Introduction & Research Questions
Dance improvisation has always been one of my biggest fears since I restarted my dance practice as an adult, which was due mainly to the preconditions I had in my head in relation to dance. I remember joining five rhythms inspired free-dance class about six years ago, where people just floated around without any guidance for an hour. At that time, it was the most terrifying experience I ever had in dance, as I was filled with feelings of inadequacy, and feelings of boredom towards my own movement. This anxiety shifted completely once I started to become more familiar with dance improvisation cues and since I understood that all movement was ok. I took on the practice of shaking, I tried some movement improvisation classes online and later joined outdoor ecstatic dance events where I witnessed all the amazing ways in which people could move. Most of these people never had professional dance training, and still, most of them enjoyed their practice. Thus, I wondered if a regular guided movement research practice could enhance the experience of free-form dance, in what ways, and why? How would such a practice change or enhance the ways people feel about their movement, their bodies, and their relation to themselves? What sort of verbal cues could be used to guide such an exploratory movement practice?
Research & Methodology
To research this topic in practice I choose to explore these questions primarily through my own personal experience, thus I was aiming for qualitative research. I joined weekly movement research classes through the ZeroPlusz dance training program with Viki Matisz for eight weeks and I also joined Gaga movement teacher Rachael Osborne for a shorter online experience. To reflect upon the changes in my free-form ecstatic dance experience I attended ecstatic dance events once a month for four consecutive months. To record my practice, I started a diary, where I included the movement cues that I remembered from class, then I tried to replicate the process at home, focusing on embodiment and sensations. The keywords guiding my theoretical research were embodiment, connection through the senses, guided movement exploration, body Cues. My research idea was inspired by an article written by Morgan Bernat (2016) that prompted me to invest further research in embodiment, interoception, somatic practices, and guided movement improvisation and its relation to self-confidence or self-esteem. When describing esteem Bernat refers to Maslow quoting that esteem can be described as ‘feelings of self-confidence, worth, strength, capability and adequacy of being useful and necessary in the world’ (2016: 7). Bernat argues that through ‘specific forms of dance technique, esteem can be fostered and fulfilled through internal investigation and dialogue rather than through acceptance and approval from the outside world’ (2016: 8). In her article, Bernat refers to embodied movement practices such as Ohad Naharin’s Gaga movement technique. Gaga classes which are in their essence guided improvisation lessons share many similarities to the movement research classes I took on for the practical part of my independent dance research since they are both somatically informed movement practices paying attention to the internal organization of the body and to sensations. Bernat suggests that by focusing on internal sensations and by developing a deeper understanding of the body, movers have the potential to create a practice of personal intimacy and increase their self-esteem. (Bernat, 2016) Thus I furthered my theoretical research in somatic practices, the notion of embodiment, and interoception to understand more about body awareness. My practice-led research employs somatic practices including movement research, body scanning, shaking, and ecstatic dance to facilitate engagement and apprehension of notions of embodiment. As such this qualitative research is based on personal lived experience exploring themes such as leading with different body parts, connecting through the feet, exploring the body’s relationship to gravity, exploring the embodiment of emotions such as anger, sadness, and excitement, exploring contrast through stillness, the regulation of the breath, and moving through the senses. The methodological approaches are active, heuristic (enabling someone to discover or learn something for themselves), and reflective. The primary research tool is the dance itself, within that guided movement research, somatic inquiry, and free-form or ecstatic dancing. The secondary research tool is through further investigation through related literature on the topics of embodiment, interoception, sensual inquiry, and guided movement exploration cues. As a qualitative reflection of the embodied research, this essay will reveal ways in which my movement evolved and developed through written explanation and also through videos.
