Final work - 26/05/2015

In the end of the course we had to make this final work/presentation/choreograph to present. The final work was supposed to be the conclusion of all of the things we learned during this Oficina de danca II course. The title of the work was wild and civilized. The work was divided into seven smaller parts and everybody were in charge of one part. I was responsible of two parts with Barbara, the beginning and the machine. It actually took lot of time to get the parts ready. I had some ideas for my parts but the making process was really long. I should have had more specific ideas and even ready to teach choreographs for my parts. But because we divided the parts with Barbara it was hard to combine our ideas even though we had quite similar ideas. I have to admit that I was gone when the girls did the machine part but we did plan the main parts of it with Barbara before the class was. Right from the beginning I wanted to have magazines in the work because I think that represents the civilized part of the work. There were some parts that we could have done differently for example the end of the magazine reading "on the bench" because in some parts we didn´t take the scene all the way to the end or to the end that would have made sense.

The process of this work was little bit complicated and long. We did´t have a leader that would have heard everybody´s suggestions and then made a decision that would have suited for everybody. There were many powerful personalities who argued about really small things and during that time the work was´t going anywhere. In the practice there where many times when not all of us where there. That made the process longer because it was hard to complete or continue the work without everybody present. During the next lesson we had to start all over again because we had to taught the new parts for the ones that were gone last time. But we also worked together and everybody gave ideas for every part even though somebody was responsible of it. That made the process of the work more interesting and I got the feeling that we really did it together.

In my opinion you can´t really see the title in this work. There are parts where it shows but I think we had only seven separated parts that were´t that well connected and there were not really a plot behind the work. We had a good idea about the plot but the outcome was´t that planned and organized. We should have worked more around the title and how it shows in the work. I did´t really agree with the place where we wanted to present the work. It was´t because it was the most crowded place in Lisbon but because it did´t suite for our theme. Well for the civilized part it did but not for the wild. Also we could have played more with the clothes.

In the end I´m really glad that we finished up the choreograph because at one time I thought that we are never going to finish it up. I am actually really glad how the work finally did turn out. There are interesting parts in it for example the group contact improvisation and the battle of the wild and civilized. And we also had fun during doing it. I learned a lot about the process of making bigger choreograph and how to work with a group.

This is the video of the final work: wild and civilized

Last contact improvisation session - 17/04/2015

We started this class with follow the leader practice. First we had to follow one person at a time. The leader improvised movement that other ones followed. Teacher told us who to follow. After that we could decide from two persons which one we choose to follow and you could change the leader (from the two leaders) when ever you wanted. That is actually nice variation for the basic follow the leader exercise.

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After this practice we used boxes and partner for a contact improvisation. This time I felt better about working with a box and partner. We actually had really good flow going on. Of course box made the contact improvisation harder but this time we actually saw it as a opportunity than object that is  limiting the movement. In the end we made improvisation choreograph where the beginning and the end was agreed and practiced before. First it was hard to find beginning that we would both like but we eventually got something that we both liked. I think the contact improvisation got way too intensive when we were presented it to the rest of the group. I did´t have enough time in the movements and that is why we lost the connection for a while and sometimes I was actually really lost what was going on in our improvisation. But in the end I can say that my improvisation and contact improvisation improved a lot. I´m still a little bit shy of doing contact improvisation. Being shy I mean I don´t go for really extreme positions or lifts. I rather stay with the movements that are natural for me. Now I do explore new things without feeling scared or insecure anymore. Doing contact improvisation is lot of fun and you actually learn about your body a lot while doing that.

Contact improvisation - 27/03/2015

In this class and in the first practice I felt like I did´t give everything out of me and that I was pushing against the impulses that my partner gave me. I really did´t know what she wanted me to do even though I know that in improvisation there is no right or wrong movement. It was also hard to do impulses to the partner because I really did´t know what kind impulses I should do and then I did the same kind of impulses all over again. I should have just experienced it more. I still feel that  I´m not as relaxed that I could be even though I have learned a lot and contact improvisation is not that scary and uncomfortable for me anymore but still it´s not that normal for me. But I have gone far already.

