Final work

All in all, making the final work – presentation – was very successful experience and I learnt a lot during doing it with my classmates. Because the whole presentation was long, we had to really create good and interesting idea, plot and theme for the presentation, that it would be compelling for the audience. I think we succeed in this goal and the presentation was diverse and it showed different sides of wide range of improvisation field.

We started this process by thinking and creating the theme/idea for the work. Because the major part of my classmates are doing their final year in their studies, we wanted to create a theme, which would gather their experiences and important moments together. Finally we decide to choose a theme, which would describe persons and special moments, as classes in the faculty, which have had effect during their studies. After creating the idea, we started to think place and time for carry out this presentation. First we wanted to do it in center of Lisboa, but after a while thinking this, we decided to do it in the garden of the dance buildings. This was because we wanted people to see our final presentation and in the garden it would be easy to present for students in the faculty. The time was set based on everyone’s schedule and also other classes timetables.

After this part, we wrote some concrete about what we are going to create during this process. We divided our group in three smaller groups, so that responsibility of every scene would be shared equally. Then we also wrote special characteristics of every scene (movement, who participate in the scene, the needed things – props etc.). This helped us a lot for continue the project, when we had something concrete written down and to follow, even though the presentation could change from this plan. At the same time we went to see the places where every scene would be presented concrete in the garden.

This project continue by going out and deciding more closely what we would do in every scenery and how everyone would participate to them. Additionally we decide even clearly, how every scene would connect together. After this part, we divided in the smaller groups, which were responsible of specific scenes. Working like this, we would be more effective and create scenes much  faster.

I was responsible of two scenes with my group. I have to admit, that my responsibility part wasn’t that big, because my language skills are not so good and even though I understood the major part of the conversation, I missed lots of small details and that affected a lot of my paricipation. I wasn’t always sure, what was the specific goal and idea of our scene, so it was for me hard to lead the group and give instructions. So my role and active leading part stayed really small, because of the language barrier.

After three meetings in smaller groups was time to start teach these scenes for other groups. We had more or less two weeks before the presentation, so it was very important to do a plan how we would continue and what kinds of things we would do in everytime we had classes. Progressing was very important at this moment, that we could connect every part together and get the presentation well done before the actual ”show”.

It was also very important that every scene had some leader, who would take the responsibility of how the scene would look overall, when everyone was participating in it. This kind of working would save time, becauce there wasn’t still time to loose, even though we were in good schedule. Teaching scenes to others worked well and we could pretty fast see the whole picture of  the presentation. 

The most difficult part was sharper every scene to its perfect and final form. At the same time there should be different levels, dynamics and all the time happening something, that all the scenes would be interesting for the audience. Additionally the theme and plot of the presentation should be continuous and some way easy to follow. This took the most of the time finally in the end. Luckily we had clear schedule for the final work and one week before the final presentation we had first real practices with all the materials etc. This helped us lot to see, what is still missing and in which kinds of things we should pay attention. The rest of the classes we clean the choreography with help of the ideas of teacher and changed also some order of the scenes and their contents. We didn’t have that much different dynamics in final work, so we also try to do some changes inside the scenes. We also decided clothes which we would use in performance.

The day of peformance finally arrived and we prepared everything before the presentation. We were little bit scared would it rain that day, because all the performance was outside, but luckily the weather favored us and just in that moment didn’t rain. Anyway our start of the performance was little bit late, because about 10 minutes before tha rain stopped and we really had to hurry to put clothes on etc., because we were pretty sure that we would present it next day due to rain.

It was really nice that we had pretty much audience to follow the presentation and everything went according to the plans and there weren’t any suprises, which we weren’t prepared for. Everyone knew well their role in every scene and put everything to those; everyone really threw oneself to improvise. We were happy for the whole presentation afterwards.

After the presentation, next day, we saw the film, which teacher had filmed of our presentation. It was really happy and full of humor and I think that we succeed to bring important moments in FMH to the presentation, which was the goal of the work. There were also many improvisation tecniques included to the presentation, even though they weren’t that obvious always. All in all final work was succesful and I learnt a lot.  

Passing by - 31/3/2014

Our last class in public places was entrance of Airport metrostation. It is a place where is lots of travellers and they are passing by in every second aiming to go in to the metro or in the airport. All in all, people are usually very happy  and content in these kinds of places, because travelling is often a pleasure: of course depending is the trip for holidays, working or going back home.

The place for improvising was very similar compared to the Chiado, where we were before. As I mentioned, the place is for passing by, so it is very difficult to take any further contact to the people because often they pass by very quickly and they have clear destination to aim. We started to improvisate agains the wall, so that one body part was freezed against to the wall and other parts were allowed to move. After that we had free hands to do everything what we had learned during the course this far.

For me this was more easier time to improvisate compared to the time when we were in Chiado, because the store of different improvising exercises was larger and there were always some new exercise what we could try to do after another. We tried contact improvisation (eyes open and closed), imitating, statue building, freezed and free movements. It is difficult to say what worked in that place the best and when people, who were passing by, would paid most attention to us. I think that overall people were interested, when the bigger group was doing something unusual and that was something, which paid their attention to us.

