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Dance imagery improvisation exercises

This is an excerpt from Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance 3rd Edition by Eric Franklin.

An image that produces dynamic changes requires initiation. An image that changes the surface of the body reverberates out into space. When working with a group, it is a good idea to watch each other improvise. It may be interesting not to let the observers know what image you are working on to see if they can recognize it. If you imagined yourself as a robot and everybody says that you looked like a jellyfish, you know that you need to work on that image. After you finish an improvisation session, write down your experiences in a notebook. Even extraneous thoughts and images that entered your mind while improvising are of interest. Which images were most compelling to you? Which ones did you dislike? What parts of your body are more difficult to access with a specific image? To begin the improvisation you can be standing, sitting, lying on the floor, or in any preferred position. Let the image sink in before you begin. At the end of an improvisation exercise it is valuable for the members of the group to communicate their experiences with each other. These discussions are often rich sources of information on the relationship between imagery and movement.

Creating Shape

No matter how free, bizarre, avant-garde, modern, or antique the dance is, there is no escaping shape. If you cannot create a shape or you do not know how to re-create a shape, you lack a basic tool of dance. One of my first experiences in sculpting with my body was lying on my back in the snow of the Swiss winter and swishing my legs and arms up and down to create an angel. While doing this I was acutely aware of using my body to create a shape because snow would get into my clothes.

Exercise 5.1 Exercises for Creating Shape

1. The mold: Before you go into a position, see a hollow mold, a negative shape waiting for you in the space. You fit snugly into this perfect mold. In the beginning, go very slowly so that you can see the whole mold in full detail. If you prefer, see only one side of the mold. The mold may have a quality of resiliency, like foam rubber. Create your own favorite mold consistency. Any shape you dream up can instantly be turned into a mold. As you become more skilled at this image, move from mold to mold at greater speeds. You can even leap into a mold. This image helps to create crystal-clear shapes (figure 5.1). (Based on Jeanette Stoner.)

   

2. The six terminations: Think of the body as having six terminating points: top of the head, tailbone (coccyx), fingers of the left hand, toes of the right foot, fingers of the right hand, and toes of the left foot. Watch these points change their relative position as you move through space. Let these points define your position. Arrive in a shape with all six points hitting the position at the same time or sequentially. If it is difficult to see all six points, practice with the hands and feet separately from the head and tail. Apply this image in dance technique class. This exercise is especially helpful for clearly maintaining the relationships of body parts while revolving in movements such as arabesque or attitude turns.
3. Envisioning shape: Ideally this exercise is done outdoors in a wooded area. Carefully observe the shapes around you. Select one shape that you will imagine yourself to be. Clearly visualize the shape you are going to be in. Put your body into this shape as precisely as you can. Once you have practiced making individual shapes, imagine how your shape relates to the environment.
4. Distortion of shape: Select a shape from a photograph or from your memory. Once you achieve full clarity in this shape, become its reflection in water. Imagine how the water distorts the shape. Then imagine again that you are the original shape. Move from being the reflection to the original several times (figure 5.2).

   

5. Shoes and gloves: Imagine that shoes and gloves are hovering in space, defining a position. Guide your hands and feet into these shoes and gloves. This image is particularly useful in jazz dance. Try very percussive movements and a variety of gloves and shoes. Imagine your hands sliding into very long, elegant gloves. Also imagine sliding out of the shoes and gloves.
6. Tossing the inner space: Toss the space inside your body into the shape you want to achieve. The body surface immediately follows the inner guidance.
7. Lingering shapes: As you move, imagine that a trace of your shape still lingers in the space you just occupied, like translucent statues. After a while the whole room is filled with your shapes, like the sculpture wing of a museum. Erase them, then begin anew to fill the space with shapes.

More Excerpts From Dance Imagery for Technique and Performance 3rd Edition

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