Dance Techniques 2010

214 Concept and Ideology
Intent
There is no recognizable aesthetic fostered by Minding
Motion. There are, however, certain visual and qualitative
elements that can be considered helpful in identifying
basic principles within the work analyzed here. Some of
these qualities are easefulness, efficiency, and individuality.
During feedback discussions with students, the question
of aesthetics was considered at length. An interesting
remark brought forth the idea of a hidden aesthetics, one
that works by taking the side entrance, so to speak. Even
in exploratory and experimental situations as employed
by Minding Motion, there is still a concept of integrative
movement that would seek to be embodied during the
process of learning.
In general, Minding Motion is not about imposing an
aesthetic of choreography and performance, but about
feeding the embodied knowledge one has as a maker / performer
so as to offer a range of possibilities in the quality
and dynamics of a movement, rather than favoring
a particular style or form. The question is: What can be
produced with this knowledge, beyond specific aesthetic
concerns? And what originates from within our own organism
rather than from a visual image, an exterior perception?
This would differ from teaching methods and
technical set–ups that aim to realize and manifest certain
styles (i.e., Vaganova, Cunningham, Forsythe). In other
words, the choices arrive from the inside, from ‘in–sight’,
and not from a form–driven focus replicating a specific
style.
The element of flow marks a physical ‘aim’ or underlying
concern within Minding Motion; the focus on ungluing
different layers of the body, so that movement can
sequence through it, seeks to expand and inform greater
choice. Therefore, rather then presenting fragmented
visions of movement, the approach is concerned with integrating
the different layers and aspects of the moving
body in motion.
A recurring term for a special quality of movement in
Minding Motion is easefulness. This designates a body organization
that is more concerned with a particular way
of generating movement rather than producing certain
shapes.
Tools to better understand and incorporate this notion
of easeful movement are anatomical visualisation and a
heightened consciousness of the movement scope, i.e., the
movement’s dimension, its articulatory radius, its anatomical
origin and support. For instance, the spine is experienced
as a whole, as a part of the skeleton that essentially
connects various parts of the body (hips, shoulder girdle,
ribs, pelvis, neck, head…). At the same time, it is flexible
in itself, and can serve as an awareness tool to make clear
both ‘total’ and ‘particular’ movement—as in the rolling
up and over of the torso, going down on hands and knees,
then moving slightly forward and backward. This general
movement is initiated and supported by the spine, but also
heightens awareness of the interconnectedness, the ‘totality’
of a movement and the effects on other parts and regions
of the body. To give a clearer sensation of this wholeness,
this movement is sometimes assisted by a partner. By
exerting slight resistance to the forward movement, the
repercussions of an effort made by the pelvis can be felt
and sensed in the neck and the upper head. Central to this
exploratory approach is the complexity of the movement
phenomenon, always embedded, as it were, in a kinetic
parcours defined less by a desired form, and more by the
organic coordination and pathway of the movement.
This focus on easefulness and internally initiated movement
is not primarily about ‘loose bodies’ or ‘de-contracted
bodies’. Easefulness needs to be explored, developed,
and permitted. The focus therefore is on progressing
through given forms or propositions (including certain
dancerly moves, certain energetic impediments, certain
distractions from the parcours as are generated by space,
weight, impulses, etc.).
With Minding Motion, Gill proposes movement research
that, among other things, also calls for an easeful
efficiency of movement—without giving up control
or consciousness of the movement itself. Even swinging
should not be conceived of as something that generates
eternal flow. Disruptive movement patterns, disruptions in
the flow of movement, seem to occur all by and of themselves.
The ideal way of moving easefully, then, might be
identified not so much by exploring a certain way of generating
or originating movement, rather it is about exploring
ways to not obstruct the flow.
As has been explained in previous chapters, the Minding
Motion approach concerns itself with a range of dance
and movement practices, from visions of physical self–determination
to the exploration of possibilities and individual
scope of movement, to nonstandard performance
making. However, this largely processual, nonconformist
approach to practice is always closely linked to the notion
of performance, to allowing the perceptual behaviour—
moment by moment—to be visible / readable.
One of the key attributes of Gill Clarkes approach is
how the body, as a system, is organizing and adapting
itself in relation to gravity: an integration of the central
11 Perceptual learning as a progressive differentiation,
perceivers becoming increasingly
sensitive to distinctions within the stimulus
information that were always there but previously
undetected. (See Eric Clarke, 2005)
12 Feldenkrais, 1985, p. 20.