At the beginning of CI I really disliked the module, although now we have more tools to work with I am finding CI so enjoyable. I feel like I can truly relax and just experiment with my body, because there is no right or wrong. Everybody is different and have their own unique way of moving, and this stood out for myself when reading Exposed to Gravity. Curtis said, ‘I wanted to dance like everyone else’ (Curtis, 1988, 156), however this was not possible because he is in a wheelchair. Bruce Curtis found his own way of moving and he can do certain things that other people cannot do.
Recapping the going up really benefitted me, because I was not as confident with going up as I am on the ground. The aeroplane movement was challenging. It looks simple, however it is hard to find the balancing point between 2 people. I got pushed out of my comfort zone on this movement because I wanted the safety of my hands on the other persons hands. Although, it was exciting because I had the sensation of flying. I now want to experiment with what I can do while I am up there, to play with weight and to find out where I can go next.
The two new exercise we learned felt weird in my body. When I was the under dancer, I did not think about the weight aspect, I only concentrated on the gravity side and that the floor was taking the weight not my body. Therefore, I found the movement easy and it was smooth going down.
Having more tools to work with makes CI so much easier, and working with new bodies (Fenia) is interesting because she brings new things into our body’s. I am trying to push myself more in the jams to experiment with the movements we have been given, instead of just moving how we have been told.
In my opinion I think that the idea of twisting and spiralling is a key aspect in CI. I think that the action happens due to momentum moving us and our bodies keeping contact with one another. When I am moving in CI I do not think about the relationship between my body and the space, because I am listening to the other person’s body. Therefore I feel because the body is constantly trying to keep contact, the body goes into its own bubble because both bodies are working round each other and trying to find new ways to move.
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The inspiration for our question was from the previous session and a quote we found ‘A constant readiness to catch oneself and to deal with incoming weight’ (Unknown, 2012). Our question for the research lab was How do we know when a partner is ready to receive full weight? My initial answer for our question was being grounded, bent at the knees and weight sharing. From our small jam we made them experiment with how do you know? Many of them responded with giving a little bit of weight to their partner to check stability, after checking they would then give all of their weight to their partner. However, Chloe told us that she was more conscious with our question in mind because she was working with Gemma and she has previously had an injury. Therefore, Chloe held back a little but did give as much weight as she could. One of our sub questions was are you more comfortable with the task when you are working with someone you trust or work with more? I thought that everyone would have agreed that they felt more comfortable with someone they work with more, however everyone said they did not feel different working with someone they do not normally work with. I asked the question does everyone feel like they have pushed past the boundary of working with others and not feel judged? In a way this question was personal to me because I feel like I have pushed past the point of feeling judged and wanted to know where everybody else was at. One individual mentioned that they want to explore with other people more, and I think that is down to different bodies move in different ways, so you can create new moves that we have not done before.
Curtis, B. (1988). Exposed to Gravity. Contact Quarterly/ Contact Improvisation Sourcebook I, Vol. 13. Pp.156-162.
Unknown. (2012). Fundamentals of Contact Improvisation. Available from http://www.bodyresearch.org/contact-improvisation/fundamentals-of-contact-improvisation/ [accessed 18 November 2017].