Final Blog

So it is the final blog for this module. It has been fun being part of the blogging world.

In this module I have had great commitment and this shows as I have not missed a class yet. I am very happy with the effort I have made in each class, even when being injured or tired. I have worked to my maximum when I could. I have been determined focused and hard working and I believe this shows in my technical improvement (in my opinion). I hope that my efforts have paid off and I achieve the best I can, hopefully a 2:1 or maybe pushing a 1^st.  I feel I have progressed quite a bit this semester, more then previous semester. My goals did stay the same throughout the module; but I did come across other goals I wanted to achieve.

My original goals were:

• Achieve a high 2:1 or a 1^st.
• Know my own physicality of my posture
• Increase my flexibility in both my legs and back
• Strengthen my ankle in order to rise onto a stronger demi pointe.

As I won’t know my mark until next semester I am unsure what I will achieve but I hope I achieve the best I can. I have an increased flexibility in both my legs and my back. My hamstrings are a lot looser and my back has become rather flexible. I know when I am not aligned; I can feel the physicality of being misplaced. My right ankle has been hit and miss this semester. I have had to watch class once and not carry out certain exercises because of it. However I have tried to develop strength in both my ankles and I think that my demi pointe has benefited from this. When on demi pointe I feel stronger and more stable.

During this module I notice that I need to improve my inner thigh strength. I think this has improved drastically; this is from a combination from attending the gym and really focusing on them throughout daily classes. A major issue for me in technique class, that has been a problem previously also, are my tense shoulders. I find it hard to relax them. Nevertheless I can say that I can now identify when I am tensing my shoulders and really drop them down my back. Overall I feel that I am ‘dancing’ and shifting through the space with the required qualities of movement.

I have enjoyed moving this semester and I still believe technique brings out the best skills in a dancer which then can be used in choreography, improvisations and other movement classes. I feel that technique has enhanced my self awareness of my body from which movement is executed. The techniques have educated my mind and body in preparation for a wide range of movement, movement forms, qualities and dynamical qualities. It also taught me and made me more aware to release my unnecessary tension while moving.

I will take what I learnt in this module and continue to work hard until the year is over and still try to improve my technical ability. I understand my body’s new physicality’s and can recognize when something is wrong: these are aspects that I can take and use in other classes, not just technique classes but choreography, workshops and even at the gym.

Upper and Lower Connectivity

We continued working through the Bartenieff Fundamentals today. We have reached a new stage in the fundaments: upper and lower connectivity. However today we were focusing just on the lower connectivity. The class began analysing the anatomy of the hip bone, pelvic girdle and pelvis on ‘Dave’ (the studios skeleton model). It was interesting to study the anatomy of the bones as I think I take them for granted as dancer.

http://youtu.be/AP4kL-pToH0

The pelvis provides attachment for muscles that balance and support the spine and move the legs, hips, and spine. The weight of the torso and upper limbs is transmitted through the pelvis and because of this weight bearing function; the pelvic girdle is not so mobile. The neck of the femur (thighbone) fits comfortably in the cup shaped socket that forms the hip joint. And that joint is what Peggy Hackney states is 'underused'. The fundamentals really concentrate on using the hip join whilst moving instead of using the phsoas and the hip flexors. This was a challenge throughout class as I have been training to use my phsoas to lift my legs for quite some time now. Also my hip flexors are quite strong so they naturally take over lifting and moving my legs.

http://youtu.be/iRyBdPbExiU

http://youtu.be/PPLZwVlSGnw

http://youtu.be/5J0WmzCAPBI

Class was harder than usual today. I believe this is because there are several layers of fundamentals to think about at once and aspects within these fundamentals:

• Breath
• Core distal connectivity
• Head- tail connectivity
• Upper and lower connectivity

http://youtu.be/t6BDKoLmGgk

http://youtu.be/2CaARx6q3Bg

The sensations of initiating the lower movement from the hip joint were interesting and also quite painful. My hip area after class was feeling quite tender. I felt as if I was so busy concentrating on the aspect of moving my legs from my hip joint that I forgot about other parts of the body. The floor exercise is starting to feel pleasant to move through as I can apply all aspects of the fundamentals. However when the movement material becomes faster and more complex such as the movement phrases in the centre I find it more difficult to do this. I need to focus on this next week and take my time to enhance and use the fundamentals properly as it can create some lovely movement qualities. In addition I need to be aware of were my arms are e.g. when my arms are in moving through second position that I do not let them go too far behind as this results in my chest slightly sticking out and my posture being out of line.