This was the last time outside of the class together and I liked very much these times, when we tried everything what we had learned some other place than in class. I think that during these times I really found new sides of me and I was suprised that I can do almost every improvisate exercise without uncomfortable feelings (for example embarrasment, scary, too much excitement). I was feeling really good every time and I was excited what we are going to do everytime and how the place would affect, when we improvisate. I think that every class I improved and collect more confidence to do and try different kinds of exercises. I can say that I am very happy what I have learned and I can be very proud of myself, becuase I really have stepped out of my comfort zone.  

Contact improvisation - 28/3/2014

This was the last time we worked doing contact improvisation with the guest teacher. I found many important things, which I consider very meaningful in the field of learning and teaching the improvisation and especially the contact improvisation.

We begun the class doing improvisation with objects, which we had chosen and which was meaningfull to us. I chose camera, because it has been very important object to me during my stay here in Portugal. It is been for me way to remember things and tell the story of my stay here. I never go here anywhere without camera, because there is always something which surprises me or makes happy, so the camera is for me the thing, that saves the important moments I have lived here.

I think that improvising with objectives is very good way to make a trip to ourselves and our relationships with objects. When we presented our short improvising compositions to the others, it was interesting to see that in many compositions, what kind of relationship people have to their objects, which they have picked. The movements and the voice together helped a lot to realize, what kinds of stories was behind the object and the person, who did the improvisation. Even though we can see and sense, what is the story behind the improvisation, I think that it is important that we don’t do conclusion, which goes very further. The story behind the movements and voice can be totally different to the person who made it than for the audience. Soi f we want to know the meaning for the person, we should first ask it from the person who made the composition.

We made also contact improvisation with pairs and it was extremly hard, but at the same time very interesting, because it really challenge you to think. The two main things in the contact improvisation are that, you can’t use force when you are doing movements with other people. The another thing is that you have to control your body, even though you will support and be supported by another person. You can’t give your whole weight to the arms of another. We learned that you can do the contact improvisation in the upper level (standing) and of course in the low level (in floor). It was much easier to do that on standing because the possibilities to support and be supported by were much more wilder. You could also let the another lead you and move you from place to another. I realized and learned that contact improvisation is very exact team work and the persons, who are doing it, are blend to each others as they were only one person.  

Improvising with pairs or in groups - 25/3/2014

Our class focused today lots of the contact improvisation and differents kinds of typical characteristics of imporovisation you can work with pair or in group. We practiced three different kinds of techniques you can work with others. First was to receive and give the weight. In this technique you have to be very relaxed and follow and feel really closely what the antoher is doing and response to the movement. When the other is giving weight to your body, you have to be prepared to receive the weight and support the another. You can give your weight with any part of your body (head, the middle body, hands, arms, legs) or support also with any part of your body.

The next technique was very close to the previous one, but this time you had to lift up your pair. The important thing was to concentrate to find the center of the others body and with center of your body to lift her/his up (abdominal, but also legs). Then the movement would be in balance and then it would be more easier to lift another up and you would have more strenght to do that. But you have to be very careful when you lift another, that you get the strenght from the legs and hold your back straight. Without remembering these you can very easily get injuries and hurt yourself. 

Last technique we learned was opposite forces. You can do with your pair lots of thing with this techinique. You can go for example up and down easily when you both are keeping backs against the others or hands locked to each others. You can spin your pair on the floor just going the opposite way than your pair. This is the main thing in this techinque: you have to use our body weight to going opposite way than your pair. But you have to remember to be also very careful, when you spin your pair that the arms are going right and that they won’t twist and go out of alignment.

In the end of the class we improvisated with these three techniques and also with one from the previous class: balancing on the others body. I think that it was really good practice to improvisate with these four techniques and combine these together. It was very easy and fluent to combine these techniques and follow the movement of your pair. It is more complicated in group of three, but the group did very well job, when they presented their improvisation to us.

This class was very interesting and I learn lots of new things during this class. These all are something I can work with the children and the young in the future as a teacher.

Movement after another – 21/3/2014

In this class I learned a lot of new thing about the improvisation. The basic things you have to keep in your mind is the level of the movement, the direction of the movement, the rhytm, the dynamic, the tempo (speed of the movement: fast, slow, pauses) and the contact to another persons and the balance inside the group (fill the space differently, choose different directions than others -> have the balance inside the group). When you keep these elements in your mind, you can create lots of different and varieting ”choreographies”, which are interesting and also suprising for the dancers but also the audience.

By changing these elements and using them actively in different improvising exercises, you can create lots of different series of the movements. Only by changing direction or the rhytm, the same pack of movements comes totally different and it is completely different from the original version and for the viewer, it is totally new ”choreography”.  

We did also excellent exercise where we first create five different movements (A, B, C, D, E) by ourselves. We practice this for a while and then showed it to the teacher. Then the teacher said another way for the letters (for example B, C, D, E, A) and we had to learn this by changing the order of the movements. After we had done this, we had to do the serie of the movement from the end till beginning.

For changing also the order of the movements, we can create every time a new series of the movements and it looks always different, even though the movements are the same. And this all is improvisation, because creating movements comes from the first thought and we don’t create absolutelly right order for the movements. And always in improvisation there is something, which is not the exactly the same than before. Sometimes it can be also very scary for the dancer, because you are not sure what is going to wait you, when you are presenting your improvisation choreography. But this gives you a lot of freedom and excitement for dancing. 

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