Thoughts of the late night
Back from my second holistic rehearsal session. I call it holistic as its aim is to give my body a good work out. So there’s a lot of pilates and ballet-based exercises to slowly warm me up before the improvisation part gets me to move harder. The improvisation lasts in theory 30mn, serving as a moving laboratory for ideas.
Last week was all about the feet. It felt like they were on fire. The music I had in the background probably had something to do with it. The improvisation started quite slow but very quickly my fiery feet broke the rythm, gyrating around and rebelling against the pace my mind wanted them to be in. It was a surprising out come. It certainly felt like a first step towards the making of a new piece.
This week’s session had mixed results. The body work out hour felt positive and gave me an energy boost. The improvisation part was a bit more complicated to experience. The foot work was still the core of the exercise but added to it were gestures’s exploration while some ritualistic movements found their way into the jam too. While last week’s improv’ was structured and tight despite the strong influence of the music in the background, today’s jam was clearly an organic mess. The structure didn’t flow as well and the overall feeling I had from the dance was monotonous. Perhaps, the music influenced the direction even more heavily this time. Maybe I was in a different headspace. All I saw was a recurring movement pattern that didn’t much room to expand. These limitations were caused by the configuration of the room. I had 6 chairs in front, creating a line and somehow I was physically stuck between the semi-sprung space and the little carpeted green area. In this awkward shaped area, my feet had nowhere to travel (far) and they felt the pressure! Funny enough these “obstacles” didn’t frustrate me. Even if I got bored with some of my own movements, I just kept going until the end.
I’m not sure what to make of today’s session yet. Maybe I’ll have to up my (rehearsal) game for next time. Initially, I wanted to take it very easy, not rushing back into the same way of dance making but maybe the time is right to get back into it as last week’s session indicated. What’s the next step now? That’s the question to occupy my mind for the whole week!
