Skinner ReleasingBuilding on our master class with Stephanie Skura, we continued to explore the work of Joan Skinner. We began with a whispering dance that traveled throughout the body. On the floor, we explored gossamer strings attached just above our ears, at the base of our middle fingers and at the tips of the knees. We allowed an exterior puppet master to play with these strings and surrendered ourselves to their movement.
Adding the partner graphics that Stephanie gave on Thursday, we added the suspended ribcage and the deep valleys of the hip sockets. In trios, our dance partners continued to remind us of this work as we moved slowly in space.
At the end of class, I gave a short lecture on Dr. Skinner and her journey to create Skinner Releasing Technique. From her career in New York with Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham, her healing process through Alexander Technique and the creation of her own technique at the University of Illinois and here at the UW.
What will you harvest from this class?
Contact ImprovisationDeepening our practice in contact improvisation, we began today by deepening into weight sharing, yielding our weight and pouring weight through the point of contact. We started in stacks, releasing our weight into our partners. We poured weight through our hands and torsos. We poured weight in and out of our partners through our backspaces while back to back seated on the floor. We practiced rolling over one another by maintaining contact and rolling over our partners waist.
On hands and knees, we draped and poured weight into one another as table tops. We then moved to standing and followed the rolling point in short sequences of movement. We listened to one another as we stopped and started again without words to signal our beginnings. At the end of class, we explored with our partners for 15 minutes before coming together to share.
What will you harvest from this class? What new information did you incorporate into your contact practice?
Tuesday's class was really interesting. I really liked the whole whisper dance. It was really interesting starting out small with one body part and slowly building up the dance till it was in our whole body. As Skinner said on page 24, "Awareness is the first step to change." I definitely became more aware of my body and the different parts through the whisper exercise. I also really liked the suspended ribcage. Definitely after doing this exercise, it felt different to walk. I felt really light and like I was on air- there wasn't much effort put into walking. Skinner believed in "giving the students the framework in which to grow: the principles, the graphic exercises, and the imagery. The imagery would reflect what was needed at a particular stage in order to spawn new growth... The guidance provided feedback and protection from exploring dead ends and wrong turns" (pg. 26). I felt like the whisper exercise and the ribcage exercise provided guidance to exploring new parts of my body as movement. Who thought you could have a whisper movement in your shoulder blade? I really enjoyed the trio exercise. It was cool to experience that and to watch others experience it as well. It was interesting to learn about the history of Skinner and how she created this technique.
ReplyDeleteJuhi
I can really relate to the Skinner Releasing idea of being held up by many different strings. Because gravity is always weighing down on us, it is nice to think that there are other imaginary forces that help us in combating the forces of gravity. I really enjoyed the exercise of remembering all these forces through working with a partner. I thought it was very helpful to think of all the different concepts while in motion. Because we had our eyes closed, I was better able to understand how touch not only reminded me or different body parts to keep lengthened, but also direct my movements if I was in danger of running into anything. As stated in the article “You Can’t Make a Leaf Grow By Stretching It”, “Skinner Releasing is concened with integration and therefore our mind does not direct. We do not imagine Joan’s images we merge with them, they become another reality” (page 2). When I was in charge of reminding the active dancer of different components, I found myself communicating through touch in changing their path when they were going to run into something because they were influenced by my touch instead of doing what they wanted to do.
ReplyDeleteIt was also very interesting to hear about the history of Skinner Releasing and how it came to be. After studying Martha Graham technique in my dance history class in fall quarter, I knew how hard some of the technique can be on one’s body and muscles. Some of the work was very taxing and I can understand that Skinner Releasing helps to offset some of those negative affects. As was illustrated in the history of how the method came to be, one Alexander teacher was hesitant to take on dancers as students of hers because “she felt they had great difficulty in learning new approaches to movement and tried too hard to control movement” (page 18). I can really relate to this because it was very difficult at the beginning of the quarter to let go of my movements and think of movement in different terms than traditional ballet, jazz or lyrical. Especially with Skinner Releasing theory, it is often hard to think about letting your muscles go and letting go of the tension because I often hold onto my muscles when doing different ballet movements. Even though this may be the case, I think that the principles presented in this method are all very valid because they help with balance (skull strings) and also help to think more about the overall movements that are being done rather than just the muscles that you might use to complete the movements.
