Working with Roberto Olivan Day 2:
If yesterday was about 'feet' (and with that thoughts on weight, balance, trust), today it is about hands as a way to enter into issues of projection of energy. Presence. We explore backs, arms, fingertips, manipulations, swings, spirals. Energy through the body, millions of points in a line (quoting Carolyn Carlson). (Aside: as he teaches he quotes other dance artists -yesterday Forsythe, today Carlson- which is not something that all artists are prepared to do.). Weight, impulse, he insists on efficiency, not adding anything to the movement. We explore putting weight on the hands..."yes it is simple, but we have to strat from the beginning"
Deconstructing the flow of energy through the body, deconstructing the planes. Projection from centre to fingertips and the path of movement that it generates. Articulating of the wrists, fingertips, letting that turn the body through space. "Where are you going?" He asks and then states "give the accent, the body will follow. Same thing with our legs, foot turns to the back, the rest follows,, like an arrow...claro adelante, claro hacia atras, ecolo, well done..." A second floor combination...
As he elaborates the combination, attention is given to the musicality of the phrase ("piano is not the same as pianissimo, a musician understands that, why not in dance?, a phrase is not just a phrase, think of the details".). Later on he stops and gives attention to spatial organisation, clarity of where the dancer is in space, he speaks of this in similar terms as Laban's kinesphere, "where I am in space, when I turn the space of organisation is with me.". He states, when I start dancing I see lines in front of me, to organise my self in space, then I can be free...Much better chicos, but don't forget pleasure, at the end this is the most important, always..."...
After a short break we switch to 'making', devising is perhaps a better word. He gives everyone a paper. In couples; one dances (for one minute) whilst the other writes, whatever comes to mind, not descriptive, like automatic writing, left side of the brain. Three cycles of dancing, writing for one minute.
Then in a circle, the writings are then read/spoken/shared. I cant help but notice the array of languages -Spanish, French, Albanian - English is the foreign tongue for all,? most? yet the one we use to speak to (OK one exception: Paul has English as 1st language) . Words: black hair, flowing around, enredadera, limpiando el piso como elefante, boing, boing, boig, bleu, thalassa, seriedad, jellyblock, kinisi, to parafiro, trapezi, ma mere...diafora, makria..kati leo, trexo gia to leoforio..."Why am I interested in this...I like that each person is like a universe..." he tells an anecdote to elucidate, about beuty, circus and a big trapeze artist, like a truck driver, and his notion of beauty, not the perfect unison of dance but sheep, his mother...which made Roberto question beauty in dance, the phrase that came out of that conversation between Roberto and the big guy became the most successful one of the show, not the dancy dancy ones.... something about the human betrayed trough dancing...again...brings me to the recurrent thought, who we are and what we become in and through dancing, not the fabrication of movement...
Next stage: he asks each to choose one phrase (singular statement, not a collage) from the writing and bring it to movement. The group will move around the room and when someone is ready they call attention, and dance for one minute, engaging with all. Roberto demonstrates to "you are so beautiful...", we are lucky, we have been given a command solo performance by him... We start, lots of walking and no dancing..."don't take forever please...take responsibility, take centre...bring us to your universe...'
If yesterday was about 'feet' (and with that thoughts on weight, balance, trust), today it is about hands as a way to enter into issues of projection of energy. Presence. We explore backs, arms, fingertips, manipulations, swings, spirals. Energy through the body, millions of points in a line (quoting Carolyn Carlson). (Aside: as he teaches he quotes other dance artists -yesterday Forsythe, today Carlson- which is not something that all artists are prepared to do.). Weight, impulse, he insists on efficiency, not adding anything to the movement. We explore putting weight on the hands..."yes it is simple, but we have to strat from the beginning"
Deconstructing the flow of energy through the body, deconstructing the planes. Projection from centre to fingertips and the path of movement that it generates. Articulating of the wrists, fingertips, letting that turn the body through space. "Where are you going?" He asks and then states "give the accent, the body will follow. Same thing with our legs, foot turns to the back, the rest follows,, like an arrow...claro adelante, claro hacia atras, ecolo, well done..." A second floor combination...
As he elaborates the combination, attention is given to the musicality of the phrase ("piano is not the same as pianissimo, a musician understands that, why not in dance?, a phrase is not just a phrase, think of the details".). Later on he stops and gives attention to spatial organisation, clarity of where the dancer is in space, he speaks of this in similar terms as Laban's kinesphere, "where I am in space, when I turn the space of organisation is with me.". He states, when I start dancing I see lines in front of me, to organise my self in space, then I can be free...Much better chicos, but don't forget pleasure, at the end this is the most important, always..."... 
After a short break we switch to 'making', devising is perhaps a better word. He gives everyone a paper. In couples; one dances (for one minute) whilst the other writes, whatever comes to mind, not descriptive, like automatic writing, left side of the brain. Three cycles of dancing, writing for one minute. 
Then in a circle, the writings are then read/spoken/shared. I cant help but notice the array of languages -Spanish, French, Albanian - English is the foreign tongue for all,? most? yet the one we use to speak to (OK one exception: Paul has English as 1st language) . Words: black hair, flowing around, enredadera, limpiando el piso como elefante, boing, boing, boig, bleu, thalassa, seriedad, jellyblock, kinisi, to parafiro, trapezi, ma mere...diafora, makria..kati leo, trexo gia to leoforio..."Why am I interested in this...I like that each person is like a universe..." he tells an anecdote to elucidate, about beuty, circus and a big trapeze artist, like a truck driver, and his notion of beauty, not the perfect unison of dance but sheep, his mother...which made Roberto question beauty in dance, the phrase that came out of that conversation between Roberto and the big guy became the most successful one of the show, not the dancy dancy ones.... something about the human betrayed trough dancing...again...brings me to the recurrent thought, who we are and what we become in and through dancing, not the fabrication of movement... 
Next stage: he asks each to choose one phrase (singular statement, not a collage) from the writing and bring it to movement. The group will move around the room and when someone is ready they call attention, and dance for one minute, engaging with all. Roberto demonstrates to "you are so beautiful...", we are lucky, we have been given a command solo performance by him... We start, lots of walking and no dancing..."don't take forever please...take responsibility, take centre...bring us to your universe...'