The first contact improvisation practice with a partner did´t really work. I don´t know what was the problem or reason for that it just did´t work. Maybe we both waited that other one will lead and then we just did our own things and there were not really a connection between us. Then we changed pairs and when doing contact improvisation again we were in a flow mode with my partner and everything just worked really well. Maybe our movements were different so it fit together.

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Improvisation with a box - 24/03/2015 and 10/04/2015

Entering to this class was mysterious because the teacher was doing something in the dance hall and also in a different one where we usually are and she did not let us in right away. When we got in it was really surprising how different the room looked like. There where boxes on the floor and there was this light show/video going on in the room. This environment made me really want to explore it and do improvisation there. All of us got their own box to work with. There was music on the background that effected the movements. I got inspiration from the lights and the videos on the background also. At first I thought that I can't really do anything with the box. And actually when working with a box the opportunities are smaller than working with a partner for example. But when I started to explore the box more, I saw all the opportunities that I can have while having contact improvisation with the box. It makes it more interesting when you change the object of the contact. I would definitely use this with students also. It´s really important to have good guidelines and instructions for students so that they don´t get bored. I could dance the whole day but they don´t have that much interest on that and motivation. 

Teacher made the light and video show with this free software that is called IsadorCore. This software is really interesting because you can change the picture, which the program is showing. For example the software can only show moving part on the computer. So if you stay still, you can´t see yourself from the computer. This something totally different and interesting and that´s why it would be nice to take it to school also. Maybe the ones that are not that interested in sports or dancing might get hyped about this software and the technology and the possibilities that it´s giving. Using this software as a part of choreographs would be really interesting and that would be really cool and interesting project for students. Maybe it could be used in the school´s celebrations where there is always some program. This software definitely brings new perspective in dancing and improvising.

We had contact improvisation with a box during another class also. I think it´s easier to dance with a box than with a person because the you don´t have to think about what the other one is thinking. But on the other hand the opportunities of movement are more limited with a box. We also tried to do contact improvisation with a box (one box per pair) and with a partner. I have to admit that this exercise was really hard for me. I could not find a contact to my partner at all. I felt like we were just dancing separately and the box was an object between us that we used in awhile. It was also hard to find a flow in the movement because we where doing our own things. Sometimes my partner was trying to control me but I guess I did´t do that kind of movement that she thought that I would do. In this pretties there where too many things that had to take into account. 

Improvisation at the Praca do Comércio - 23/03/2015

For this class we came outside again and went to Rua da Augusta, Praca do Comércio and the river side of the Tejo river. 

First we did Antoinette doll practise. The idea was that one of us is a doll and one or two persons are moving the doll. For me it was really hard to move only that one body part what my friends were moving because it was kind of automatic that some of the opposite body parts wanted to move at the same time. When two of the girls moved to body parts at the same time I felt like my whole body started to move and I had no control on it. This exercise was really nice because you were´t responsible of the out come. My partners did all the work and I just had to concentrate on controlling my body. This is again really good exercise to school. 

In the next part we had to imagine that there is a rubber band between us. We had to move like it is controlling our movement and keeping us attached to the each others. The rummer band stretches and shortens and that is how it controls the movement. It was really funny that my friend cut my part of the rubber band and I was left alone. First I was just thinking that what just happened and felt really alone. Then I realized I should continue the movement with all the improvisation possibilities that we have learned all ready.  Still it felt really hard this time I don´t know why. I just fell that I don´t have material bank where to take all the movement. I could have just used following when I would have not needed any movement bank. 

In the end we did this exercise where we were in small groups and everybody told their favorite place in the spot. The idea was to got to everybody´s favorite place and then end up the exercise with a spot that the whole group decided. In the end we were supposed to do contact improvisation and a lift.  The trip to these different favorite places was part of the improvisation. We decided what kind of movement we are going to use while we travel to the favorite spots. The ending of this exercise was the best part because we got to do contact improvisation and at that time I really felt that I belong to the group and that we did a small trip together. 

Improvisation and acrobatics - 17/03/2015 and 20/03/2015

We kept this class in the judo hall because of the soft floor. We did lots of lifts in this class so that is why we needed the soft floor. The place was new for me so I missed the beginning of the class because I could not find the place. 

