Filed under: Happenings
MOVEMENT LAB: THE MOVEMENT ARTIST’S PROCESS
How do we begin the creation of a movement score? Where does the impetus to move come from? Do we conjure an image from within to inspire physical creation? Do we create from external stimulus; sound, light, a kinesthetic response?
MOVEMENT LAB is facilitated by Australian performer/director Kate Clugston to explore a movement artist’s process for creating work. Playing with internal and external stimulus we will generate images and assemble short scores. There will always be someone watching, we will feedback to each other reading what we see, informing each others experiments.
This is a workshop for highly attuned performers/creators/choreographers you must have at least three years training, high level sensory awareness, be physically fit and have the ability to articulate your work and make observations about the work of others.
Interested people please send your bio (not a list of shows, but rather an explanation of who you are as an artist, referencing your training/performances) and a statement about why you are interested in participating in the MOVEMENT LAB to k8alexandra@gmail.com.
When: February 2009- yes the date has passed. NOTES from participants and my reflections to follow soon.
Where: Source Theatre
BACK TO Summer Creative Development
Reflections on two exercises at Movement Lab
COMPOSITION FROM TEXT and reading what we see on stage
Using a table with the following columns: Tone/Image/Action/Gesture/Character/Quotes. We listed words to describe the tone of the piece, pulled out images, actions/gestures, referenced moments of character and listed actual quotes to encapsulate what the piece is about. The table would then provide raw material for a new 30 second composition.
We all noticed the task is deceptively simple as there are endless possibilities for invention. I worked with a couple of people to bounce ideas and they found their instincts were right on. I reminded them about artistic license for repetition, and to be conscious of choices available to them with regard to using the space. Everyone used the tools they knew best to make an impact with their chosen elements. Terah made a character driven piece, he engaged with us directly and rolled through some shapes punctuated by pieces of text. Courtney used abstracted gesture (head flicks, tapping fingers with precision on the body) and a single word ‘whatever’ to create a mashup of references to the text. Darrell worked on a powerful diagonal playing with distance and audience relationship, we became his scene partner as he declared his suspicion for us. Binah held a great shape at he top of her piece and made a few playful glances at us, a few of us agreed this was a playful moment which invited us in from the start, as she came toward us with the text ‘feed me’ while rolling on the ground like a creature some felt this was sinister—“does she want to eat our soul” others read this as playful… as if she was enjoying the experience of asking so much that perhaps she would not mind if she was never fed’. Gwen’s piece was linear; she played the role of storyteller and created a narrative alongside a physical journey through the space. Lily had us in a corner and performed close to us, blending literal delivery of text with contemporary dance. Anu really worked her relationship with us, she had a dynamic sense of timing and slid between the inner state and public face of the character- the piece communicated all the violence, madness and manipulation of the character only with three quotes and a few repeated actions/images and that maniacal laughter. Russ held a long stillness at the beginning for his piece, Anu was captivated looking for the moment when the performance begins for the actor and noticed Russ ‘drop in’ to the piece as he parted his lips, a subtle but clear signal. Russ worked with character, and blocked a stage path going back and forth from the chair to us – he created a particularly striking shape while biting his nail before finally going to open the door. Lily noted there is a world of possibility out that door- a world beyond the stage world- inviting curiosity from us.
MOVEMENT INSPIRED BY CLOTHING
Everyone grabbed an outfit from the bag and put it on. We had 5min of play time to find a few moments of stillness and movement phrases we liked, which we could then reference for the showing.
Showing:
We added an entrance, explored some of the material while allowing new things to happen as a result of now being with an audience and exited.
There were plenty of cues for laughter in these pieces as many performers embraced surprise with their entrance and some outfits inspired a playful sense of embracing ridiculousness in the performer.. ie Russ and his superhero/rockstar style confidence against the silliness of his red’n’black skit with suit jacket; Darrell in riding pants with police jacket performed a horse trot matched with sudden drop n roll; Gwen’s ritual placing of the shorts on head up against her hero/boxer victory arm raise was a funny reveal of the public/private life of the character. Anu’s piece was read as a study of stages of womanhood as she moved fluidly between child, sassy woman eyeing someone off, and an older/ injured/pregnant woman. Each character interacted with the clothing and was physically very different from the next. Russ, Gwen and Anu all worked with their strengths and embraced character inspired by the clothing. Lily, Courtney, Binah and Terah all worked with images which in different ways concealed their humanity, they became moving artworks of colour, shape and rhythm- exploring the limits and movements of the fabric in ways that we could almost be compared to puppetry-Lily and Terah as manipulators of fabric to create alternate beings/creatures. Courtney’s inspiration came from the ‘pirate’ cuffs of her shirt to inform a repeated wrist action. I saw a harlequin, someone else saw a chandelier.
Overall it was fascinating to see how each artist approached the tasks, coming from different training backgrounds each performer had varying attention to different elements of composition. In my facilitation I used the language of Viewpoints: tempo, duration, floor pattern, architecture, kinesthetic response, spatial relationship, repetition to talk about the choices (conscious or not) that performers made.
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