Did I wake up the city?

How did I activate my enquiry?

Did I wake up the city?

Waking up the Sleepwalking City

My question and my practice.

The work incorporated various forms of improvisational scores, which enabled the dancers to move through the space in response to their sensory relationship the surroundings; inviting the spectator or passers-by to make decisions about their journey, in turn, potentially transforming the space into a place for them as they view the site differently.

The title emerged after reading Walter Benjamin’s (1985) discussions around how the beauty of the past has been reproduced into a commodity within the city, leaving the ‘urbans' (city inhabitants) to live in a dream world. Due misplaced and reproduced desires and dreams through advertising, the ‘urbans’ are unable to create a connection to the city rendering it a space where their decisions and relationships to the surroundings are predetermined and their dreams oppressed.

To me, the concept of the sleepwalk was the idea that the ‘urbans’ are machines that follow a strict status quo, which decides our desires, but also the way we walk around the city, and subsequently, the way we view the city. So, for me this work was about altering this view of the city and an attempt to break away from the status quo, and invite my spectators and passersby to also breakaway. Potentially, turning the space outside Tate Modern, into a place, whereby each person would build an individual connection to, rather seeing the area as a pathway to another space.

I performed the work at 4 times different times:

The evening/weekend rush hour: 18.45 Friday 22^nd June 

The weekend: 14.30 Sunday 24^th June

The weekday night time: 21.30 Monday 25^th June

The weekday morning rush hour: 08.45 Wednesday 27^th June

The reasoning for the various times was that I wanted to present my work to different crowds and also see how the reactions of the passers-by vary at different times of a working week.

Now, how do I measure the successfulness of ‘Waking up the Sleepwalking City’?

How did I want people to ‘wake up’?

The work was an experiment; therefore, I did not want to expect any particular responses. However, the piece invited the audience to take new routes around the space, see structures an architecture differently, notice things in the surrounding skyline they either have never noticed or previously ignored. Therefore, I was more interested to see whether the spectators, and more importantly, the passersby responded to these invites and if so, how they chose to respond... This linked to the performances being at different times within the week, as I was intrigued to see how willing people were to interact when they were going to and from work...

Now measuring this response, I did not want to ask questions as I was aware of the performativity of this, especially if they are approached by the creator of the piece. Therefore, during the pieces I chose to watch, take photos and record conversations during the performance. However, I did also take on board some comments from spectators, colleagues and friends.

The passersby are the people my piece was originally created for, the people that walk past that space everyday and potentially ignore the beauties it has to offer all of one’s senses. Therefore, originally the spectators were more for creating a scene, to lure in the passersby, however, they may also be someone who knows this area very well and is ‘asleep’ to it, or could take this concept to somewhere they do know very well.

What I felt was successful was inviting the public to see or experience things in a new light. Especially the section under Millennium Bridge, which caused a lot of people to stop all around the site to look at it from different views, and the spectators often moved around the site to experience it further.

In conversation a few notes were “it was like an urban climbing frame, it made me wanna be a climber or do some free running” (James Booth, 2012)

“made me look at the metal structure, the colours made it stand out and I wanted to join in” (Phoebe Brown, 2012)

“it was a piece of structure that nobody usually pays attention to, and suddenly it was really a important focal point” (Sinead Krebs)

The moments when the dancers were responsive to something that all the spectators and passersby could hear during the flock, was another successful moment that saw a connection between the dancer and public. Monday night was quiet and therefore sounds were very loud, there were two prominent moments, when the St. Paul’s Cathedral struck 10pm, and when there was a piano being played. The dancers all began to improvise to those sounds, prompting the spectators and passersby to stop, laugh and see this connection to sound.

The flocking itself took on different terrains as the dancers moved through the space, and the spectators mostly, but also the passersby followed, taking individual angles on the event, being an individual within a collective.

The moment when the dancers guided the spectators to the bridge was another successful moment as they interrupted their movements and invited them to look at specific sights, it was obvious but really made people direct their gaze across something new to them. One spectator swung on a bollard after a dancer did, which showed they took the invite to experience things differently:

The moments of pause worked well to invite the spectator to have a moment to see that area in a new light.