Embodiment and Interoception
The human body is as much part of nature as are animals, plants, and minerals. Yet, in today’s modern, so-called civilized society, humans became so conditioned to move, express, and behave in a certain, so-called civilized way that many of us lost connection with nature and with our bodies. Our bodies were made to climb, to crawl, to escape, to reach, to collect, to express, to feel the rain, the sun, and the wind, and yet, we distanced ourselves from all that. Unlike animals, today people are too much in their heads, and not enough in the body, many people worry, overthink, and want to control everything. Once we come back to the body and we bring all our attention to our dance, the mind quiets down, and life gets easier. (Halliwell, 2016) Dance and movement is both physical and spiritual nourishment, and dance can be used as an embodied spiritual practice. Shamans often prescribed dance when someone was unwell, as they believed that each disease had its roots in the spirit, and that by awakening the animal body the individual will heal. The idea is that a more embodied movement practice can help reconnect to our bodies and thus can increase a sense of wellbeing and joy. (Williamson, 2014) An embodied dance practice is an opportunity to express and release in free form movement, to take time to connect with our bodies and thus quiet our minds, to pay attention to our sensations, and to rediscover our authentic movement and all the wonderful things our bodies can do. To start an embodied movement practice one must first do a body scan by taking time to identify and observe all parts of the body from the head all the way down to the feet. This process should be accompanied by a particular form of breathing, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth, also known as diaphragmatic breathing. Moreover, it also involves attentiveness to one’s own bodily sensations and emotions without judgment. Embodied movement practices place the focus on the self and the body, it’s all about paying attention to how one feels in their body, about how one experiences themselves in the given moment, about sensations in the body, about what exactly moves the body, and the relationship between different body parts, about energy flow in and out from the body and its effect on the mind. (Halliwell, 2016) When attention is paid to specific areas in the body one can influence where the energy goes, this leads to increased awareness, more calmness, and inner strength. Sometimes energy can get stuck in the body and the first step to unlock it is by identifying and transforming that blockage through a mindful embodied movement practice. Also, embodied practices are more effective where intentions are set, for instance, flowing with the breath, breathing fully throughout, releasing emotions through the breath, releasing excess energy from the body, or finding fluidity in the body, identifying directions of movement, sensing the effect of gravity, moving from the center, responding to external factors such as music or others in space, etc. As such, embodied movement practices are also experiential, they require curiosity and open-mindedness, trust, and patience to discover step by step. (Williamson, 2014) According to psychotherapist Dr. Arielle Schwartz, ‘Embodiment is the practice of attending to your sensations. Awareness of your body serves as a guiding compass to help you feel more in charge of the course of your life. Embodiment in somatic psychology applies mindfulness and movement practices to awaken body awareness as a tool for healing.’ (Schwartz 2017) ‘How we think and feel influences how we move in the world, and how we move in the world influences how we think and feel. This bi-directional feedback loop shapes our perceptions of ourselves and the world. Our family, social, and cultural norms guide patterns of emotional expression and behavior’ (Schwartz, 2017). Thus, if how we move in the world influences how we think and feel, it is important to invest energy in practices that help increase body awareness in order to feel better. Becoming aware of every single detail of our inner and outer movement, of how our joints move in the socket, of how different body parts move in relation to each other, of how the movement of a certain body part influences the movement of another is also part of an embodied movement practice. Schwartz explains that one can also cultivate embodiment by becoming aware and reflecting on one’s sensations in the present moment. She breaks down this sensory experience into three parts. Exteroception refers to how one senses the external environment through the five sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin), as such to the sensation of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Proprioception refers to how one perceives the relation of their body as related to gravity and its positioning in space. Interoception refers to sensations in the internal body and provides feedback about the inner emotional experience’ (Schwartz, 2017). Psychologist Lynette Fisher in her article Listening to my Body: Interoception through Gaga Movement Language (2020) explains the importance of interoception, our ability to sense the internal state of the body, and how this internal state provides us information about emotions and about the state of the mind. Fisher suggests that improving perception and awareness of the internal state and functioning of our organs contributes to how well we can regulate our emotions and how we feel about ourselves. (Fisher, 2020)
These are some notes I took following the practical workshop at ZeroPlus, and based on these notes I created my own guided improvisation video tutorials.
Movement improvisation I. – Waves and Spirals
Starting on the floor, feel the weight of your hips, find freedom in the limbs by engaging from the core. Wave arms laterally on the floor, reach with toes and arms away from the centre, swing side to side, lead with the head, see what happens, where does it take you? Lead with the hips, is it different? Find a way to spiral up leading with the head. Continue in a seated position leading waves with your body, with your head, with your shoulders. Explore waves, circles, and spirals with your hands, find different ways, leading with the elbows, with the fingers, with the elbows, or even starting the movement from the shoulder. Find ways to change your position through the waves and spirals. Can waves and spirals help you find easier ways to change levels or come up to standing? Create waves in space leading with the head, come in and out from the floor, lead waves with your chest, forward, back, side to side. Add arms, create waves with the elbows, your hands, add the wrists, add ripples. Find juiciness in the hips, find depth, find ease, find ripples. Can hips initiate the change in levels? Alternate leading once with the hips, head, chest, arms, hips again, and so on. Add isolation, stop the waves, make them bigger, make them smaller, allow the waves and spirals to take you across the space. How do you stop a hip wave and turn it back? How do you stop an arm wave and turn it back? How do you stop a chest wave and turn it back? Try now leading mostly with the hips! Potential for further explorations: Add one sudden move to your wave, then add two consecutive moves to your wave, then three, and form a rhythm. Accentuate one of the moves. Change directions.
