A Walk in the Forest...Casually and Neutrally

Hello Shoppers.

Today's date: 13/10/2011

Janusz

Basically, we did the Feldenkrais thing and rolled our head, pelvis, eyes, and tongues up and down and left and right opposite from other parts of our body. This is to notice how each part of our bodies react to the movements of other parts and how to keep them relaxed and available for discovery at the same time.

One must relax and be casual, especially while walking in a small square of space while alternately touching someone and saying someone else's name. Noted.

Then, let's play corners, but the person in the center must sing a song. I think the idea was to keep yourself relaxed but focused while in the center.

Improv

React, don't analyze.

First, let's play the Ball Game, where someone's in the center throwing a ball to someone in the circle around them in rhythm. However, let's add an extra level so that someone new can take the place of the person in the center when they say "go."

Then, sit down with a partner and say "yes" and "no" and "maybe" and "down in the cellar" and "up on the roof" and "green" and "yellow" and "me" and "naturally". It's different when facing each other, now isn't it?

Then, how about we do the recognition exercise, yes? Yes. Be open and available to react genuinely.

THOUGHT: Perhaps neutrality is just acting (not reacting). It is acting upon objects and discoveries, but not letting them affect you. Thoughts?

Now, on the masks.

Mask

Wake up in the forest. It's like you're an animal. The purpose is just to move around the forest. Like a deer. A deer does not struggle to move around in the forest, it just moves around, because that's natural for it. This is what the metaphysical/neutral mask demands: being natural and aware. Efficiency of movement.

Now, walk through a forest for a little while, then notice a beach, then run to the beach, then notice a rock, then throw the rock, then watch it land in the water. RELAX!!!! BREATHE!!!!

Be aware and serve the mask. Serve the center. It's not about you, dude. It's about the mask, or about the story, or about the action, or about the atmosphere, or about the environment. It depends on the medium of performance, you see.

There are thoughts by David Roby for today. Thank you, and tune in next time.

David of Roby

Chairs and Birds

Acrobatics:

This day we practised the ”chair” – one person lying down, holding the other on the feed while supporting with the hands.

We also made the ”bird” where one person on the floor lifts the other up on the feet. Important things to remember is the tempo in the lift..

Other new things was the handstand. Starting with jumping up, clapping the feet together, afterwards the handstand with spotter.

The spotter is VERY important in pair acrobatics.

Janusz:

Exercises on the floor:

Lying on the floor with legs up.

New things:

At first imaging to turn the head from side to side while moving the legs from up and down in the ”pelvis-manner”.

After that actually turning the head from side to side while moving the legs up and down. Now come into standing position and feel how the body feels.

Two-person exercises:

1)

Moving together standing in front of each other. Feeling each others weight and slowly pushing each other while still holding the arms in the same position. The hands can move. Change partner at least a couple of times.

2)

One person is lying on the floor with legs up. The other person sitting in front of the legs, then begins to slowly move one leg up and down, while holding on to the knee. Start with moving it up and down about then times with each leg.

After that take to legs at the time. Moving them together to both sides, and a part at the same time. Make it without any pattern for the person lying down to feel the movements not possible to presuppose. After that the person who was lying down

3)

Telling a story together with your body.

The group are standing in a circle. One persons starts with a movement. It should indicate some action and/or feeling without using any face-expressions. The next person in the circle then continues the story. Think about following up on the story while also adding a new aspect or something unpredictable, where there is a new opening to the story. The next person follows up and so it continues in the circle. To follow up on the story you can also choose to make a new chapter, the movements should be inspired from each other, but with a new chapter they can change.

The day we rolled a lot

Ole's class

Acrobatics

This day we were starting acro like always with roling back and forth, then practise the shoulderstand.

We practised the stomach-one with walking into the others stomach. We practised the roles with stretched legs, then grab your legs and come all the way up. This role we comebined with the positing of grabbing your partners lower legs part and the back side and then roling into it like you would begin another role.

In the end of the class we practised jumbing around starting with sitting like a frog with both your hands turned up in front of you, and then turning the whole way around while you let the focus of your eyes be at a fix point in front of you all the time.

ending up with pair stretching. eg. have your legs in front of you, the partner pushes on your back. and legs out to the side, your partner pushes your legs further out while holding your arms.

Janusz' class

Exercises on the floor with the pelvis. Some of that we have done before. This time introducing the shoulders more. And the arms. some part of it contained roling the legs around in cirkles while you have your arms bended and they go the other way around, while meeting each others at the stomach area. When explained it is like: "ben your legs up in front of you and then move your amrs around and see how they can move together."

After this movement we were asked to getting up into standing position and back down on the floor again. I found that the previous exercise made the body go into a pace which made playful to get up standing.

Janusz' comment was something like" Give your nervesystem time to react to the changes that has occured to it."

After this we were dancing together in pairs. It was about letting yourself become inspired from the other person. The exercise starts with changing between who is moving. Let your body lead and follow the impulses. After the previous exercise we were moving very freely. At first the partner is just observing the movements of the other person and you change the dancing role after some time. You later extend it to dance at the same time and enduring influence each others' movements. After a while you change partner, which continued with about 4 different partners. The experiences from this exercise was for example that when we see other people move we get inspired to move like that to, and to try movements that our own body normally wouldn't have begun doing. It was also a liberating feeling to play like that in the dance. 