The moments on the bench, which forced the sitting people to become part of the piece, was really exciting, as the spectators began to see that bench as something different, and experience it as something exciting.

However, there was still a mentality for the spectators to group together around the dancers, so when they separated and took an individual root, I saw a moment of understanding from them.
There were also people who completely ignored the dancers to continue on their everyday, cycling past or not even turning a head, what would I have to do to wake them up?
I felt that the moment where the dancers interacted with the public sparked a connection between them, creating an interruption in their day or their usual way of viewing. Otherwise, there were parts that were alienating and personal for the dancers, leaving the spectators to just watch them.

Questions that have arisen just from writing this:

Would longer stillness have given the spectators more of a chance to survey the area?

Are people still experiencing the view and senses differently during a performance?

Are people likely to ignore the piece because art is expected around the Tate?

However, there was a distinction between each day, showing a very different willingness of passersby on Sunday than on Wednesday morning. So, possibly, people are tired and do not want to wake up, just to have to go sit in an office all day....

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

There was also a desire to capture the performance through a camera, many people stopping only to take a picture, many people following the piece behind the lens of a camera. Is this something that cannot be ignored? Should I take this a compliment that people want to archive my performance as part of their day? Or should I take this as a failure as people did not experience the piece through their body but through a camera?

So I seem to have created more questions than answers, however, what I have is a lot of data, a lot of information to help me understand what happened outside the Tate Modern during 22-27^th June 2012.

M.J.B

The practice within the practice...

I began to question the practice behind my work back in May when I discussed whether the piece would be more successful, in regards to my area of enquiry, as improvisation or choreography.

I felt it was important to include with the motifs that the dancer’s and I created along the way, as it was our trace to that space, which turned it into a place for us. However, in regards to the question of ‘Waking up the Sleepwalking City’, I felt improvisation was important as I needed the dancers to be continually responsive to the surroundings to present an ‘awake’ attitude to the city.

As the rehearsals progressed, I began to merge the two concepts of improvisation and choreography together within a structured score. I entwined moments of open scores and closed scores, alongside choreography and speech. I will run you through the piece using pictures to show how each section was included in this.

The beginning section, where two dancers were on the bridge and two dancers with the spectators outside the TATE, was quite an open score: the dancers were told 5 minutes before the piece an object in the surroundings which they all had to improvise in response to and during that they had to find 4 moments of pause:

T

The section following, with two dancers using script on the bench, was a closed improvisation, as the script was set and they were using gestural movement to accompany that. However, the two dancers that sat at the opposite side of the bench, where using exaggerated gestural movements in response to the spoken answers, and this was slightly more open:

The dancers then guided the spectators towards the bridge, this was an open score, as their direction was set, but they were improvising with the spectators, pointing and inviting them to look around the site.

The bridge section was set; this is for safety reasons and possible weather restrictions. However, before it was set, as discussed in my post “The bustling Body in the City” (Monday 11th June), the piece was created out of a childlike excitement to climb and explore.

For the flocking, the route in which they travelled round the space was the only part that was set, whereby they had to find a moment of stillness in 4 different locations.

For the choreographed section which followed, the dancers picked a different spot for each performance, and performed the sequence; however, they chose their own dynamics and spacing, in order to accompany their responses to the environment.

The section which included the dancers being attached at the arm, was quite an open score, they had been given different answers to the questionnaires, and learnt the responses, and this section was about them having a task, Alice – to get Chloe to stop, and Chloe - to get Alice to move, and they could use any of their learnt script and any movement to do so.

The final choreography was set, however, it was never taught to counts, but rather they were working as a group and as individuals to accompany each other, but also change the dynamics as individuals:

The choreographed sequence made me question the use of traces in the work. Originally, they were used to show the dancers’ connection in that place through a process of movement. However, then who is the piece for? The spectators potentially would just see choreography...

