Connectivity

Our own body is in the world as the heart is in the organism:

 it keeps the visible spectacle constantly alive;

 it breathes life into it and sustains it inwardly,

 and with it forms a system.

-Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Phenomenology of Perception

Introduction

My area of inquiry is based on the method and process of instant composition in the frame of researching the ways I perceive and embody time within the process of creating dance in the present moment. Throughout the second research cycle, my purpose is to develop simple perceptual and compositional tools that could respectively enable me to sense and experience qualities of time while moving, enhance my awareness in the moment as well as cultivate my compositional mind as I move towards an instant composition performance.

I have articulated two basic tools that I profoundly explore throughout my regular practice as part of my research. One of the tools is based on sharpening my bodily awareness and movement perception in the present and is named Sensorial Movement. It stems from the tools of the Somatic-Psychoeducation Method of Danis Bois. The other tool is phrasing through which I practice in short-minute solos with phrases that have a beginning, a duration and an end. It is a strong practical tool to cultivate my compositional skills and train my mind in creating forms. Furthermore, I practically explore diverse time qualities like degrees of speed, rhythms, contra tempo, impulse that emerge throughout my practice in phrasing, making in this way tangible my philosophical approach of time as an endless flow of energy with which we move along, as integral parts of it, revealing through our body a richness of qualities, variations and changes.

I invest a lot of time on exploring these tools during my practice before entering into instant composition sessions. In this sense, I am in the process of developing a methodology that will function as a preparatory practice in the method and process of composing dance in the present moment. Additionally, as this research will lead to an instant composition performance, my challenge is to observe and let all tools reveal to me during the time of the performance instead of 'doing' the tools because in that case, I would lose the 'now'.

Reflection

Reflecting on my research question during the second cycle:

In what ways could I articulate a methodology consisted of perceptual and compositional tools that could inform the method and process of instant composition in the frame of enhancing presentness and embodying time- space qualities?

Practice led research

In relation to my experience of the first research cycle, I understood throughout the second cycle that the starting point to do an artistic research is to practice and, in this sense, theory could emerge out of the moving body instead of trying to test and justify preformulated theoretical questions through bodily practice. To me, this kind of approach ended up into a trap during the first research cycle, as I didn’t allow the research to ‘breathe’ and grow on its own, revealing to me in this way its ‘seeds and diamonds’.

‘’There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.’'

                                                                                         Friedreich Nietzsche

In this sense, through a regular attentive bodily practice, I succeeded in ‘reaching’ and physically perceiving the key elements of my area of inquiry. First of all, I could understand and embody the term ‘wide-now’ that I introduced during the first cycle, as an enhanced perception in the ‘now’ through the Sensorial movement of Danis Bois method. Investing time on a pleasant slow free movement as a preparatory step before entering into an instant composition session, was enabling me to intensify my presentness and expand my body and movement perception in the ‘now’ which in turn was accompanying me within the process of composing dance in the present moment.

What is more, through the two basic preparatory perceptual and compositional tools that I’ve articulated, the Sensorial Movement and phrasing respectively, I’ve headed up to the key elements ‘connectivity’ and ‘flow’ that stand at the core of my artistic research.

 As it is described in the documentation of the second research cycle (see Research Catalogue), through Sensorial Movement I’ve reached connectivity (a movement quality that addresses a totality in movement and a connection with space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfmZMy-AE00&t=14s)

and through phrasing (sustaining the duration of the movement:                                  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwcOUFL3aKw&t=2s), I was led to flow.

Both of these elements embody my perception of time linked to Merleau Ponty’s philosophy and Zen Master’s Dōgen study on present time respectively. It was revealing when I sensed and experienced through the body my theoretical and philosophical approach of time, since it became in this way more tangible and conceivable. I once again realized that our body is real and never ‘lies’ in comparison with our mind which could sometimes exaggerate, make literary associations or run forward. Thus, through close attention and intensive practice I perceived and experienced my understanding of time as an endless flow of energy full of changes and variations with which we move along, creating a whole and revealing a richness of qualities and transformations, linking in this way both Ponty’s philosophy and Dōgen’s study on time.

Following, I slightly refined my research question (see above and in relation to question 5 of Design 2) in order to include also my research on time as a perception and experience while moving which has recently been  embodied through the aforementioned key elements of connectivity and flow.