Dancing and contact improvisation includes lots of lifts, supporting, balancing and acrobatics. Doing these lifts and acrobatics you have to control your body really well because otherwise acrobatic movements are not going to work out. We started to do movement to your partner´s body. This exercise was about letting yourself totally relaxed and letting your pair to do the movement to your body. This is really good exercise for gaining the trust of the partner. It actually felt really good and relaxing when my partner was pulling we around the floor. But when I was doing that to my partner I realized that it is actually hard work to move the other. Good work out and good exercise to school also.

I did not feel comfortable of being lift because I´m much bigger than the others so that made me feel like they are not going to have enough power to lift me. The whole group actually did lift me and I felt really cool and kind of weightless during the lift. We had to move while we where in the air and that part I felt really hard for me because you should know how to control and move your body really well when you are in the air. So I came down pretty fast. You actually have to have lot of strength to do lifts but it´s also about the balance between the supporter and the one that is being supported.

In the last practice that we did we had to hold hands in a group of three and make improvisation with pulling, pushing and balancing and there where supposed to be balance in between us. I think in some parts we where moving way too fast and that is why there where no long balanced parts in the improvisation. I actually have lot of strength and doing this practice I noticed that I was pulling against the movement many times and I did not let the tension to disappear.

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I think lifts are more easy to execute when you have same sized partner. Because when I had smaller partner I felt like she is not going to be able to lift me even though it is about the balance in the movement. It is also hard work to keep the balance when you are doing both roles. Also controlling your body is really hard.

I think contact improvisation with lifts and acrobatics are really good exercises to school. Especially for guys that usually don´t like dancing that much. I think this is good combination of gymnastics and dancing. It is important to show to students that there can be so many different ways of dancing. It takes lot of courage and trust to do lifts so it is really good way to make students to work together and with different kind of people. This is an excellent way of getting to know your body better.

There are three different kinds of techniques that you can do improvisation with others. In the first technique it is important that you receive and give the weight. In this technique you really need to listen and follow what the other one is doing and then respond to that. When the partner is putting weight on to your body, then you have to be prepared to receive the weight of the other and support her. Putting weight and supporting can happen with any part on the body for example head, hands, arms or legs.

In the next technique you add lifting to the previous technique. The important thing is to find the center of the partner´s body and with your body center to lift partner up. When you find the balance it is easier to do the lifting. When you find the balance, you actually have more power to do the lift but remember to do the lift with your legs and not with the back for example. Keep the back straight in any case. If you don´t follow these instruction you are more likely to get injuries and hurt yourself and the partner.

In the third technique the thing is to use opposite forces. Using this technique you can for example go down and come up again being back against back. You have to use your body weight to go to the opposite way than your partner is going. Doing these opposite forces you have to be careful so that nothing goes wrong. 

Improvisation at the Parque das Nacões - 16/03/2015

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We started the improvisation at the Park around this "ball". It was nice to feel the energy that went thru us while we were holding hands. In some part the energy got too powerful so we had to let go from holding hands. Then we experienced what kind of movement we could actually do in this space with the ball, the walls and also with this "ship monument". 

In one exercise we did a machine. The idea was that one person starts to do a movement and sound that could be part of a machine. Then one by one all of us joined and together we made a machine. I chose jumping as my movement and that wasn´t a smart choice because I didn´t have the energy to keep on doing that movement and also my concentration on that exercise was poor. It was also hard to slow down jumping when the machine was running down and getting more slow. This would be a really interesting exercise to take to school and see what will the outcome be. 

In the park of Parque das Nacões we explored the space by improvisation. The idea was that we could follow people that pass by or have contact with the members of the group or get ideas for the improvisation from the space. The water element was really interesting and lot of us used it as a source in their improvisation. I followed my classmates but also people that passed by. It´s always interesting to follow people because their way of moving differs from mine way of doing things and also I got new ideas by following people. We connected and made some contact improvisation together with the whole group and for me that was really special. I really felt that I belong to the group. 