It led me to think whether instead of creating a piece that wakes up the passersby, have I, instead created an improvisational way of working in different sites, which invites the dancer to open up their movement possibilities? The process for me was very rigorous, as each rehearsal was outside, which saw a clear development in each dancer from each of them using their technique training to respond to the surroundings, to them using their bodies to explore differing and more interesting movement opportunities...

However, I think there were successful moments in the piece, which did invite the spectator/passersby to become more awake. Therefore, could that be an outcome of the dancers’ movements being more open and less insular? Could the piece have been an exercise for the dancer which as an result connected with the public?

Something I understood from my preliminary project on this topic, performed on London Bridge in March, (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77909775@N02/sets/72157629211328350/) was that many of the passersby found the flocking very alienating. Therefore, I have been working to make sure the dancers could invite and set up a dialogue with the passersby, in order to invite them to experience their surroundings, which did become successful at certain points (which I will go on to discuss in my next blog).

For me, as a practitioner within the practice, I didn’t choreograph a piece of work and teach it to a group of dancers, I facilitated and taught improvisational techniques in order to further a dancer’s movement potential. So, the practice was movement, using improvisation devices. The practitioner: I developed from experimenting to creating a approach of working with improvisation and site.

Working with voice and character

A part of the work included some verbatim I’d taken from a questionnaire I’d sent out a few months ago with the following questions:

What did you think about today on your way to work?

What do you look at when travelling to and from work?

What do you hear or listen to when on your way to work?

What do you think about the sounds of London?

How would you describe London to you, for example, is it your home/working place/where you live?

How often do you stop when travelling around London?

I sent the questionnaire round to people, who worked 9-5, it was important to me that I received answers from the people who would make up a majority of the passersby during my piece. I speak about Waking up the Sleepwalking City, but to do so, I need to understand the politics on the body. This is something I’ve spoken about in my previous blogs, every day we walk along socially constructed routes via socially constructed ways of walking which affect what we see, creating this herd like nature of people in the city. My work is to invite people to resist the status quo which renders us asleep, but instead act out our desires, and be an individual within the collective, even if it is momentarily.

So to understand the asleep city, I sent round the questionnaire, asking about the use of sight and sounds in the everyday, to see how narrowed the everyday city inhabitant’s relationship is to the city due to these restrictions put onto our bodies. Many answers for the first question “What did you think about today on your way to work?” revolved around work, which is something inevitable. Everyone has to go to work to earn a wage, to live, which is the reason behind the nature of the ‘sleepwalk’; it is not necessarily a choice, but a consequence of this Capitalist lifestyle. I need to be aware of this, and how this affects the everyday body and its relationship to the surroundings. I want to speak to these people, take their words and use them in a way that creates a dialogue with the asleep, inviting them to momentarily relate to the surroundings, not as a hindrance, but rather as a way to brighten their day, become that individual, rather than another sheep in the herd.

The answers for “What do you look at when travelling to and from work?” were mainly directed at people and roads, and sights that were on the same level as one’s eyes, rather than directed towards the sky or ground. However, there were answers that related to nature and ‘lingering’ on sights, however, this was often then contrasted by the fact that the people did so through the lens of a camera. Unlike my dancers, who have learnt how they see, and really been able to pick parts of the landscape to connect to. The sounds of London were described as ‘noisy’, used as a derogatory word, many people suggesting they cover it up with their own music. I was very interested to see how people related to London, as a home or as a place of work, there was quite an equal divide between people who saw it was a home and people who saw it as a place they live/for work. For me, this shows the extent of the sleepwalking city, and how much work has drowned ones desires into a machine for work. The answers to “How often do you stop when travelling around London?” reiterated this, as many people stated how they only stopped when they were forced to, and similar to the sights, when they did stop, it was through the lens of a camera in order to take a photo.

I divided the answers into ‘Awake’ and ‘Asleep’ answers, as I wanted to contrast the responses and invite the spectator/passersby to relate to the answers, as well as seeing the other point of view, possibly to see what they are missing. I don’t think people are metaphorically asleep because they choose to be, but instead, we all a mixture of the two, but in most circumstances the ‘asleep’ has proceeded due to the power of rules in our society to act a certain way.