I am beginning to feel more comfortable with the idea of contact improvisation although it is still very difficult for me to think about giving my body weight to another person. I still fear that I will hurt someone or put too much pressure on a certain body part. I have found it very interesting, though, how much I am able to move and communicate through my movements. As stated in Experiencing the Body, “in contact improvisation, the functional use of touching predominates [because] the form depends on communication between dancers thought the sense of touch and weight” (page 163). Even though I am not verbally communicating with the person I am dancing with, it is very interesting to see that we are both able to understand where our next movement is going to be as well as whether we are going to make a transition to the floor or remain in a standing position. While I am getting more comfortable with giving my weight to someone else, I think that I still have a ways to go because I am having trouble enjoying the experience because I am so self conscious of how the other person is feeling about my touch.
Skinner releasing technique is something I hope to study more of. It seems to be full of images and body graphics that create a bodily flow essential to dancing efficiently. While reading about the history of Skinner technique, it was really interesting to look at notes she took while dancing. The ideas that came up were ones I took into ballet and modern to practice.
ReplyDelete“Feel connection between both heels while turned-out when one leg is extended. It integrates the whole body.” (History of the Skinner Releasing Technique pg 16) This is something that particularly struck me, because I felt that rather than needing to focus on my core and the muscles helping to extend my leg in a tendu, I could merely think about my heels being connected and my body automatically finds the right muscles to work.
Some of her notes are ones I have received in class, such as tension in the head, or ribcage alignment. Perhaps most dancers struggle with these issues, but I find her body graphics to be very helpful. When going though some of them in class, I was able to begin associating the touch from my partner with the images of gossamer strings and suppleness.
The idea I connected with most out of the readings was from Chapter 4, Description of the Skinner Releasing Technique, “Furthermore, the dancer who has released excess tension can unleash power, speed, and intensity with the appearance of less overt effort than would be expected and seemingly with no preparation, like a snake striking without warning.” It makes sense. The less tension you hold, the more energy you have left to burst out when you need it most.
Hi Louis!
ReplyDeleteSo this week we played around with a lot of stuff from skinner release and contact impov. What I really enjoyed experimenting with in our skinner excercise was actually the puppet master dance. The puppet master dance really reminded me of the skull strings and how my head and neck moved differently like it was detached from my body with it's own seperate mind. I totally felt a change of motion and effort in my movements. Like Maria said above, I too really like how there is a force pulling my limbs up. The gravity that was there is no longer pulling me down but in stead the strings are pulling me up. I like the detached feeling and motion of (for example when the strings are connected to my middle finger) how my elbow is slowly being dragged even though the string is pulling my middle finger fast. There's this detached motion even though my arm is connected to each other.
Thursday's class was really cool with contact improv. I really thought yeilding weight and pouring the weight into our partner was really cool. I really like imagining sand pouring when i am pouring into my partner. I think releasing weight is really interesting because I know that there are safe ways and not so safe ways to contact. And I am sometimes afraid to let go. There were some times when my partner was hurting me though, not going to lie. The pressure of my ribs against the ground made my ribs hurt the next day. It wasn't a constant force the whole time, but as my partner would roll up and down my back, there were parts that hurt and made the harvest really distracting. During this excercise, I kept on thinking about Cynthia Novack's Experiencing the Body, and that "as a student of contact improvisation, we must learn to be turned upside down or sideways, moving through space in spiraling or curving motions . . ." In other words, even though I was really uncomfortable with letting go because I was afraid of the pain inflicted, I remembered that I should let go because contact improvisation is going to push me out of my comfort zone. Thinking about that actually helped me pour my weight and let go. After all, "contact improvisation does cultivate a particular kind of sensual involvement." It was fun . . . after letting go!
I loved our use of pouring weight into one another in the table top position as well as lying down on the ground. This release of muscles and tension with thai massage is so amazing to me and allows my body to move more freely. I loved the reading Experiencing the Body was very interesting in that people who are more sexually inclined enjoy contact improvisation. As we discussed in class, you reach a whole new level of contact with your partner that is between friends and lovers. The amount of intimacy in contact improv is unlike pretty much all other dance forms because of this in between zone you reach with your partner if you allow it to go to that point.
