PAMELA LYDON solo performer |
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IMPROVISATION
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Movement Improvisation Workshop The first time that a dancer, even an experienced dancer, is asked to improvise movement, the results are predictable; gross motor movement (as opposed to small gesture or fast-twitch movements), overuse of space (aimless running around), and repetition of familiar steps and phrases. Also indicative of the beginner is the tendency to fill all the time with rapid and aimless motion, to the point of exhaustion. When that point is reached....the improvisation ends. A Pamela Lydon workshop, whether in solo, group, or contact improvisation, aims to address only three things, but three things that can iron out all of the above stated difficulties. These are analogy, focus, and tempo. Analogy is simply making a connection between disparate elements. For example, I hold up a picture of a cello and say "move like this". The dancer must make the analogy between the cello and the movement that would say "cello". It could be in a wide second position moving back and forth from leg to leg, with the torso arcing from side to side and the arm making a sawing movement. To increase the speed of making the analogy, I encourage dancers to walk around and choose objects, people and situations to use in movement analogies. The ideal is to become a kinetic Robin Williams. Focus is vision; not artistic vision, but use of the eyes to determine direction and speed. The beginner sees nothing during an improvisation. My workshop teaches the dancer to contact the floor, walls cieling, other dancers, audience, and self deliberately. The eyes are used to change directions and also to focus on the idea being addressed in the improv study. "Stay alive" is the way I put it, and it means to act with purpose and not to go inside the self. This effectively puts a stop to the aimless running around. Tempo is very important, as most beginners fear stillness and slow, deliberate movement. There is no time for analogy or focus....necessary elements of improvisation....if the tempo remains at a constant fever pitch. These are the most difficult lessons both to teach and to learn. As with dance composition, of which improvisation is a tool, my workshop seeks to find what is inside the individual dancer and coax it out. |
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