( last comment is from writer, aka. Signe)

The Power of Listening and Crazy Stretches

Hello Classmates of...would we be the Class of 2011 because we started in 2011, or would we be the Class of 2013 because we graduate in 2013? I'm pretty sure we're the Class of 2013.

Hello Classmates of 2013!!

Here are some notes I took for today's classes (28/9/11):

Janusz' Class

Theme: Listen

Some Quotes:

"Behind something silly is something serious."

"Move with gravity and work for neutrality." (in reference to the pushing each other exercise outlined below)

The Day:

Let's lie on mats!!!

1. Then, let's reach our hands toward the sky--which way does the palm face in order to reach the highest?

2. Now, let's reach our hands at 45 degree angles across our bodies (which of course causes us to roll over a bit--does the hip or the shoulder lead the movement?

3. Now it is time to push each other. One person stands neutral, the other person pushes them around with very specific points of focus.--See how you move whether you're pushing or being pushed. If you are pushing then please lead with your pelvis. Those being pushed please provide a little bit of resistence. Don't be completely relaxed and loosey goosey and don't be too dramatic about it (Kay and Imre!).

Finally, let's form a dance circle where we watch each other push each other around.

4. Sit and Chat. It is time to listen to each other. Just listen. No responding in any way, no noises or words, unless you do not understand something or something is unclear to you. This means shutting your mouth and opening your mind, folks.

That's it for Janusz' class. I had more quote of his in my head, but forgot them when it came time to write it down. I'm sure you understand.

Ruth's Class

Theme: Focus

-It's all about the FOCUS!!! The eyes are the tool of the Actor. You could almost call them the flashlight (I know, brilliant. I came up with this myself. Please hold your applause.) You see, if you are acting in a pitch black place (as we all know you would need to if Sam were performing, am I right?), then where your eyes look there is a beam of light that forces the audience to look where you are looking. Now, come back to the professional well-lit theatre we will all work at some day very soon and remember that where you look, the audience will look.

1. Crazy Stretches

a. One person sits on floor with arms raised above head. The other person grabs sitting person by the shoulder blades and pulls them up while pushing their chest out. Sitting person--BREATHE!!! Standing person--don't kill them.

b. The Arm Breaker. Welcome to Aikido. Pull person's arm laying on stomach over their head backwards. Place hand on back of lying down person's hand and push their arm up up up. Go slowly. Person lying down tap the floor when it's too much. BREATHE!!!

2. Swimming Move (one of Lecoq's 20)

Brings hands together in center and let them flow outward pushing out like you are doing the breast stroke and cutting your way through the water. Really imagine and see everything in the water as you do this, and work with your breathing!!

Then add the legs as you stand on one leg, slightly bend the standing leg and pump the raised leg, raising it to the side of your body......Clear? Didn't think so. Anyway, just remember tempo. Keep the speed in bursts--really fast and then smooth and slow while you bring it in again.

3. Library

Fixed point. Hold your finger somewhere in the air. Other person takes a book from that exact same spot. If you really wanna be crazy, then put the book back. I know...crazy.

Take 10 minutes to prepare a library as a group, then BOOYA switch a couple members of the group so that you are FORCED to listen to each other and watch each other. This is theatre, people.

Then be spontaneous in creating a library and create an event. (Let's try a fire. That sounds safe yet urgent, doesn't it?)

Thank you everybody. I know I missed some stuff...so add it!

Forever Yours Class of 2013

David Roby

Day 5 - 7/ Janusz - Awareness Through Movement

It took me some time to get my thoughts together about these two lessons cause I also have to mention my discoveries aside of the mechanical description of the movements we make.

What we did during the first 2 lessons was basically reconstructing a complex movement (The Banana for those who are familiar with the contact impro/dance excercise) from the essential scratch.

Probably the most interesting thing about this was that I didn't realize that the final movement is something I knew before until we reached the final stage of the excercise. Thsi way I have learned way more about the movement than simply repeating it for a long time. (I mean, who understands what it really means in any lesson to make the movement "starting from the center" just like that?)

The sequence goes like this repeating each part sevaeral times (in a gentle, non-mechanic way)
We start by laying on our backs with legs straight and arms by the body:
1.  Pull up the knees up gently towards pelvis along the floor and pull the foot close to the other leg (Both knees one by one)
2.  Expand the movement by pulling the knee up from the side pointing upwards to the ceiling. (Both legs one by one)
When both knees are up, we start turning the pelivs up and down (6o'clock - 12o'clock)
12o'cloc: push down with the feet
6o'clock: pull the feet up from ground a few centimeters, ching point towards pelvis
3.  Move turn pelvis from side to side (3-9) don't move knees to the sides, but pull up the foot few cm's from the floor ( 3: left foot - 9: right foot)
4. Combine the movements into a whole cirlcle ad the other 'hours' as well. (notice how the movement of the head follows the pelvis)

5. Having the knees pointing at the ceiling, let one knee go to the side and let the other follow by the impulse of the leading knee (minimal effort)
In the middle position both knees are on the sides.
6. Continue with the movement now involving the arms, pulling the arm up towards on the opposite side of the knees and letting the arm back at the middle position. Arms are straight, moving along the floor until they are diagonal to the body.
7. Expand the movement, with arm from the opposite side crossing over to the side of the knee, orlling over the body and the other arm (head moves last, and stays there until this pahse repats again)

Et Voi lá: The Banana!

Now I go and make dinner. To be continued with Ole and Ruth Improvisations from day 5-6-7