Dance Techniques 2010

252
Understanding the Body / Movement
Exercises that help train awareness of ‘correspondence’
between individual body parts—i.e., that make a structural
similarity apparent between various body parts—
guide students to understanding connections and relations
within the body as well as assisting them in correct
movement execution. For instance, during a relevé–passé
exercise, students are asked to visualize a panel along the
inside of the thigh to facilitate muscle flatness; the inside of
the arm and palm are also rotated forwards for the same
sensation of flatness. Upper body movements thus support
movement of the lower body.
While Muller values good leg–work, the center 19 is
particularly important for movement initiation. Here all
movement begins, usually by releasing the center. Releasing
commences by relaxing the abdomen, allowing it to
move slightly forward—although Muller emphasizes that
this is not about extending the abdomen outward. In the
Muller Technique, curving the torso above the center
(which can be executed in connection with releasing the
center) differs from the classic modern curve, as here the
center is not considered to be a lifting, stabilizing, or even
contracting element. In contrast, when the body is energized
and moving upwards the center is visualized as widening.
In order to facilitate hip alignment, Muller sometimes
suggests students imagine the hips as a television screen. In
order to facilitate the slight curve in the lower back, they
should visualize an ‘obi belt’, which is a wide band encircling
the lower back and the center. The energized center,
when visualized thusly, is not achieved by using strength
and tension.
An energized and stable center is required for playing
with balance, for turns and tilts (whereby dancers can relinquish
the center alignment of the hips for a short time
before quickly finding it again). The center is not only the
initiation point for all movement, it is also the driving
force for all movements through the space. The movement
of the hips and center are always clearly directed, which is
initiated neither by (upward) thrusting nor by collapsing;
this keeps the body in its axis and helps avoid any sudden
imbalance. Balance is thus subtle, never powerful or
forced, and achieved by targeted application of energy that
flows throughout the entire body—all the way to the top
of the head—and by hip placement. Muller describes this
up–down polarity as a motor and support system available
when executing off–balance and risky movements.
The use of strength is discouraged inasmuch as it has to
do with contraction, control, and tension. For Muller, the
objective is to employ strength efficiently and to overcome
tension. By accessing the flow of energy and the body’s
structural alignment, stability can be achieved without activating
high muscle tonus. A visible and high degree of
muscular strength is used solely as a choreographic element
that serves to increase tension.
Instead of strength, Muller commonly uses the term
‘sourcing’, i.e., constantly filling the movement with energy.
This allows for longer, more stable, and more expressive
suspension in balance or turns, and for maintaining
and filling shapes for a longer time.
Fundamentally, energy can only flow in one direction:
the relevé is driven by an upward flow of energy. The plié,
in contrast, requires a complete draining of energy. When
executing both up as well as down movements, it is paramount
to use as little muscle strength as possible. During
the relevé, there is no pushing upward and no opposing
movement is visualized. This applies even more so to the
plié, in which the body simply melts away. This melting
goes hand–in–hand with sensing gravity.
Muller’s technique is based on a play with and against
gravity. Gravity is especially palpable and necessary for
the plié. The Muller Technique plié is a grounded one that
gives in to gravity, has a soft quality, and is accompanied
by a release of the abdominal muscles. These qualities provide
dancers the necessary connection to the floor, enabling
them to better transition between what are sometimes
risky moves.
One never collapses the body’s structure; a measured
release is called for. Muller speaks here of ‘liquid weight’,
or the previously mentioned lava flows that ‘melt’ the legs,
or warm energy that flows along the legs. ‘Dropping’ and
‘dissolving’ are two additional terms that suggest softness
in reference to body weight.
Gravity is one of the few things that, according to
Muller, can be felt directly in the body—as opposed to, for
instance, flows of energy or the anatomical structure of
the body, which she considers primarily accessible through
visualization.
In the combination shapes, gravity will only be sensed
in certain body parts (the legs, for example), while other
parts (the arms, for instance) are energized. ‘Sourcing of
energy’ is considered the counterpart to gravity. Energy is
actively tapped by the dancer who then directs it, enabling
19 About localizing the body’s center, see the
introduction to Concept and Ideology.
20 See also the previous description of this
exercise in this subsection.
21 See also the in–depth description about
this in “Concept and Ideology”, keyword
‘Intent’.
22 For explanation of shapes, see also “Concept
and Ideology”, keyword ‘quality’, and in
this section: ‘Movement Characteristics and
Physicality’.