These are some notes I took following the practical workshop at ZeroPlusz, and based on these notes I created my own guided improvisation video tutorials.
Movement Improvisation II. – Toes and Balance
Start with massaging your feet, turning each toe out to open the space between the toes. Stand up after working on the first foot, and sense the difference. There is a big difference, as the one that you worked on will be more stable and grounded. Repeat the process with the second foot, then roll up to standing and notice how both are now grounded and ready to dance. Place your weight on the right inside of your sole, then left inside of each sole. Bend your knees, start changing weight from one leg to another, rock side to side, rock back and forth, change height and levels by pushing into and away from the floor. Explore circles, shapes of eight with your hips initiated by the movement of the feet. Lead from the feet. Allow the arms to join the movement, explore circles, spirals, eights, move faster, then slower. How does the movement feel standing in a wider position? Allow your shoulders and shoulder blades to join in the dance. Bring weight on one foot only and allow the other foot to come off the ground, explore space with the foot that is free. Become like an amoeba floating around in a thick liquid. Allow your arms to help you with balancing, it’s ok to fall, find the ground and then use your foot to press up again. Step out to the side, then to the front, feel the ground with your toes, groove to the music. See what happens to the rest of the body, you can bounce or change levels, press the foot against the ground to come up higher. Explore leading with the toes, with the head, with the elbow, with the tailbone. Change space on tiptoes, walk as if on a slackline, allow to fall, step out, move, push back.
Somatic practices in Guided Movement
While many dance forms require movers to look and move in a certain way perfectly copying the standard to which they must adhere, somatic dance practices emphasize sensations instead of form, they bring awareness to internal sensations, and they allow the individual exploration of one’s body. (Fisher, 2020). I noticed that the guided movement research lessons I took often involved somatic practices that prepared dancers emotionally and physically for a more aware movement practice. These practices included initial self-massage, mindful breathing exercises, grounding, and the practice of shaking out tension from the body. By practicing self-massage dancers completed a full body scan from top to toe, this served the purpose of gently preparing the body for movement, to release tension from the fascia, to increase awareness of how bones, ligaments, and muscles relate to one another and attach. Moreover, the thorough massage of the sole of the feet and the opening of the area between the toes helped to improve the dancer’s ability to ground through and stand firm on their feet. Another grounding practice was included whereas dancers in a supine position were guided step by step and body part by body part in the process of letting go, releasing fully into the ground, and melting into the ground. This supine grounding practice was accompanied by a breath awareness that encouraged movers to breathe in different parts of their bodies and to sense the feelings and the results of breathing into that certain body part. Since this practice was so focused on internal sensations and emotional responses, it is clearly a practice that helps improve interoception. A third grounding practice that also helped dancers in the process of embodiment was the shaking exercise, whereby dancers were encouraged to notice if there was any tension in the area of the body and shake it out. So we shook out the arms, our wrists, the ankles, the legs, our head, the chest. It reminded me of the practice of shaking that I have been practicing in the last year, though that practice was a bit different. It starts with the basic instruction of rhythmically micro-bending the knees without any other movement. The rest of the shaking movement in the body was just a response and a result of the knees bending. Fifteen-twenty minutes of shaking were already effective in releasing tension from the body and in improving body presence. Being fully present in the body was indeed an empowering experience, as being in the body and less in the mind is key to happiness. Slowing down to feel our bodies is a form of mindful meditation, and the ability to observe, to let go of tension, and to breathe deeply is mindful practices that increase a sense of wellbeing in the mover.