Hackney. P (1998) “Making Connections: Total Body Integration Through Bartenieff Fundamentals”

Wynn, K and Lawrence, M (2001) “The Anatomy Coloring Book”

Falling

So it is the last week of blogging for Advanced Contemporary module and it does not feel like over 2 months ago since I was introduced to the blogging world.

Today I felt really grounded and relaxed. I enjoyed class as there was a sense of ease throughout it. Not that the movement material was easy, as various aspects challenged my technical ability, but I felt calm and allowed my body to relax.      

 I particularly focussed on falling off my centre in the centre material (which is filmed). We took our time reinforcing this and practicing it. The ‘falling’ is a nice feeling as I know I will catch myself by the following lunge so I can really go for it and fall right off centre. I feel in this class the material which we are dancing gives me the opportunity to really move as there is a lot of use of weight and shifting involved.     
 Filming and taking pictures is allowing me to see what I am physically doing. I know that is obvious but throughout this module this has been the perfect opportunity to do this. I have not had much experience filming technique classes in the past. Watching myself offers me more insight in how and what I need to adjust, change and improve on. For example in the pictures and film on today’s blog I can see I need to allow myself to reach and fall even further onto a deeper lunge.

Uncomfortable Neck Injury

 Well today I did not begin the day very well. I am not sure how it happened but my neck is in a very uncomfortable pain. Despite this I began the class thinking positively (well quite positively). I attempted the beginning of class but I was in awkward pain and I couldn’t execute the material properly. Rebekah gave me permission to sit out. Sitting out is a great opportunity to see the class from a different angle however I would much rather be up there dancing.

Observation is learning and I felt as if I learnt a lot from watching today. There are several aspects of Rebekah’s floor work which are reinforced weekly:

• When sat in second position; really sit back to central position (this is further back then you feel comfortable)
• Make sure when sat in neutral second; really be on your sits bones.
• Concentrate on engaging the whole body. 
• Turn out to your maximum
• Always keep this turn out
• When executing curves; do not cut corners
• Do not stick ribs out

                                                                                                                                      I really can take the aspects on board. I know I have the tendency to stick my ribs out because of my hyper extended back. On the other hand I am really starting to feel where neutral second position is and starting to properly engage my body. I also try to work to my maximum turn out, not just in Rebekah’s class but in every class.

In the centre work (standing up) there were several aspects which were also reinforced. The areas which I picked up for improvement were:

• Pushing your second position to the maximum
• Clear positions
• Clear feet

I also noticed about the quality of the movement, for example when moving through a contraction, really melting into it and nearly falling out of it as so engaged. Rebekah made some really clear points about the ron de jambe exercise which I will put into practice:

·         Try not to wobble, which means engaging supporting leg and turning out

·         Extend to maximum

·         Clear arms

·         Square hips!

 This are definitely aspects I need to focus on throughout technique classes. Furthermore I spotted a few of the other dancers where ‘crunching’ their necks when in a high release. I feel this is an aspect I need to work on too.

  Today they learnt new material in the centre. I really need to catch up on this so I will ask one of them to go through it with me before the next class. Saying that, I feel I learnt some of the material by observation. By watching I can take on broad people’s strengths and incorporate their strengths into my learning.

By watching today I feel as if I have found new areas I particularly want to make progress in. I enjoyed watching however I wish my neck was not as uncomfortable and I could have danced. However I can now put my observations into practice next week. I am going to stretch my neck out over the weekend and hope that it will improve.

Tilting

So it is the beginning of week 7! Week 7! Hasn’t time flown by? Semester one is almost over and deadlines are getting closer and closer. Monday morning begins with Juliet’s Cunningham class, a great start to the week. This starts to week optimistically for me personally. Cunningham really focuses on the architecture of the body in space, rhythm and articulation. I feel as if all 3 aspects were really important today.

Dancing Juliet’s class really does start the week positivity. I went into class this morning in a good mood and came out in an even better mood.

Today I really noticed the way I was performing tilts. I was aware that I was titling from my waist and not from my arms. I was lifting out of my waist and tilting to my maximum. Also my arms must stay in second position as they were in the centre. Juliet mentioned to really move through the positions (e.g. tilts) and go to your maximum. DO NOT CUT CORNERS. The ideal flat back position requires a table top straight back. I do find it difficult to achieve this as my hyper extended back hinders me to some extent. However I feel I was extending the lower back to achieve my maximum flat back. I should not compare my self to others in the class, as anatomically we were all different.

