Independent Study

Project Description

Our independent study was born of a desire to experiment with creative process through exercises inspired by Authentic Movement, Dance Therapy, and improvisational structures.  We see this process as a way to deepen understanding of our experiences of living with family members who have Bipolar Disorder.  We are reflecting on feelings of anxiety, unpredictability, stigma, guilt, helplessness, anticipation and acceptance.  We are examining these themes through our experimental process in order to generate authentic gesture and phrase work for a duet.  We also aspire to use this process as a launching point for developing a facilitation model that could support group inquiry and exploration with various populations through the medium of movement.  We plan to extend our independent study next quarter to integrate a group of dancers.
           

During rehearsals we have documented our movement studies by way of video and journals.  Early on, we worked on building a connection with one another through structured improvisations.  As one exploration, we took turns being a witness and a mover - the witness would observe while the mover followed bodily impulses with her eyes closed.  Each of us also developed short phrases, which we have altered, manipulated, and embellished.  It was interesting to see similar movement themes and qualities emerging from our individual explorations.  We progressed into some contact exercises and improvisation which included: electric space, touch affect, negative space, eye contact, manipulation, and reaction/response.  After we had generated movement that we were interested in developing we spent rehearsal time weaving it together through a process of trial and error.
           

Another essential element of our independent study that we would like to develop farther in the future is our research of societal attitudes towards mental illness, as well as resources and support that are currently available for people and families touched by these issue.  This will aid us in developing our creative process and community outreach.

Maree’s Reflections

We began our movement studies keeping our theme very close to our process.  In my experience, I felt that we were able to build a deeper connection with each other, the choreography, and our theme by working in this way.  As we developed more of the duet we found ourselves having to devote more time to issues related to time, space, and structure.  I have been grateful for the spaciousness and fluid nature of this process.  Participating in this study has helped me to begin to imagine a new way of working in rehearsals or environments that foster group inquiry through movement.  Due to time constraints and where the process led us, I feel that I did not delve into readings and research related to support groups or social attitudes.

Teoma’s Reflections

Our independent study has provided me an open space to work in a process-over-product oriented approach.  We meet 2-3 times a week, and in our first eight or so rehearsals we did not set any movement vocabulary or structure, but instead continued our exploration of themes through structured improvisation.  By way of this practice I felt new and diverse movement emerging from my body, breaking engrained patterns of creation.  I also gained a great connection and awareness of my body and self in relation to Maree, which has improved our ability to listen and communicate with each other in improvisation.  I think this connection will translate to an audience in performance.  This part of our process could and perhaps should have lasted much longer (for the rest of my life!)  This said, the process of structuring and solidifying our material is adding an equally important layer of reflection and synthesis.
Another essential aspect of this process for me has been about valuing and balancing both physical and intellectual inquiry.  Our exploration is a real mix of movement improvisation, discussion, journal writing, visualizations and more.  I am excited to share this process with other dancers, and outside of the dance community.  Like Maree, I feel the need to devote more focus to reading and research about other people’s approaches to creative process and community outreach.