I created two characters which spoke the verbatim, Alice, took on the ‘awake’ responses and Chloe assumed the “asleep” answers. This meant that Alice’s answers included connections to the city, via stopping, looking and enjoying what London has to offer, and Chloe’s character used the questionnaire responses that were based around work and rushing.

We started off by experimenting with the script abstracted and in sentences, in order to create a relationship between the two characters and their scripts. We improvised with moving in the corresponding ways. So, Alice, who took on the ‘awake’ responses, was experimenting with contrasting pedestrian movements and eye lines whilst saying the words. Whereas, Chloe, explored with dissecting and understanding pedestrian movement whilst saying her words; this is when the contrast really came out of the words. Chloe began to speed up a lot of her words, and used breath a lot, and Alice was really slow and sweetly spoken.

I then minimised this, so they just saw and responded with script to me asking them the questionnaire? They then took all this energy and understanding from experimenting into smaller gestures and becoming a slightly exaggerated version of that character, awake or asleep. For the piece, I took away me asking the questions, but instead they looked at the passersby/spectators and responded to them as if they were asking them a question, in order to really build a connection between the performers and watchers.

The words were revisited later on in the piece with the two dancers being attached and conversing with each other, this was to represent one person but the direct pull between two states of being, one wanting to stop and appreciate, and the other in a rush. This became the hardest to accomplish, because the dancers were working with each other rather than against, it became exciting when they were really pulling from each other and creating images that saw this passion.

The voice outside became problematic; because I was not working with people who were vocally trained or actors it meant that their voices often became lost under the hustle of London, rather than being an accompaniment. We worked with Experience Bryon who did a workshop around her techniques using the 3-part breath; this enables one to take the voice along the top of the mouth to gain a better tone. Using the phrase ‘project’ lead to Alice and Chloe shouting which meant there voices didn’t carry and the words sounded angry, however what the Bryon’s vocal technique did was to carry their voices into the space. It was a bit too late on in the process for them to become experts with Bryon’s tone technique, however what we all took away was the 3-part breath which was really useful as it also helped calm them before they spoke and gave them a longer breath, meaning that they didn’t rush their words.

 

M.J.B

Dancing in the Rain: The Duet.

So, I wrote a post about how we’ve had to do a few rehearsals in the rain, however, in fear of jinxing rain for the performance I never published it. So, I’ve decided to edit it and post it, now the performances are over and there was no rain.

Due to the British summer including rain and my decision to do ALL rehearsals outside we ran into a few rainy rehearsals. Over the jubilee weekend, we had to move a rehearsal to Primrose Hill, and this was a perfect opportunity to re-unite the dancers with a clear contrast of nature and the industrial as the hill is surrounded by roads and set on a backdrop of the city sky rises.

What I have experienced previously in myself and also in my dancers (a few months ago), is that when we improvise in the rain, the dancing becomes insular and stuck within a comfort zone.

Here the dancers were using contact to experiment with
the terrain by using weight, touch and direction.

 However, we continued working with motif development and the dancers were responding to the weather, as a sound, feeling and with sight via the landscape, which saw a development in their motifs, which became really responsive. They were pushing their bodies to really understand how they wanted to use movement to relate to the rain, and rather than going into their comfort zones, I saw them really engaging with the change of the environment. The movements for sight, sound and feelings would be completely different, which saw a step away from a particular technique, and instead they were using the bodies to create a dialogue with the surroundings.  This is a big change from when we had encountered rain before, whereby they would become rather self-indulgent with their movements, reverting back to using their dance training and creating movement that was a dance style rather than a response.

We starting working with duets in the rain, this was the next the steps, as not only did the dancers have to be responsive to the surroundings; they had to also be aware of the other dancer. This is simpler when there are obvious things to respond to, so for example if there is a sudden loud noise, both dancers will hear that and start moving in reaction to that sound, which they had started already doing when flocking as a group.