ReplyDeleteAlso in this reading, in evaluations of the dancing i read that people who are more experienced and practice contact improv have more options in movements and can adjust more easily to each partner. I have observed this when I took contact improv classes at Velocity.
Katie Boulanger
Unfortunately, I was not able to make it to the last Skinner class. I was there for class on Thursday, although I arrived late... sorry Louis. I am always nervous for any classes that involve contact! I felt so relieved that I was able to be Louis's partner when I realized that I didn't really know anyone in the class. I was beginning to feel comfortable in the movement when Louis asked me to work with a young man in the class. I was kind of shocked. I didn't know what to do. Deep down I really did not want to work with this person, no offense to this person. The thought of working with a complete stranger is horrifying, especially when that stranger is of the opposite sex. To be honest, I felt really uncomfortable the whole time. Then the time came for another new partner. Katie and I were partners. This was easier for me. I know Katie a little bit. We have quite a few classes together. I felt pretty ok with her, except I felt like I kept getting wrapped up in the same movements which made it a little awkward. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. It was an interesting class for me. I feel like it was ok though. I attempted working with a new stranger and I did not like it. I think it's ok for me not to be ready yet; I just don't think I'm quite to that point yet... I might not ever be. It was a really interesting feeling to go from dancing with some one I trust, to someone I don't know at all, to someone I kind of know. As far as the form of contact improv goes, I seem to enjoy it, but only when I am comfortable.
ReplyDelete**Kali
Unfortunately, I missed class all week last week because I was sick! However, through the reading, "Experiencing the Body," I was able to learn and confirm a number of concepts I've experienced from past contact improvisation jams. On page 150, "When doing contact improvisation, the weight and height of another dancer do not indicate how easy or difficult it will be to dance with him or her. Contact improvisation does not rely on muscular strength..." During my last jam, I was able to dance with a dancer who was taller and more built than I was. Though I was not afraid to let loose and give weight, my partner was. She was afraid to "squish" me. After some immensely connected improvisational dancing, I was able to come underneath and lift her up. She was SHOCKED! This verified to the both of us that size doesn’t matter! And that improvisation does not solely rely on muscular strength but the awareness that both parties provide to the dance. It really is beautiful…
ReplyDeleteSkinner releasing
ReplyDeleteThe sheer power of images and their ability to influence my movement, sensations and overall perception is what moves me the most. I want to continue to work and allow these images to guide my alignment and movement instead of my analytical mind (Ch 4: Releasing into process, pg.35-39). I am really beginning to enjoy the mental escape during super structured dance classes like ballet, because I have slowing been incorporating images into combinations. When utilizing an image and really being consumed by the image, dancing begins to happen and particular positions have lost some of the difficulty I previously perceived. I will continue the use of these images to hopeful get to a point of being able to “feeling images” (Ch 4: Releasing into process pg. 54). Currently, I am utilizing images, but I do get a taste of “being danced” when the music moves me, captures me, takes me away (Ch 4: Releasing into process pg. 57-59).
I want to do a combination sure, but achieve an escape as well. Be free.
Contact Improvisation
After this class, I really felt like I became a better listener to the point of contact. It pleases me greatly that I am becoming a better listener in this aspect. I felt I had a really good connection with my partners. I enjoyed the different interactions; it was enjoyable in unique ways. I learned that there must be a give and take of weight, at one point me and my partner kept losing contact because I wasn’t giving back the weight soon enough. Though I had great experiences, it was interesting to see how perception of movement played a role a certain points. For example, I realized that sexuality arose in my mind at one time. I felt like I could be in any position but it did cross my mind if my partner was uncomfortable if particular parts of us were to touch each other. I agree with the reading that “acceptability of touch” played a role in my contact improvisation experience (Experiencing the body, pg. 159-160). My goals are to keep listening to the point of contact and be true to my own limits and energy of a particular interaction.
