Perfect Love by Danuta Antas Wozniewska
The biggest obstacle I had to overcome throughout this process was to not over think the movement being created. The assignment called for movement with “like you” and “unlike you” movement formulated to reveal your identity. The first step in this process was to list out these qualities along with words used to define your identity. Although the words flew streamingly out of my pen, the movement required a much longer period of time to develop.
The authentic movement exercise that we performed in class was somewhat confusing in that it opposed the prior knowledge about my “natural movement language.” (Smith-Autard 17). Throughout my time at this university classes such as improvisation and somatics have displayed that the movement which comes natural to my body contains slow, bound, direct qualities. However, during this exercise, my movements were free-flowing, indirect, and light as I improvised through the space. I know that for this type of exercise to work one has to repeat the process several times, and the movement preferences can change from day to day. Personally, I feel like my movement preference was altered due to the lack of my senses. Having my eyes closed while moving in the space gave me feelings of being vulnerable, off-balance, and awkward. With the idea of being cautious with my movement, I continued to move in ways that were unfamiliar but within a safe distance from my kinosphere. I realize now that I should have improvised in a way that was true to my bodily impulses instead of playing it safe. I would like to continue studying the authentic movement in the future to see what kind of discoveries I could find about myself.
During the first day of choreographing I created a movement that was “like me” in that it held qualities of the laban dynamics as well as qualities that would define myself as a person. The problem with this was that there was no true form unfolding, and the intent was so broad that it was being buried underneath the busy movement being produced. On the second class day the frustration was so overwhelming that I finally stopped reaching for movement from this approach to ask the instructor, Ellie Leonhardt, how to deal with this problem. Trying to choreograph a piece that portrays my identity was conflicting with the movement true to my body. The almost too simple solution to this was to use these two ideas as my reference point for the different sections. The “you movement” then developed out of using the Laban dynamics of bound, direct, and slow while the “unlike you movement” came from the light, free, and indirect qualities of my personality. In the words of Smith-Autard, I became “fully aware of the nature of the elements so that they may best judge how to select, refine, and combine them” (Smith-Autard 5). I know had the idea of using the opposition created from the movement preferences of my body and the qualities of my personality to my advantage. This gave my choreography a raw start to its inevitable completion.
The second obstacle that came about during this process was honing in on one part of my identity to really highlight and connect with. This is when I turned to Dance Composition for words of wisdom. “The experimentation with movement is confined to that which is suitable for interpretation of the music, and this kind of improvisation- although more limited- is commonly used as a starting point for composition” (Smith-Autard 39). Music, art, and the thoughts aroused from the two gave me a starting point with which to experiment with new movement. As I began to look for music, I couldn’t help but notice that many of the Baroque era musicians that I came across had pretty similar sounds using major key, harpsichord, and two-four time. Throughout the search I finally discovered a piece by Bach that stood out with its beautifully played violin and ranging scale. As the music played I began to improvise in search of discovering a connection between myself and the project. It wasn’t until I came across a piece of artwork by Danuta Antas Wozniewska that I really found the intent of my work. The painting is called Perfect Love, and as I looked it over I realized that my identity has been transforming ever since I met my fiancée. This is where my intent unraveled into myself coming apart of a partnership in which I have to give and take accordingly. “Composing involves moulding together compatible elements which, by their relationship and fusion form an identifiable ‘something’” (Smith-Autard 5). At this point of the process I had a formulated that identifiable ‘something’ as my motif involving reaching, gathering, and giving motions in the direction of one particular corner creating a duet between myself and the pull of a presence that wasn’t physically in the room.
The next obstacle that really had my movement mentally blocked was trying to move in a way that did not come naturally to my body. Trying to utilize the opposing laban model “which emphasized that experiential, child-centered process of dancing as a means of developing personal qualities” was the most challenging moment throughout the entire process. I found that when I attempted to use the free-flow quality throughout my body, it would be present in my upper body but not in the lower trunk and extremities. With the same problem, I found that my upper body held in a bound position when my lower body began to free-flow. It took lots of improvisation and visualization in order to refine how this quality would be interpreted by the audience. I found that having a second perspective on the work really helps to find what the piece needs. I requested that Jake take a look at my movement, and while doing so he was able to let me know when the qualities were being presented throughout my entire body.
Despite all of the obstacles, I feel like this study was all around successful. The feedback that I gained from the audience gave me an insight to the exciting moments, and things about the piece that they would have changed. I really enjoyed the process of this study and hope that the wisdom I’ve gained from this will carry me through the studies to come.