The essence of creating dance in the moment

To Ponty’s view, we do not just exist in time, we create time, though we don’t possess it (Ponty, 1962). In this sense, people who create dance in the present could ‘shape’ and develop a variety of time qualities. It is important though to be present and aware of the moment so as to compose according to what is there at the moment. Taking under consideration, my experience during the first research cycle, there is a thin silk line between ‘doing’ the moment and ‘being’ at the moment. Having articulated a compositional method, I was occupied with doing that method and I was ‘losing’ the now. Instead of composing the now, I was following an improvisational score. In this cycle, therefore, I let all tools that I’ve developed and work on as a preparatory step emerge within the process of instant composition.  I don’t follow a particular structure, space or time line. I avoid purposely doing the watery movement quality or the spatial tool of proximity for example, the phrases or the time qualities. I allow them to reveal to me through the process of composing in the moment. Whenever, I follow a specific order of time qualities for instance or insist on ‘doing’ a particular quality e.g., impulse, slow speed, acceleration etc., I am not present to the moment. On the other hand, I feel in this way that I possesss and manipulate the now, as I am mostly engaged with a constant movement production in the moment.

On the other hand, reflecting on my overall practice in instant composition sessions, I could sense and see that I didn't take any initations or make drastic choices while creating the 'now'. There is a thin silk line between letting things reveal to me and taking decisions in the now. As in everyday life we improvise in the present, making choices and fulfilling needs and desires, in the same sense, when we compose the moment, we don’t just surrender in the now, waiting for things to come and reveal to us. Linked to Ponty’s view, we take initiations and create time and space qualities. Whenever I let things happen during my practice I could see and sense a repetition and a lack of diverse moves and time qualities. It is important, therefore, to take initiations within the process of instant composition, because the ‘now’ is ‘here and now’, but it is intangible and unconceivable. As humans with free will and desire, we could chisel the ‘now’, expanding or decreasing it, transforming it or sustaining it the same according to what’s happening at the moment. We don’t possess it though, as it has been mentioned above. We get connected with the now,  finding a balance in this way between letting things reveal to us and taking decisions or making choices in the moment. I understand that there is not a recipe for this. It is important to be alert, not think and 'do' things, but shift between these two state of minds according to what is happening at the moment:

          ‘’God (the ‘now’) helps those who help themselves’’

In the upcoming period of my practice, I will ‘walk on this thin silk line’ in order to perceive and understand when I take initiations so as to create dance in accordance with the present moment and when I let things reveal to me in the ‘now’. (click here).

Keeping on reflecting, I could also link this thought (letting things happen and taking desicions while composing dance in the present moment) to the conversation between me as a performer and me as a choreographer during this period. I observe to what extent I let the research reveal to me through my practice or take decisions as a choreographer in terms of the final project. I understand that it is importart to let the research breathe and grow through practice, because any forced decision could ruin everything, taking under consideration my experience during the first cycle where my urgency to develop a compositional method didn't allow the seeds of my research reveal to me. Being alert and 'open' to my practice, I experienced magical moments that led me to take crucial decisions as a researcher and choreographer (e.g., selecting connectivity and flow as key research elements).

I will mostly dive into this conversation in the upcoming period as I am in the process of developing an instant composition performance.

Moving towards an instant composition performance

Moves and time qualities

As it has mostly been described in the documentation of my research (see Research Catalogue), concerning the two fundamental key research elements- connectivity and flow-, I develop a watery movement quality for connectivity and I try to be always on one leg and not static in order to create a sensation of flow in space.

 Apart from this, I have noticed particular time qualities (edgy time/ impulse (irregular and regular rhythmic patterns)/ slow speed/ acceleration) that have been developed throughout my practice the last period.

 Also, I have identified specific moves that I do in relation to the aforementioned time qualities:

-I develop cyclical, spiral or wavy moves and multiple turns in fast speeds and acceleration, because these moves enable me to move faster and travel in space.

- In rhythmic patterns, I sense a sharp and direct quality of time and so, I ‘shape’ straight lines, I do sudden (staccato) jumps and balances on one leg.

- In slow speeds, I develop a watery movement quality.