I made a connection with a small kid that I was following. First the boy didn´t realize that I was following his movement but his mom did notice. After a while the mom told the boy that I was following him and after that he tried couple of movements to see if I would still follow him. I did. The feeling was really unique. In the end he waved at me and I waved back to him. It so much fun how little kids don´t have boundaries and for them it is normal to take part in a game and play. Adults should learn from the kids. Remember to joy of the little things and once in a while let go and play. With adults it is that they think too much what others might think and they are too embarrassed to play and fun anymore. For me this improvisation outside of the dance hall was really refreshing experience and it really made me step out from the comfort zone. 

Working together: contact improvisation - 06/03/2015

This class was all about contact improvisation. The main idea was that you can use pulling, pushing and spinning with the pair and with the group. When I worked with a pair I felt that the movement was forced in the beginning because I´m not used to being so close to somebody and trusting on her was hard. I think I got more comfortable being so close to somebody and I started to trust on the partner already during the class. I guess you have to do lot of contact improvisation practices to get used to it and find the "normal" and natural way of moving with the other. But sometimes you just click with somebody. It is really different and interesting to work with different kind people because sometimes you might have same kind of body language and both of you wants to be "the leader" so then there is no flow in the movement and the movement is forced. I think it was much easier to work with the group and have contact when we were on the floor. I think it was because of the support from the floor and when being up you have lots of opportunities that makes you overwhelmed. It was same with the pair. We did´t stay up that long and going back up was really hard and we did´t really do that. 

In the practice we stayed at the same place but also moved from the other side of the room to the other side. When working with the group we had to move across the room and we had to imagine that there is a strong wind against us. It was really hard to combine the contact and the image. Sometimes I also thought that I was left alone in a group  because I was´t in a contact with somebody for a while. After the practice I heard that you don´t have to be in contact the whole time that you can get separated and then you can return to the group when you feel like it.

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Daily routines - 03/03/2015

This class was all about the daily routines. We started the class on the floor where we were supposed to sleep and then wake up and start to do you're every day routines for example take the shower, wash your teeth, go to school etc. And then we ended the practice on the floor when "going to bed". 

After this we had to make a choreograph with these daily routines that we just did. You can narrow down the amount of the movements on the choreograph. I did only three things so my choreograph was really sort and easy to remember. Teacher also asked as to keep the movements simple. After we did our choreographs we formed pairs or groups of three. Then we taught your choreographs to the partner or to the group and then had a longer choreograph. Then we showed the choreograph to everybody else. After that teacher made us to change the style of the movement. For example the movement have to look like you are on a slippery ice. It is actually really hard to change the movement and makes the choreograph more interesting. The ones that watched the choreographs had to guess what kind of image did teacher give to the group.

I would actually take this exercise (the whole exercise) to dance classes in school. This opinion because it is easier for students to make movement from their daily routines. Students will have interaction with each other when they teach their choreographs to each other. They also have to change the movement to the image that teacher gives and it is also good exercise for the students to think what kind of changes happened in others choreographs. 

Improvisation at the Centro Cultural de Belém - 02/03/2015

I was really nervous but at the same time really excited about this class because the class was outside of the dance hall where we usually have our classes. This was actually the first for me to do improvisation outside of the dance hall. The class was kept in the Centro Cultural de Belém. I was nervous about what would people say and think about us dancing there but they did´t really mind. I guess people are used to dancing in different places and also outside of the dance halls especially now when flashmobs and street dance shows are more common. I didn´t actually feel uncomfortable or awkward at all. Maybe it was because there where the whole group of us doing the improvisation. If I would have done it by myself then I guess it would have been uncomfortable. 

At first we listened the voices that surrounded us and moved to the voices that we heard for example train passing by or birds singing. We also imitated people that where nearby. This exercise was really nice because I got to be in my own world and explore the surroundings in my own pace but also connected with others. It is interesting how many ideas and inspiration the surroundings can give to your improvisation. 

The second improvisation was follow the leader and we did it in a smaller groups. We followed the leader but with small delay of the movement. It was nice to be the follower because everybody does so different kind of movement and you get new ideas from their movement. 

