other's different movements. Even though we were doing the same thing, the quality was different. These exercises continued into Day 4.

Day 4:

We did a different score of movements this round. Then our partners watched us do the movement, then Kan would stop us at a different moment throughout the choreography. The "observing" partner would kind of fix our position such as turning the foot out more, looking up versus down, etc. Then partners would switch. The exercise I really loved was the "soft movement." Everything about your movement and expression had to have a soft quality. It was amazing to watch each group of 3-4 show their scores of soft movement. Our group ended up showing this in the student performance later that evening. We got great feedback from Kan and other students. Our group really sustained the quality of movement throughout the 5 or 8 minutes.

What was so amazing about this workshop overall was the feedback. How are you suppose to grow in your own work without feedback? How does anything develop? After I thanked Kan for the amazing workshop, he explained that it takes time, but the more you work with people, that's when things will develop. It was so refreshing to hear that, as well as have the experience I did. It all came together for me. As a soloist, it's hard to grow at times because you're the critic. This can be so isolating and monotonous at times. Although, in my own solo, I've always invited people to view my work in a rehearsal because I found myself wondering does this or that work? Am I doing the same thing over and over? Does the movement convey my ideas and concepts? But I reached a point where I was starving for a group dynamic.

I'm looking forward to exploring more in choreography and group-ensemble work. How everyone can be doing something different, but with the same quality. I discovered in this workshop that IT IS possible.

Katsura Kan workshop Day #1

I'm attending a workshop with noted butoh master and teacher, Katsura Kan. The first day was last night. It was so wonderful to be practicing movement again in a class setting and with other people with such a wide range background in movement, dance and theater.

After warming up, we jumped into a walking exercise, or a.k.a. "slow butoh walk." We worked with a partner, where we just observed their everyday walking-down-the-street walk; then transitioned that into each step being 5 seconds long, until we finished a step being up to 10 seconds long. Very difficult, but also a great way to increase your overall awareness. After the first round, I found myself getting into this meditative, almost trancy, state. Also, when I watched my partner, I was fascinated by the placement of her arms and legs with each step. The way the breath would almost stop at moments, and her trying to remember to breathe.

We ended the workshop by lining up across the room and then our partners sat further down to watch us. We began the slow, 10 second-step walk toward our partners, with the gaze always forward. Then when Kan would end our walks, we had the opportunity to hear feedback from everyone. I love this process because people pick up on different things, and notice things about the way you hold yourself you never would pick up on. Next, I got to observe my partner and the rest of the class do "the walk." My partner had this softness, fluidity and consistency. I also noticed that every time her foot would make contact with floor, this ripple or wave would travel all the way up her body and out the top of her head. As people got closer, I noticed all sorts of things going for people such as faces, tension in the body, inner and outer processes, and different ways of holding the body in the movement.

The questions and insights that Kan brought up were what is neutral? When you're performing or in front of people doing your thing, are you acting or being neutral? Do we hide our true character? I'm glad he brought this up because our "walks" changed as we got closer to our partners. Is there a type of neutral character? Is that what "natural" is?

Aaahhh, such wonderful insights! Such great research! I'm looking forward to Day #2.......

Another blog for another passion

I realized that I don't have a blog dedicated to movement arts. I always include it in my other blog, and most of my passions integrate, connect and blend to a certain degree. But I know if I have a separate blog for my movement practice, it will inspire more ideas for teaching and performance.

Movement is energy. An ebb and flow of a collage through many genres and forms of dance. I'm always interested or trying new forms of movement. My background is in modern dance, but throughout the years, dance has fused and branched out.

So I welcome you to read and comment on upcoming posts.