I was very dissapointed to miss another great class on Skinner, but I feel that I harvested a lot during our day of further delving into contact. Probably one of the more valuable lessons I learned in this session of improv exploration was the need to warm up my body first – I arrived just about on time, but had to hurry in to begin the session. Consequently, my sore body was not warmed up and didn’t feel as good as it usually does with the contact on the floor and on hands and knees. Contact requires release and I was not able to fully release as my body was tense and feeling the need to tighten with much of my movement. However, after I warmed up a little on my own, I felt a lot more free to explore different parts of my body being in contact with my partner. It was nice to have the freedom to explore different levels and qualities of movement in contact. I believe that this was a stronger learning experience for me in that respect.
ReplyDeleteI really liked that some of my classmates brought up the question of how to not get stuck in a repetitive pattern, since I find myself having the tendency to do this. I felt like it was especially easy to work on listening to and feeling my partner since I am close with him already and I would like to continue to grow in this and explore the relationship of breathing, listening and feeling the moving of energy between my contact partner. I feel that contact should explore a broad range of emotional states and there were definitely moments of giggling and joy, as well and more serious moments to reflect on the connection between us. The jam on Thurs. was definitely too short and was sad to have it end, but I’m so excited for the jam on Wed!
There were a number of things I learned from reading the article “Experiencing the Body,” and I feel I will continue to work on and be aware of in my practice of contact improv. First, I love the idea of using the floor as a partner. Warming up with the floor seems like a must for me and really gives you the opportunity to feel and sense all the weight and connections in your body with something else. An idea that really hit home for me in the reading was that, along with heightened sensations of touch and weight, “a student of improvisation must accept disorientation.” I also liked how this author describes contact improv as a form that “depends on communication between dancers through the sense of touch and weight.”
Along with helpful specifics in contact improv, I especially appreciated this article’s honesty in how our society views touch. Though we have discussed this as a class, it was nice to have such specific information such as how distance closer than 18 inches is only acceptable in a specific list of situations like intimacy, comfort, wrestling, etc. Also, I appreciated how the author explains that the unavoidable sexual implications that can arise in contact should be part of the dance but not the main focus of the dance. Possibly my favorite quote from the reading came from one of the author’s students who describes contact as a “nuturing kind of dance,” relating it to the relationship between parent and child, which I think is beautiful.
The imagery of a whisper, localized in different parts of the body, helped isolate the minimal muscles involved to move as efficiently as possible. For example, the urgency of the whisper in my hand infuses it with an energetic quality that the rest of the body is devoid of, making it unlikely that I would be tensing my neck muscles at the same time. The next part of the class focusing on multi directional alignment really showed me that proper alignment is not about an ideal, static position which is consciously held. I realize that sometimes when I move, I put too much emphasis and focus on the primary ‘actor’ at the expense of other body parts, often resulting in tensed, locked up positions which the only way (unless you count awkward movements) to transition out of is to reverse what I did. The dance of freedom with some helpful reminders from our classmates in the end helped me maintain the looseness and free alignment of each of the parts we explored as we moved.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major things that was bugging about contact was taking my partners weight. Today we experimented with that and perhaps I was overly obsessed about it, to the extent that I tried to get under my partner to horizontally lift them at almost every opportunity, instead of being spontaneous and doing it only when it feels appropriate. I realize as more techniques are taught for the purposes of contact, the more I think about them and try to consciously ‘practice’ them. This is getting dangerous and I have to let go of the conscious mind and try to reconnect and go with the flow again. On a brighter note, I feel that I am getting better at listening to others, I can really start to tell when a partner is disengaging and distant. Now, I just have to tone down my eager “I wanna practice my new moves” voice and act in tandem to what I can already hear.
I think an apt quote to describe this week's movement experience would be “Moving and creating are inseparable” (Description of Skinner Releasing technique, 58). With both days of movement I felt my body creating a new relationship to itself and to my surrounding environment.