Here the dancers were using touch to
experiment with the trees buy in an
individual way.

We started off by just experimenting with different ways of improvising as a duet, using contact, levels, repetition, and working by imitating each other and in contrast to each other, this then created an understanding of how each other moves. I found they were still being responsive to their senses, however, sometimes this got lost when they were watching the other dancer intently. The next level came when I asked them to respond as an individual and as a duet, so they started off with contact improvisation and sight, where one dancer would direct their eye towards something and together they would respond to that sight. This worked really well, as the dancers’ eyes were open and engaged, which meant the spectator could also take notice of their direction.

Working with ideas of Lisa Nelson, I introduced Tuning Scores to add another dimension to how a duet could work. During the Tuning Scores, one of the rules includes one of the dancers (A) improvising with an object and the other dancer (B) watching and when the leader calls PAUSE, B moves dancer A in order to create a new relationship with that object; it could include changing the level, or location of the dancer or the dynamic in which s/he is moving.

This really worked as the dancers began to watch each other and see how that could adapt their relationship to an object or sense. This really developed the group flocking; as the gelled more as a group the flock was really responsive and alert. The group would be constantly changing as they would respond as a group to loud noises or a change in terrain (e.g when they would move from gravel to grass), but then they would also bounce off of each other’s movements. This meant the audience were seeing an awake group of dancers constantly responding to different things with different changes in their bodies. With the imrpovisation came the openness of the dancers to the surroundings and each other, as they were being an individual within a group ensemble, hopefully inviting the spectators and passersby to do so too....... 

I was confident that the piece wouldn't see the dancing drowned by the rain, but they would use that as another aspect to dance with. 

The Red Balloon and The Book of Symbols

In a discussion with my lecturer, as I vibrantly spoke about how the curiosity of children has inspired my piece, I brought up how I would like to use balloons in my piece as a trace. I have previously discussed traces as in relation to a section of choreography in my piece that is made up of motifs that trace our perceptual journey within the process of "Waking up the Sleepwalking City". I wanted there to be trace of the areas the dancers performed in, so that when they left, the spectators glanced upon that space differently and the passerby’s looked at something they would have usually ignored.

But why a balloon I was asked? I wanted something that was not industrial or usually around, and something that spoke to the inner child. I want to invite the spectator to be more inquisitive to their surroundings and re-experience or more deeply experience a moment through all the senses, like a child. Now, a balloon is something that screams childhood, through memories of parties and celebration, but also through the fact they defy gravity and aren’t bogged down by restrictions like we are on a daily basis.

I was told to look at The Red Balloon, 1956, directed by Albert Lamorisse. 


The film follows round a little boy and his red balloon which takes him on an adventure around Paris.

The little boy allows this balloon to captivate him as he follows its rhythm, movement and colour illuminate the streets of Paris. The balloon, like my dancers interrupts the everyday adult, with something bright, beautiful and innocent. As a viewer, we are also taken on a journey, viewing the city in a new light from a new perspective, but also seeing the adults’ bewilderment at this balloon. Are we too conditioned in our perceptions that we have no time for ‘childish behaviour’... and on that note, why is ‘childish behaviour’ a derogatory term...

The freedom of the boy is stunning; he lets the balloon guide him as his body seems to be flying rather than running alongside it.

(The Red Balloon is on youtube for FREE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQhvgo62l74)

In my piece, the balloon is probably better as a device to invite the audience to the idea of my piece; to speak to the child in them. So rather than be dotted round the space, I decided to begin the piece with the dancers running along Millennium bridge with the balloons and then letting them go, like the boy did, showing the spectators the freedom my dancers are portraying.

Now obviously, the next question was: What colour do I have my balloon? And with this, what colour do I want my dancers’ costume. Again, costume was going to be a devise, but for directing the spectators, and passerby to the performers as they move in and out of people in that space.

I knew I wanted something to stand out from the blues, greens and grey’s that are very prominent in the landscape. The colours that drew to my mind where red, orange and purple.