Guided Improvisation as Movement Research
The guided movement research lessons I attended at ZeroPlusz with Viki Matisz were a good example of an embodied dance practice. When entering the class participants always started with the mindful practice of connecting to their breath and scanning through their bodies. Participants were guided through various instructions, that built upon each other as the class progressed. Each individual mover was guided through the same verbal cues, however, they were free to interpret the instruction as they pleased by listening to their own sensations and needs. The concept was similar to Ohad Naharin’s Gaga classes, with the difference in the interoceptive quality of the movement ques in Gaga, such as ‘find a good taste in your mouth’, referring to the inner sensations of the body (Fisher, 2020: 21). Similarly, to Gaga classes, these movement research classes were not advertised as improvisation, although the structure of the classes was based on guided improvisation. (Fisher, 2020) ‘The layering of ideas and material is presented by the Gaga instructor as a basis for improvisation to maximize the movement possibilities within each individual dancer’ (Morgan, 2016: 24). The teacher presented movement prompts that depended on physical forms such as straight lines, or expansion, contractions, shrinking, of guiding movement through the nose, or with the elbow; and also prompts related to imagery such as becoming a cloud, or floating like a gas planet. Although cues were given regularly there was always enough time to explore, experiment, and play with different possibilities. The teacher had a large palette of approaches as to how to cue movements, some of these involved: moving with the feet stuck in one place, extending opposites, moving limbs only on one side, expanding and shrinking, floating and isolating, pushing away from the floor, melting into the floor and then coming back up again, leading with a certain body part, switching between leading with one body part or another, moving quickly while you make slow gestures, etc. I was guided to embody different dynamics, levels, and textures, and shift between. I found the most difficult was to switch between a curvy uninterrupted flow and broken isolated fast rhythmic movements. Alternating slow and fast movement simultaneously was also a challenging experience. Similarly, to Gaga, participants in these classes were free to take or ignore suggestions, as there was no need for any correction, as this movement practice served solely as a personal movement workshop with the goal to explore the body individually. (Quinlan, 2017)
Compared to the movement research classes I participated in I found that Gaga movement language used a slightly richer vocabulary that seemed a bit more poetic and more nuanced. In her article, dance scholar Lynette Fisher mentions some of the cues mentioned in Gaga movement practice. These involve ‘movement prompts and suggestions that depend on sensations (i.e., taste something good) and imagery (i.e., imagine balls of energy running through the highways of your body) as well as physical forms (i.e., extend your bones into space and make straight lines with your body, as if the bones are breaking through the skin because of the energy of their reach) for the students to explore in their bodies’(Quinlan, 2016). Verbal directions such as “pull your bones away from your flesh,” “quake,” “have a thick sensation,” “connect effort into pleasure,” or “discover traveling stuff inside your body” evoke particular movement tendencies or nuances’ (Saumaa, 2017: 407).
Personal Reflection
I took part in a total of eight classes with Viki Matisz at ZeroPlusz. Each was different focusing on a different topic, on a different area of the body, or on a different approach to movement, I realized during these lessons, that for me, not moving was difficult, as I always had the urge to move when improvising. Looking back at my practice and the video recordings, however, sometimes the most interesting actions come from a place of stillness. Thus for, me, not moving, and being still more often would be a piece of advice to consider. This discovery was also important because it highlighted my continuous urge to please and perform thus satisfying the inner critic that never lets me rest. The few times I opened my eyes I noticed that some people were just sitting or being still, and that was ok. I also understood the importance of starting movement exploration lying on the ground. Relaxing the muscles, releasing into the floor, bringing more awareness to gravity and to my center while lying on the floor gave me a sense of security. Being guided in the exploration from time to time gave me direction and kept my mind in class and on the movement. Even though I did not always fully understand instructions, it helped keep my presence and built a sense of trust. The different stages of the movement exploration were built up gradually, whereas different qualities and movement accumulated by the end of the class-leading the movers into full ecstasy.
Conclusion
My experience of participating in these guided movement research classes enhanced my experience of free-form dance in many ways. Through the different somatic practices, that I mentioned earlier I reconnected to my body and to my senses. Becoming more grounded in my movement practice helped me move with confidence and ease. Becoming more aware of the relationship between breath and tension helped me slow down and explore movement without rushing through. Through the various movement cues, I discovered new pathways of movement, I deepened my understanding of the continuity in my body and how moving one body part affects the body as a whole. I discovered the causes and effects of initiating and leading movement with different body parts, I explored different qualities of movement, and I also explored how inner sensations and emotions can affect the quality of my movement. The more research I did, the more I enjoyed my monthly ecstatic dance experience. I felt that every time I reconnected to my body I became more settled, balanced, and joyful. There was so much to focus on during these guided improvisation lessons that my mind was fully focused on the task at hand, thus by the end of the classes my mind was fresh and calm. Experiencing myself at the moment strengthened my sense of self and helped me become a bit more aware of my movement and of my emotional state. Listening more to my body's needs and to my internal sensations, this movement practice helped me develop more empathy towards myself. I became more accepting of what my body can do, which helped me become more patient and joyful in my process of movement discovery. Both practices of guided movement research and ecstatic dance brought back the element of play in my life. I became more curious, more playful, more open to trying different things. As such I conclude that somatically based guided movement improvisation practices can increase self-esteem, and thus they can be truly empowering to the individual.
Bibliography
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