ReplyDeleteOn the further Skinner exploration on Tuesday, I was most affected by the movements with the gossamer strings and by the dancing facilitated with SRT reminders from my classmates. When using the imagery of the strings my body achieved a different relationship to the ideas of pulling, both against gravity and of moving through space. From the reading, this movement experience is explained with, “this purity follows from the fact that each marionette 'has a focal point in movement, a center of gravity, and when this center is moved, the limbs follow without any additional handling” (Description of Skinner Releasing technique, 59). I found the focal point of the string on my fingers to be the most complete in getting my arms to move as if attached to a center point on one of my fingers. The strings attached to my knees where the hardest focal points because my knees where a broader focus and I kept envisioning the strings attached to a different part of my knee depending on if I were laying down, sitting or standing. Overall, however, my body felt light and fluid and movement was achieved with ease. Thinking of an attachment to strings, instead of being limiting, it was freeing. Allowing myself to be visualized as being held up by a force other than myself helped me feel more daring my movement. Instead of staying close to myself, if I wanted to move big, I had this idea that the strings would help me readjust. The idea of multiple centers of gravity was really helped for me by the exercise with the string. Even as we moved around the rooms and explored other movement, the imagery of there being a pull from different points left me more free to “surprise myself.” “The loss of orientation gives the opportunity for a fresh unconditioned response, which allows the kinesthetic principles of SRT to manifest” (Description of Skinner Releasing technique, 50). Not focusing on myself as the only center of gravity allowed me more freedom to experience a fluidity between centers and in doing so, start to explore a different connection with the limits of movement and how I could inhabit the space around me. The partner exercise was an incredible experience. I was so engaged with the movement, whether I was assisting or dancing. When I was assisting I was trying to be connected to the movement of my partners, both to gauge what kind of stimulus would be helpful and complement the suggestions my other partner was giving. I felt that all three of us were moving together and was aware that the stimulus I gave would change the movement; “... sensitivity and understanding of the principles leads them into an organic pattern of growth in which one change gives birth to another” (Description of Skinner Releasing technique, 47). I felt this interplay created an evolving dance that built off the suggestions. When I was dancing, the stimulus's provided a motivational and sensory charge that made my movement feel intentional and open. When my ribs were lifted my whole body went with it and when my arms were touched my focus expanded outward. I felt like a blob of paint that was being spread across a canvas. “The images Skinner uses do not describe anatomical truths, rather they express metaphorically and kinesthetic experience of a releasing alignment which maximizes movement potential” (Unraveling the Dance, 4). I felt the reminders served as a tool to “maximize movement potential.”
With contact improv this week, I felt I made a lot of progress in gaining comfort and response to another person's body. The beginning stacking exercise was truly wonderful feeling. I came out of being a bottom feeling extremely light but also extremely connected to my body. Rolling over my partners body and being rolled over was just so nice because it is not a movement I am generally allowed to do. The warms ups with my partner established a really nice connection that I felt was established quickly yet intimately. The exercises with yielding were very illuminating to me about my own habitual hesitations. I found it much easier to take weight than to yield it, and in some instances, I found that even when I thought I was yielding, I was still slightly holding back. Over the course of the class though, I became more and more comfortable to “...abandoning self control in favor of mutual trust and interaction” (Bull, 406). I also found it interesting the things I did not think about while moving with my partner. My hesitation was attributed to my own conception of myself as heavy, but I didn't think about if my partner was heavy or light or a woman or a man or strong or weak. I wasn't worried that they were not strong enough to hold me, I just had to become accustom to trusting them without feeling like a burden. I also wasn't thinking, at all, especially in those last 15 minutes, if what I was doing looked good or pretty. “Contact improv works with lines of force, both inside and outside the body. It strengthens the body rather than breaking it down, so it enables dancers to move at the limit of their potential. The result is someone who moves in internal and external synchrony, whatever their range, whatever their dynamic” (Ryan, 420). I was focused on the connection to the synchrony described above and to responding to my partners movement and the points of contact. I found this very freeing and engaging and was excited by what I experienced.
-Allexa Laycock
“Releasing involves the letting go of conscious control, of intellectualization and preconceived ideas and thus the Releasing process frees the imagination”
ReplyDelete(Unraveling the Dance,7).
The imagination is such a powerful tool; when utilized in movement one can do things they may have never known. Every time I dance I find out new ways of being in my body, consciously and unconsciously. SRT invites opening in areas of the body that crave liberation, a release from habitual programs of my form. It is through the imagination that I actively open areas that I did not think the mind had the capacity to open…
In class on Tuesday, I enjoyed learning and practicing the partner graphics associated with Skinner Releasing technique. Similar to the addition of skull strings, the simple suggestion to open the hips and the rib cage through the touch of a partner was effective in helping to facilitate release. Dancing in space while my partner moved around and with me offering the graphics while in movement was a beautiful practice; I felt supported, nourished, and beautiful…releasing while in motion.
