The following painting entitled "Patchwork" was created by two participants.  This work was produced in the first collection of paintings, the dancers will explore movement in relation to their work through reading the painting as a Score.  The foundational bases of the study focus are on the materiality and the layers following which are generated by those who were involved in the creation of the art-making process.  The following layers will be explored through the moving body investigating improvisational tasks, guided through tasks developed through chance methods, including the evolution of movement dynamic driven elements that will direct the impact of the choreographic process which will later mold and design the performative quality of the piece.

Developing a Sense of Chance within the Tasks

As I read John Cage’s “Composition as Process,” I continuously replaced his words “sound” with “movement” and immediately began to develop ideas I wanted to apply to movement exploration methods within my study.  The idea of merging movement exploration with an image can be structured in various chance methods.  For example, I painted the end of popsicle sticks with different colors and had the dancers pull them out of a cup, allowing chance to dictate the color the participant picks to be the impetus for them to trace in process of reading the Score.  I also had various body parts written on the end of sticks that were selected after the color stick, indicating which part of the body led the movement.  Additional sticks had several dynamics written on them to leave it up to chance as to how the action would evolve.   The possibilities of tasking the tasks through chance structures are endless.  When I finally decide to call the choreography performative ready, let us look back to Cage’s quote below. Did the paintings’ initial materials determine anything of the structure?  It is so that the absence of the image can express the dance, yet without it, it would have never existed.   

Reflection:

As the methods emerge in the making, I seek to flesh out the dancer's tendency to deliver codified technique that is confined within the habitual mold of the body.  The dancers begin to understand the study is not about developing their technique but finding new ways their bodies can move through exploring the painting as a choreographic device.  They are discovering there is no wrong way to use their body as a thinking tool and to trust the knowledge their body is producing.  As they face the back of the room, the mirror does not assist them in determining aesthetics.  When asked to turn around for me to film, I notice that ego may get in the way as one of the participants is questioning her movement choice.  Trust in the process. Allow the painting to guide your body. We are not worried about how it looks. We want it to be as abstract as the painting.     

Allowing the energy to pass back and forth from painting to body and body to mind with new tasks enables different ideas about how to orient oneself in and through dance and the world.  As a group, we discussed how the pulse of humanity influences the decisions we make in our lives and that we become an extension of threads designing the fabric within our society.  As for these young dancers, this process is producing a new level of awareness for them.  We talked about the last piece we filmed and began to think about how this one may be suited for a public venue, in a space where they will fade in with the natural landscape within our society and stand out for moments at a time.  A place they can disappear into, the patchwork and then stand out at times.

This investigation led to deeper thoughts, potentials and other kinds of orientations to help us move out of our habitual models of movement and that of perception in terms of the performative for these young dancers who have only performed on the proscenium stage.  The idea of obscuring dialogue with additional patchworks of mediums within a public venue not only carries the thought of visual image impact for film, but the projection of the human-scale within the level of work along with it.  The Score is becoming a means of shaping our thoughts, beyond the dance, but into life itself.   

Choreographic Progression

Back to the Sticks

I wanted the dancers to generate more movement from various patches within the painting.  I had them pick another stick to leave it up to chance what color patch they would be developing their movement from.  They then picked another stick to dictate which body part would be leading the movement.  After the development of this movement, I had them roll the dice once.  With the number they rolled, they were to walk around the building and find objects with the same color and create a bodily shape of the object.  Why?  Because the talk of patchwork and society came back into our discussion and the idea of performing the final piece in a public space.  We decided at one point in the performative piece they would look for the particular color within the space and embody the image in time and space.    

Final Movement Tasks

Jumps & Turns

As I entered the final workshop with the dancers, I wanted to explore movements that would challenge them more than the tasks I had been giving them, such as tracing and mapping the paintings and then evolving that movement with dynamics.  Still working with chance method,  I had the dancers pick sticks with color on the end of them, two for the jumping task.  They were asked to jump from one patch to the next.  Where and how would you land?  Would you generate a shape or pattern in the air, during take-off, or in landing? They were asked to connect the movement.  

The directives for the turning task were to pick a color stick and find an image within a patch that stands out to you.  Turn like never before.  How can the body take off or prepare to move or turn through space?  What form or shape does it take in motion?  Think of the body as a whole and embody this image as it rotates around the body.