In the upcoming period of my practice, after working on the Sensorial movement (connectivity and watery quality) and the spatial tools, I will develop short-minute solos with phrases, working separately on the above time qualities (e.g., a three-minute solo with impulse, then with edgy time etc.). As it has been said above, when entering to an instant composition session, I won’t do the time qualities but I will let them emerge in the present, taking initiations when that accords to the moment.

This kind of methodology is coherent with the way Thessaloniki based choreographer Evangelia Vasdari researches the methods and process of instant composition. She separately explores all tools that she articulates throughout the rehearsal period that accord and respond to her subject theme, letting afterwards all tools naturally appear during the performance time.

Working with the musician

The above process may help me specify and clarify some things before working with the musician, as I will compose along with a guitar player for the final project. I want the music to be live as this is compatible with the essence of instant composition. Any pre-recorded music could direct my dance and also cancel my research until now.

 I am thinking of exploring connectivity and phrasing together with the musician, transforming and combining my tools into one exercise in which each one separately will 'read and respond' to the other's movement and sound phrase respectively.

Considering the aesthetics and texture of the sounds, I am thinking that it would be coherent with the whole process, if we similarly let the sounds emerge and reveal to us through the practice, as it happened with the time qualities and the movement material.

Narration- what is the relation between a movement and a dance?

Reflecting on my last video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zszyt38Y8YE&t=10s,

 I could see a gestural movement with the hands (like unlocking something) and a ‘childish’ move (walking with very straight legs) which I could describe it as theatrical (not so ‘dancy’).  I was revisiting these moves in different ways throughout the process of instant composition. In this sense, I was connecting the past with the present time, since one could read these moves as memories from the past. In this sense, I was developing an abstract story with a continuity as these moves could be encountered as connective elements of the whole narration. As a performer I could connect these moves with the narration of the overall dance, experiencing, apart from a flow and continuity in my abstract narration, that these moves are the starting point of everything, giving meaning to all previous and next moves.

These moves were derived from my practice in Sensorial Movement and naturally appeared within the process of instant composition. Moving sensorially, we can develop gestural or ‘theatrical’ moves, as the connective tissue of fascia is a ‘store of memories’, because all external stimuli firstly reach fascia. Similarly, Thessaloniki based choreographer and fascia therapist Rodoula Gouliamberi, when developing a performance, focuses and explores the kinesiology of specific moves that relate to her theme and stem from her practice in Sensorial Movement.

Following, I would like to explore this idea of revisiting elements- gestures or theatrical moves- that may emerge and develop within the process of creating dance in the moment. I call these moments ‘diamonds’, because metaphorically they ‘light’ the continuity of the abstract narration. Taking under consideration what has been mentioned above, it is important not to purposely choose and pick up these elements while dancing or intentionally revisit them within the process. According to the essence of instant composition, we could bring these elements in the ‘now’ when they accord to the moment. In this sense, they are brought in different ways each time, as if a new poem is written from the beginning. If we focus on bringing them back as they are, by repeating or representing them in the ‘now’, in order to create a story or narration, we lose the ‘now’. This is also informed by Ponty’s philosophy who (1962) said:  ''A lived memory is recalled if it makes sense for the present… (p. 412)… If finally, it is conceded that memories do not by themselves project themselves upon sensations but that consciousness compares them with the present data, retaining only those which accord with them, then one is admitting an original text which carries its meaning within itself, and setting it over against that of memories: this original text is perception itself (p. 21).’’

Linking to the first cycle

Three of the four temporalities that I have distilled through my practice during the first cycle are also present within this cycle, but in different ways. The tool of tuning in and out is left out, because it ended up to an improvisation score.

 I can clearly see the temporality of the observer. Observing and noticing in the ‘now’ plays a vital role in the described methodology and is a powerful tool in instant composition. The temporality of the body moving in the present time is encountered through the above specific time qualities. The temporality of the outer world is the music. The temporality of the thinking process is also omitted as when we think as we move, we are not present to the moment.

Insights

I understood that this connectivity between the body parts and between the body and space stands at the foreground of my research as it embodies my perception of time and space as parts of our being which is linked to my theoretical investigation of the French philosopher Maurice Merleau- Ponty’s philosophy.  According to Ponty’s view (1962) ''our body is not primarily in space and time. It is of space and time’’ (p. 171). I understand that we don’t just exist in space and time, but we constitute space and time. Time and space are part of this world and we, as part of the world, are undividedly connected with time and space.