Juliet taught us new material which combined several aspects of the previous exercises within it:

·       Curves

·       High release

·       Passé

·       Upper body tilts

This was a nice exercise to perform as it really let me ‘dance’ the movement rather than ‘position position position’. Plus I let my back be a part of the movement support the weight and force of my arm.

Again we practiced triplets. I noticed I still need to travel and step out of my legs, go further than my natural steps. I also need to pull up and out of the waist in order to help me shift my weight. Focus will aid my direction in space. The triplet exercise needs focus  as a change in direction is required several times.

The jumps exercises require lots of technical aspect and improvements on my behalf:

• Pointing feet
• Making sure my heels always return to floor
• Using my plie to my maximum
• Travelling
• Height when required

 I still need to believe in myself more. I sometimes say to myself “I can’t do this”, even though I actually can. This sets me up for going wrong! I need to not panic, not rush and finish the movement properly. I need to remember this in other technique classes and also in other modules.

Freeing The Back

I started today’s class positively as I haven’t been having problems with my foot/ankle injury for couple of days, which has been nice! Today’s class was fun and extremely energetic; I look forward to Geoff’s class every week! It is nice to be able to really allow the back to really get involved with movement.

Today I really focussed on gravity and using gravity to support my movement. For example hanging over the legs in parallel, really allowing the head to be heavy and the arms relax, letting gravity to pull my upper body down. This gave me the greatest stretch of the hamstrings. I also need to think about dropping my shoulders and releasing the tension when hanging over. I remained to think about using gravity when performing the centre travelling material. I really let my body move and use gravity to help me move through the space and aid my quality of movement. The quality of the movement is really important. Throughout class, I really tried to create the different qualities required for release technique. Making sure my lower body is a sturdy base for my upper body, arms and head to be released and free to move. The quality of movement was really nice to perform.  

From today’s class I can really feel how to involve the back into the movement material in order to create a nicer quality of movement.

Yield and Push

Today we had our weekly technique class taught by Liz. We are still concentrating on and developing the Bartenieff Fundamentals. In particular today we focused on yield and push.

We began by lying in the foetal position and once settled Liz asked us to suck our thumbs. I felt comfortable. Sucking my thumb is not strange for me as I still do it, even though I am 20! I do it when I am tired or comfortable. Maybe I should grow out of this habit? We had to think of the pathway from the mouth to the anus. Peggy Hackney believed that the digestive system plays a great part in the way we move. An improvisation came from this sensation.  

We moved onto the material we have slowing been developing throughout the weeks using the fundamentals. The floor exercise really allowed me to feel the movement initiating from my tail. My tail yields my head in order to move smoothly around the space. This exercise just eased us in to the sense of yielding and pushing. I really feel I am starting to physically feel that I am applying the fundamentals more and more. I really felt myself yielding and pushing when performing the moving material in the centre of the space. The movement feels more pleasant to perform. I am also thinking about the previous fundamentals we have practiced especially breath. The only thing noticed which I need to correct was that  I need to be aware if I am either standing in parallel or turned out, not in between.

I watched a video that used some ideas from Body Mind Centring focussing on yielding, pushing, reaching and puling. It gave me an insight on how others move in the way that I am learning to.

www.dance-tech.net/video/yield-push-reach-pull

I have been advised to think about the fundamentals on a daily basis: getting out of bed, walking and sitting etc. In Peggy Hackney’s book Making Connections: Total Body Integration Through Bartenieff Fundamentals”, Laban says “to pay more attention to human movement- bodily and mentally- which is obviously at the basis of all human activity.” I feel that the fundamentals are not to just applied to dance but to every day activities. I imagine the fundamentals may make daily movement easier.

I was browsing the internet and came along Katelin Carter’s blog. It was interesting to read her views on yielding and pushing.

“Fundamentals remain a constant in dance. Yield and push. Reach and pull. One has to precede the other. You have to yield before you can push. In dance, it is a process of leaning into the ground. Then there is life. You need to be grounded before you can push. If there is no ground, no foundation, there is nothing to reach and pull to. This creates patterns. One needs to know them and to be able to see them. Once this is done, the pattern relates to life, life relates to dance, dance is understood and your life is put into your dance. You breathe it and you connect. The two play hand in hand- this art, turning into an outlet to create and overcome, an outlet to live and be free”

http://katelinscarter.com/2011/04/11/the-process-part-i-yield-push/

Hackney. P (1998) Making Connections: Total Body Integration Through Bartenieff Fundamentals

Wynn, K and Lawrence, M (2001) The Anatomy Coloring Book