I used The Book of Symbols: The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images by The Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism), 2010, Taschen.

Red is discussed as relating to life and energy, because in primitive thinking blood symbolised vivacity and living. However, in current society I think blood has come to bring connotations of death and violence, and instead of energetic it becomes more of an angry colour, used for stop signs and connecting to sexuality.  

Another colour I thought of was purple, because it would stand out from the view but also complement it as blue is a prominent part of its composition. However, the book talks about how it relates to ideas of death, as it is used for “appeasing and honouring the dead” (654). Also, it has regal and royal associations, used for relating to luxury, where as my piece is about seeing the beauty in nature, not in material things.

Now, orange was another idea I had because it suggests ideas of energy, which The Book of Symbols states is because it emerges from the colour red. Now, orange also symbolises ideas of warning, like red, shown in the jumpsuits warn my convicts in American prisons. Which in my piece could be connected to how the dancers interrupt the everyday passers-by by veering from the restrictions of the body in space.

However, it’s connection to the sun, “Orange colors the ascent [and] descent...of the sun...and the coagulating intensity of desire” (642), relates to the beauty and life of the everyday returning. The use of desire really connects to ideas of my piece because I am inviting the audience to live out, rather than ignore, their desires and wake up from the trance that the status quo has imbued on them.

M.J.B

The bustling body in the still city

I've been thinking about the contrast between stillness and movement, especially in the everyday. We walk around the city so fast, potentially ignoring everything we pass, these buildings, trees, stand so still, so beautiful and are just ignored. How can I invite my spectators and the everyday passersby to stop and look at the stillness of the city? I find my eyes are drawn to the juxtaposition of still people within the flow of human traffic. I enjoy the moment when a person stops because s/he dropped something, or when someone has realised they've gone the wrong way, and how these moments break up the herds of people. These moments of serendipity, that shake the crowd causing them to wake up, ask people to make an individual decision, rather than moving with the crowd. Often these moments results in anger because the person is woken from their trance... However, the same moment occurs during a flash mob - just on a grander scale – when a journey is unexpectedly interrupted. Just, in the instance of a flash mob, the dance/music is related to with excitement, leaving a smile on people’s faces. 

Now, how can I merge these ideas together, interrupting the everyday with a stillness that shocks and asks the passersby and spectators to look at everyday stillness in the city...? Now I came across ‘Bodies in Urban Spaces’ by Willi Dorner 

This work takes the everyday object that is normally ignored and invites one to take a look, seeing that object in a new way. 

When we see a body do something out of the ordinary our bodies connect to that body, imagining how that would feel, therefore really zoning into the senses, especially the tactile sense, as we relate to the attributes of that object.This reminds me of Trisha Brown's work where she takes ordinary places in the city through dance invites us to re-look and re-discover those places.

I'm really intrigued with the idea that the city dissolves our desires by forcing us to walk a certain way via certain routes. However, many of us think about climbing trees or going against the status quo, and 'Bodies in Urban Spaces' lives out these desires.

In my work I have been working with the Millennium Bridge and it's unusual structure to invite the spectator to see the bridge in a new way, maybe as a climbing frame, or just to take a look at something they normally ignore...


I will also be using stillness to interrupt the flow of movement. My dancers will be creating still structures that are improvised, as a response to the surroundings. They will be stood in the middle of rush hour/weekend herds of people, disrupting the flow of people, inviting them to take a look, or just to stop for a moment to change direction, waking them up.

For the spectators this will be one of many changes of direction, allowing them to see the contrast in our everyday and see how it relates to the whole of the city view and sound scape.
M.J.B

Picture: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2009/jun/21/bodies-urban-spaces

Senses on Site

The work has become more and more about the momentary reaction when the space becomes a place for the performers, the passersby and the spectators. “Calling spectators attention to the neglected minutiae of everyday” 
(Siegel, 2007: 2)

For the performers, we have worked with different places in London to see how their bodies change and react to the environment which normally they would ignore; these motifs they each created have been used in the choreography within the work.