Nothing determines me from the outside, not because nothing acts upon me, but on the contrary, because I am from the start outside myself and open to the world.

- Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Phenomenology of perception

Additionaly, this watery movement quality that is developed through Sensorial Movement addresses a flow and a succession in movement which I could link to the eternal passage and continuous flow of time.

Following, I practiced a lot in Sensorial Movement throughout the following period in order to develop this watery movement quality of connectivity and flow and thus let it immense and emerge within instant composition sessions afterwards.

Going further, I developed other simple practical tools in order to sharpen the described above sensation of connection with space:

Moving my eyes in space: I constantly move looking at space. Then I stop moving, focusing on one point in space.

Playing with the proximity of different areas in space: I ‘negotiate’ with the distance between my body or surfaces and points of my body and surfaces, areas or points in space (e.g., the walls, the ceiling, the doors, objects in space), going close and far from them or maintaining the same distance.

 Finally, I started to articulate a particular process as a methodolody in order to practice in this specific movement quality which consists of the following steps:

·Wide-now- enhancing perception in the present-

-I start with the associative schemes in order to ‘grasp’ this subtle inner movement.

-When I sense that other body parts, apart from the spine, start to activate through the Sensorial Movement in the sense that this subtle internal movement starts to flow within the whole inner body, I slowly move towards free movement.

·Connectivity

 -Following, I start observing my position in space and where are my body parts in terms of areas of space, ‘opening’ in this way to the outer world.

 -I continue with touching the ground, sensing in this way the space with my body.

 -As time is passing by, I experience an exchange of energy between my body and the environment. I sense a ‘porous’ body, as if my body evaporates movement in space, simultaneously receiving ‘information’ from it.

 -…and I open my eyes... and I move looking at the place...

and I connect with it.

 -Then, I start to look deliberately specific points in space which in turn leads me to a pause: I let the movement ‘fade out’ and lead me in this way to a look a point in space.

 -Following, I shift my attention to the other practical tool in which I play with the proximity between the body and space.

 Overall outcome:

The aforementioned process is helpful in order to experience a connection between my whole body. Also, it enables me to place my body in space and sense the relation between my body and the architecture of the place. In this sense, I experience my body moving as a whole and connected with the space.

From tacit to explicit 

The two basic research elements of my area of inquiry are connectivity and flow and they communicate my perception and experience of time while moving and composing dance in the present moment. They have been distilled through my regular attentive bodily practice as part of my research during the second research cycle

Sensorial movement

Tapping into connectivity

Connectivity communicates a quality of totality in movement. The body is moving as a whole, experiencing a connection between all body parts as well as between the body and space.

In the beginning of my practice, I intensively explored the Sensorial Movement that stands at the core of the Somatic-Psychoeducation Method of Danis Bois. I was starting my practice with two of the perceptual movement tools of this method- the associative schemes and free improvisational movement- moving in slowness with shut eyes in order to sense the Internal Movement, a global, profound and slow movement that Bois discovered that exists within the inner body and occurs at the level of Fascia, the connective tissue that links and covers all parts of the body.  I was observing how this movement flows within the inner body, connecting all body parts.  I was gradually becoming in this way aware and conscious of my body and movement, bringing myself in the ‘now’ and feel my body part of the experience in the present. In this sense, I was enhancing my presentness and expanding my perception in the moment which are important within the process of instant composition:

Associative schemes:

 I was starting my practice sitting on a cross position on the floor, creating spinal shapes like curves, arches, side bends and spirals, moving in slowness with shut eyes. I didn’t follow a particular order regarding the shapes. Investing time on this exercise, I was sensing the Sensorial Movement move me and  lead me from one shape to the other.

Free improvisation:

I was continuing my practice with free improvisation. I was moving freely and slowly in space with shut eyes.

Phrasing

Tapping into flow

-Having investing a lot of time on enhancing my presentness and spatiousness through the aforementioned process, I continue my practice with developing phrases. I create one-, three-, five- and seven-minute short solos with phrases that have a beginning, a duration and an end. I consider this tool coherent with the notion of time which stands at the core of my research, since I practice in fulfilling a movement within a particular time frame. While I used to put an alarm clock in the beginning, I was gradually trained in understanding when a specific amount of time has passed.