The last improvisation practice that we did was about chancing the dynamics of the movement. We had this circle which was divided in four sections and in every section we did different kind of movement (slow, quick, new and old and your own movement). When you changed the section you did movement from your daily routines. New and old movement section was really hard because didn´t really have any ideas for that. In the end it was funny how this big group stayed and watched us for a while. I got the feeling that you where really performing even though you where dancing just to yourself! :) 

Being in a contact - 27/02/2015

At first in this class we did improvisation by yourself. First we started to move having our feet on the ground. The idea was to have feet on the ground and make movement towards the ground, no movement at all, go around and stretch to different directions. Next part was to try the same thing but have your back against the floor. It was actually lot more difficult to move while having your back on the floor at the same time because back of you body is really big area. Trying to move yourself while keeping the back against the floor it made the options of the movements narrower. We also tried to make movement where some body part touches the floor, it did´t matter what body part it was but some body part had to always touch the floor.

Then we tried this exercise with a partner or in a group of three. First the contact area was hands and after that we tried to move back against back. Partners should end up having a flow in the movement when they both are following other´s movement. Partner´s movement was easier to follow when back was against back because the contact area was bigger. But on the other hand big contact area narrows the possibilities of movement and also it is harder to feel the smaller movement of the partner.

The next practice was about moving you´re pair with words while the partner that is moving is having her eyes closed. Sometimes I was doubting my partner´s instructions because I felt like I was really close the wall and that is why I got suspicious. You really had to trust on the pair because other wise this practice would have not worked. When I started to move my partner only with the words I felt that I had a really big responsibility of my partner. It was hard to describe the movement that I wanted that my partner does because you can understand the description in so many ways. For example spinning on the floor can mean rolling on the floor or going around the spot where you are. And sometimes it was to think about what will I want that my partner does. 

In the next part we still continued working with pairs. The other one of the couple had her eyes closed and the other one was leading the way by having her hand on the neck. In this practise it was really hard to give that kind of signals of how you wanted you´re partner to move. But it was even harder to be the one eyes closed because you really did´t understand the signals what the other one was going to tell you. The hardest thing for showing was to go down and come up.

In the end we had this really nice exercise where one person stays up and others are laying on the floor really close to each other. That one person goes on top of us and the people on the floor started to turn so then the one on the top was moving across everybody. This would be a really god ice breaker for school gym classes but the students have to know each other quite well before doing this. 

Improvisation with a pair: verbal and nonverbal communication - 24/02/2015

This class was about improvisation with a pair. First idea was to move with the pair and have different body parts touching the pair at all times for example hip or hand. Then we got to decide which bodypart is touching and which bodypart is leading the way. Contact improvisation is really new thing for me because I haven`t really done it before. Also being in a contact with someone is hard for me because I have my own personal space. Letting somebody to enter my personal space is  strange but at the same time I´m learning to loose it up and letting people come closer to me. With contact improvisation you get to know the persons way better and you get a deeper connection with them because you really need to trust on them when you work together. 

Facial expressions
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In this practice where we communicated with sound and movement 

and also only with movement I realized that verbal communication is so much more effective because you can use both your voice and face expressions to make it clear what do you want to tell to the other person. But in the end I think that people believe more in nonverbal communication. If person`s expressions and verbal messages are in conflict, people often believe more in the body language and expressions because body language rarely lies.  

Last excercise was to feel and then improvise to your partner´s feelings and emotions. The idea was to be influenced by the partners feelings and do movement that reflects the partners emotions. The idea was not to copy all the movements that your partner is doing. For me it was really hard to read and understand the feelings and emotions that my partner had. We actually had a group of three and that made the exercise even more challenging. Many times I started to do my own thing and move as I felt even though the idea was to move to the other one´s feelings.

This class actually reminded me of being an exchange student in Portugal. My Portuguese is really poor even though I can understand something. My communication and understanding in the class is mostly based on the people´s expressions and body language when teaching is happening Portuguese. It was interesting to realize that even though I don´t understand what the teacher is saying or the instructions she was giving I could still understand the main idea of the exercise just by following, following the expressions and doing the same as the teacher or the other students were doing. 

In the end we also had this practice where we made a triangle. This triangle form was supposed to stay thru the whole exercise even though it turned during the exercise. The person that is on the tip of triangle starts the movement and other ones are imitating the movement. Everybody will be the leader.