“I experience therefore I dance.” –Kristy Alexander
From the contact session on Thursday, I gathered more experience. I believe the more experience we harvest in this form of movement; the more comfortable we get sharing space, movement and touch with someone else. The various exercises that we practiced like the California roll, the build up of touch, to letting our weight go on our partner as they lay on the floor and also as they positioned themselves as a table, helped me to feel more comfortable giving my weight and receiving another person’s weight. That is also one area that I know I need to continue to work at, just letting it all go when in Contact…I am aware at times that I hold back and in doing so I don’t get there, to that place of flow, when connection makes sense…I felt it at points in the session and by the end I experienced it heartier and I think the exercises really helped to get us there.
Lindsey
From the skinner releasing technique, I have learned yet again the importance of practicing with myself.
ReplyDeleteFrom contact improvisation, I am learning how truly playful it is to move with someone else! Contact is a huge process of co-evolving with someone. It is challenging for me to remain strong, I noticed, if the other person is being softer. It is a challenge for me to work with someone new, rather than someone whose body and touch is familiar. However, because we are in this shared space of wanting to be playful, experimentative, and embracing of the curious, I am challenged to let go of the expectations I have around moving. This process of softening has lead me to move in unanticipated and unique ways. We are mutually responsible, "creating a dance through collaborative interaction" (Cynthia Bull, 406).
Both of these practices are offering a lot of insight into how much I love my body, how amazing our bodies are, and how liberating each moment and gesture can be!
I am definately intrigued with Cynthia Bulls' discussion of cultural environment, and her investigation into what movements, practices, values, and behaviors from our culture come in and influence the behavior of dancers. I think however that her critique is superfiscial. In that she provides a general understanding of some things that go on, without really investigating any specifics.
She touches on the feminist organizations, leftists, and rock n roll. And, I like dance so I can "do my own thing" (408). If it was their commitment to radical politics that finally liberated the western dance space, awesome! At the same time, I'm curious about the relationship between dance and politics: how were the people in the studio involving the culture and politics of the time. How were dancers influencing activists? She offers that dance "transcends political ethos, empahsizing the shared ethos of these movements for social change" -- the student, civil rights, black liberation, antiwar, and women's (408). In the studio, is what Bulls' procalims, dancers found a way to connect and synthesize this diversity. I find that either impossible, romantic, or degrading. These movements have clear and distinct things they are fighting for, and to mumble them altogether in the studio space, would be to forget their unique histories and struggles. Additionally, who is doing the mumbling? Whose bodies are deciding that all these movement can be represented together?
Bulls' doesn't cite enough examples to really debate, and because of that, it's hard to get at what she's trying to say. I do believe however that our conceptions of politics and dance have to be worked through. The article that I read in Contact Quarterly speaks to this work.
I read "The Embodied Activist: Where Permaculture Meets the Arts, by Nala Walla" as well as Nala Walla's "Impov(e) a manuel for ecosomatic change." I gleened both of these from her webpage at http://www.bcollective.org/
The exercises provided in the manuel are specific tools to begin an investigation into how we relate with our bodies and how our bodies and the earth connect. Each box (there are six) offers short tasks to do in a group, or by ourself, to get our minds in touch with our bodies, and one another. Nala cites the intent of each exercise and in this way wraps our heads around the moment.
In the article from CQ, Nala discusses the quesitons and practices that guide her work. She identifies herself as an ecologist and as an artist; she speaks often of bridging these spaces in an attempt to create a "common ground"- a shared room where the body and the planet are heard aloud.
She offers, a focus of learning the body through the principles of permaculture. Permaculture arose when humans, around thirty years ago, were looking for some ethical ways to structure and cultivate our land-based ways.
I want to work on bringing the permaculture guidelines into my improvisation work, referencing her article for suggestions on the relationship between the body and culture, and create my own theories and practices as guides.