These motifs gave an insight into how each individual relates to sights, listens and experiences in very differing ways. From Primrose Hill, to the Tate, to Liverpool Street, I have notice each of my dancers’ relationship to the city.

Working with the way we see:

Alice creates motifs that are inspired by the distance landscape; she sees the whole and the objects that are far away. Her motifs have been inspired by this as she is very open and vast with her movement. This is Alices motif of the bridge in the distance, she described how she wanted to feel the vast and strong nature of the construction:

Sarah looks at the layers of the sights, she picks up on shapes and how they fit together and on top of each other. Her movement leads into motifs that abstract and quite angular. Below is Sarah amidst a transitionary motif which explores the view of 3 bridges stacked up in her view: 

Michelle, who recently had to leave the process due to study commitments, was very individual with the way she worked as well. Her movement was directed towards objects and sights that were immediately in front of her, this meant that she created positions that were am personification of the object. As you can see in this picture below, Michelle was attempting to become the life ring:

Chloe, who is a new addition to the process, created motifs that were rather inquisitive; she looked for sights that were hidden or not something you would usually glance upon. This changed her whole body as a response to the motifs.

As I made motifs, I seemed to go for sights that moved, for example the birds, the trees, which influenced my movement with flowlier, circular based motifs.

This was also apparent when we moved in response to the aural sense: Sarah moved to the rhythms of the city, I found myself directing my movement towards the origin of the sound, Alice created a duet with the sounds and Chloe again heard sounds that were not as noticeable.

I have also noticed how the senses go beyond just the five we immediately think of (sight, aural, tactile, aromas-taste&smell), but rather it can relate to temperature, or pressure. As all rehearsals are on site, I have been able to see the change in movement when it is cold and dark to when it is bright and sunny. The movement is far more explorative and open from all the dancers when the weather is warm, which in turn will affect the spectators and passersbys reactions...

This immediately affected my work, because if 5 people experience differently, I began to think about the passersby and spectators, and how they are likely to see in individual ways too. My work is supposed to invite people to stop and realise or just experience how this space appears to them, in order to make it a place for them – however this would be difficult if I presented the space through MY response to it.

Therefore, I wanted to make sure that the work was accessible and experimented through different avenues of movement. I decided to incorporate the motifs that the dancers and I have created around London into the work, because not only does it respond to the senses in different ways, it also relates to the idea of the transformation of a space to a place. The motifs have seen an alteration in the way my dancers move, they have began to move through an organic response to the environment rather than through their skill set within dance. Through doing so, they have created individual relationships to that space, thus turning it into their place.

The idea an authentic movement resonates with my work, as it asks of the individual to relate to the sight through their unconscious desires, instead of socially constructed ways of seeing. So, for example, we walk to work using our bodies along the frontal plane, via routes that are directed to us, allowing our experiences to be limited. 

Now, authentic movement allows us to create an individual connection to that space; Pallaro discusses how, through experimentation with movement, one can create a dynamic relationship to an object or space in my instance, creating a “sense of congruence with self and other” (Pallaro, 155). Therefore, this authentic response to movement can create an individual relationship to the environment for the dancers.

Now, for the passersby and audience, the movement is going to be placed in different areas around the site, asking them to step out of their everyday patterns of movement to have individual choice over how they want to relate to it.

Do they want to stand close to the movement, do they want to step back and see the work within the backdrop of the city?

Through improvisation, will the spectators, relate, and in doing so, move towards the movement that connects to the way they relate to things? E.g if a dancer is improvising around something directly in front of them, will someone who sees similarly move towards this dancer?

Bibliography

Siegel, M. B (2007) Dancing on the Outside. The Hudson Review, [online] LX (1) Available at: http://www.hudsonreview.com/siegelSp07.pdf [Last Accessed: 01-05-11]
Pallaro, P (2007) Authentic Movement, Volume 2: Moving the Body, Moving the Self, Being Moved: A Collection of Essays. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.