Within my practice in phrasing, I notice the ways a movement is developed while improvising and reaches an end: My main research question is:

… can the end of a phrase find me versus me finding an end?

Insights

I consider this video quite close to what I want to achieve concerning my final project. A piece where a richness of movement motifs keeps on developing while composing the moment, revealing a variety of shapes and time qualities just before the eyes of the spectators during the performance time

Paying attention to the duration of the phrases, I sustain the movement, letting it unfold and in this way develop and reveal diverse shapes and qualities of time.

Practicing in this way, I could understand and therefore embody  my perception of time as an endless passage and flow that is full of changes and variations linking in this way my practice with my theoretical investigation of Zen master Dōgen' s study Uji on time. Dōgen (1240) said: ''Do not think flowing is like wind and rain moving from east to west. The entire world is not unchangeable, is not immovable. It flows’’ (Dōgen, Zen sourcebook, p. 159).

Also, I could understand and connect my understanding of time with the meaning of instant composition which lays on a constant creation. People who practice instant composition are continuously in the process of making in the present moment. They are constantly phrasing and rephrasing, creating and recreating movement motifs, revealing through their bodies a variety of spatial and temporal qualities

Moving towards an instant composition performance...

After my practice in phrasing, I enter into a 10- or 15-minute instant composition session, letting the phrases reveal to me in the ‘now’. Within the process, I move along with the flow of movement, focusing on narrative issues in terms of noticing what kind of abstract ‘stories’ are emerging through phrasing:

My intention is to focus, explore and develop the time qualities and movement material (see inventory and reflection 2 to see the 'how') that have emerged through my practice in the upcoming period, as they will play a vital role concerning narrative issues: revisiting these elements while composing in the moment, I could develop an abstract narration - a story - with a continuity as these elements will function as connective points between the phrases.

Also, re-exploring elements that have appeared in previous moments within the same instant composition session could create a sensation of the past. They could be encountered as memories that are 'brought' to the 'now' when that accords to the present data.

My aim is not to 'do the moves or the time qualities', but let them reveal to me in the present. If I purposely enrich my dance with degrees of speed, variations of rhythms and pauses or 'bring back' elements within the process of instant composition, I am not in the moment.

Observations

-Very good practice! All investigative tools naturally emerge while creating dance in the moment.

-A flow of energy with a variety of moves and time qualities that keep on developing and changing! Very close to my imagination concerning the final project.

-Good sustainment through time.

-Following the flow of movement in space.

-Being connected with space: touching and looking at space, travelling in space, sensing the distance between the body and space.

-Taking images from space.

-Being connected with the now!

-Theatrical moves and gestures that appear and reappear are intriguing.

-Fulfilling the trajectory of the movement, the movement is developed and there comes the narrative, because the end comes naturally. The movement tells its own story in this way- with a beginning, a duration and an end.  The next phrase is a development of the previous one, as it continues the story, developing, enhancing, underlining, changing movement elements and time qualities. One could see the cohesion between the elements of the phrases that appear, reappear, develop and transform within the process and thus, following the threads, he/she could ‘read’ his/her narrative concerning the overall dance (see reflection 2 for more insights)

Observations

Within my practice in phrasing, I mostly focused on reaching an end by putting full stops or semicolons in my dance. So, I was intentionally arriving at a pause. Given this, I didn’t let the movement develop on its own and naturally arrive at a pause when it was fulfilled. Thus, the phrases didn’t naturally develop and I couldn't be found in this way at an end. In this sense, I was ‘losing’ the now, as I was occupying myself with doing phrases instead of letting them reveal to me in the present.

What is more, reflecting on my videos and also discussing with my coach, I acknowledged that practicing in this way led me to develop a sort of a habitual pattern- a specific time quality- that I keep on following while moving. I ‘take’ an impulse and then I let it fade out- GO AND STOP-. It is a repetitive cycle that I would draw it like this:

Moving forward, I started to pay more attention to the duration of the phrases-not only the end- during my practice in Sensorial Movement in the beginning of my daily routine and in phrasing afterwards. I practiced in sustaining the duration of the movement until it naturally reaches an end. Following and fulfilling the main trajectory of the movement, the phrases are naturally developed and through this I am found at an end instead of me creating a pause.