ID Teachers

We were asked to look on the ID website at the teachers and their method of teaching and what somatic practice they do. The teachers i looked at were:


Gill Clarke

• She worked with intelligence of the moving body. 
• New forms of somatic practices- Experiential Anatomy, Alexander Technique, Improvisation and Feldenkrais.
• Worked closely with Siobhan Davies 
• Movement practice involved skeletal connections and use of the breath to open pathways of energy through the body. 

Scott Clark

• Movement method is focused on the Feldenkrais Technique. 
• He works with this question of ... How can I come into closer contact with the life and intelligence of the body?

Henry Montes 

• Craniosacral Biodynamics
• His classes focus on the quality of the breath, tuning into our midline, grounding and orienting to space, how our fluids support our tissues, organs and how they in turn support our structure.
• Training in Yoga and Argentine tango and is a registered Craniosacral Therapist and Alexander Technique teacher. 

March Summary

This month has been a lot about YES & NO. In my improv class we had a guest lecturer Becca Thomas for 4 weeks. In the first class she set up a task where we had to move towards and away from the floor. I found myself using the yield and push pattern from BMC which later developed into what i call YES & NO. 

YES means Yield 

NO means Push 

Throughout the classes we have had this month i have been using this to move with. Working in solo or with others i find this works as is it clear and simple task that allows for many things to happen. I think i prefer simpler ideas and tasks to work with as they usually open up and allow for me to really investigate the idea.

Because of this interest with the YES & NO i decided to investigate this for my peer facilitation. I wanted to explore the yield and push pattern we have explored in EA but i choose to approach it in a different way, something that has worked for me and i have been using in class is “YES & NO’. Yes is a way of yielding into the floor, another person or movement, and NO and is the push away from the floor, bodies or the movement.

Points to take away:

Dont always expect my interpretation to be the same as others.
Be clear in my intention
Be confident in what i am doing
It is interesting to see how others interpret my idea (how can i use this to further my investigation) 

Maybe think about the use of music and how this can aid the movement. 

My final thought out of all of this is 'You cant have YES without NO'. 

February Summary

In this months moving journey there has been several interests and points that have come up for me. 

The first was learning about the homologous, homolateral and contralateral patterns. Doing these within movement patterns gave me an of awareness of my bodies length. These patterns also felt more realistic even though the homolateral pattern in walking feels strange.  Maybe because it involves more of my movement vocabulary today. 

The 3 different levels of witnessing is one of the other interests that i have been working with.

1: Witnessing a person while not moving.

2: Witnessing one or a group while moving myself 

3: Witnessing yourself moving. 

Number the 3 final one is reflective and keeping embodied and aware throughout is an interesting but challenging task. I find this brings questions such as… What am i doing? …. Is what i am seeing the same and what i am doing? …. How do i see myself? (birds eye view) ….. Do i only see me or others?….

These questions are all questions i find my self asking when i am moving. The one i know is always the same is... How do i see myself?.... for this question i always get the same answer and it is usually when i am writing in my journal that i realise it is the same. I always see myself from a birds eye view i find it hard to see myself from closer or within. 

During some of the classes I used free writing in my reflecting to use as stimuli for moving, this is something that i find works for me as i often reflect and free write questions and using questions as a stimuli for moving opens up more. 

The final point to reflect upon on is during a BMC class we moved through all the movement patterns so far. During this there were several patterns that were hard to get into in the time limit we had, however i found the mouthing digestive pattern and the use of the spine easy to find and i enjoyed this the most. My experience of doing these patterns provide images that i can relate to, also the practical aid of chewing the sweet in a previous class stayed with me and i was able to use that to inform my moving. 

January Summary

 At the start of this month I wrote 3 goals for term 2:

• Investigate my question of 'How can experience a new experience? '
• Pin Point my interets in moving each day or each week 
• Allow new 

So this months movement practice has brought up a few different interests, mostly relating to my goals:

• Attention 
• Allowing things to change 
• The on going question how can I experience and new experience. 

The first point, Attention came from my own interest and other influences. With dissertation on my mind, having a workshop with Charlie Morrissey and also studio practice it is something I am drawn to. With reference to BMC and the work we have been doing on a friday, giving my attention to intention of where the movement is coming from is a useful tool to use, as I found in my experience when watching my partner the information I receive is a lot. Therefore by drawing my attention to the intention of the movement allows for my own identification and interests to become from the movement. Also as a choreographer you need to be able to identify what you want to see as it could be too much and you will not see anything. Paying attention to intention also became useful in Feldenkrais. As the intention of the movements is to do them with as little effort, specific attention have to be paid to fulfil the intention. By doing this in Feldenkrias I have noticed a shift of attention during my other classes in how I concentrate on attention. One of the sessions in Feldenkrais I noticed how heavy my shoulder was to lift. This took over any other thought about the action i was doing until i shifted my attention to the center of my back and started trying to lift from my shoulder blade. This level of attention to the movement allowed a whole different approach that became easier to do. This practice of attention in both classes has helped in general and they are slightly different but are still asking to think about a similar thing. The other class that it has been helpful in is, phrase class. During the phrases we are asked to think about what is going on within the movement you are doing, by paying attention to the intention of the movement allows for this to happen. I used to find it hard to concentrate on the intention as i just wanted to perform the phrase, however by working on the attention, this has become easier and i am able to identify and think about the intention whilst performing the phrase. 

The next two points, Allowing things to change and experiencing a new experience overlap as I have found if I allow things to change (allowing new) then the new experience is there. Also by pin pointing my interests each day I am acknowledging how I change and what I change to. This plays a huge part in experiencing a new experience. By having the interest different but the task/score/movement the same there is a difference as I am thinking about a new thing or interested in a different part.  These two points have be applied in various movement classes which has given me a challenge i enjoy.

December Summary

The tutorial for Movement Studies 3, and all the preparation allowed me to think widely about my practice. I enjoyed and found the questions for the tutorial very useful as I had a specific focus when thinking about my practice. The later questions were most useful as they were asking me to reflect, which always brings up questions within my practice and areas I want to instigate. One of the focuses for the term was about Seeing and being seen, during the tutorial Natalie gave me points on how to bring this into next term, without it being one of my main focuses. This will be one of my aims. By talking out load in the tutorial about my development over the term was a useful task for me and I sometimes get lost in words when writing and loose my point, also it feels more real to speak it and tell someone than to type it, as you have the question of the is the writing being true to what I think. The general conversation between my study group members, Natalie and my self, opened up different point of views I had not thought about, in regarding each practice. I allowed myself to take the different views but also be confident in my own views and practice. 

What I will take away from the tutorial is: 

• Carry on with my focuses, however allow others to be brought in. 
• Work with the my question about 'How can I experience a new experience? 
• Ask questions about any readings I don't understand.
• Reflect on how the work in BMC, helps my other practice. 

These are the questions that i found most useful, By putting them on here others can ask questions also i can refer back to them during next term. 


Which study group members blog did you find most interesting and why?

I like both Beth’s and Abbie’s November posts, as in a way they are both different. Beth’s is very reflective and I find very similar my own journey therefore, I can relate to it well and it is also interesting to read how each person can reflect on their own journey. On the other hand Abbie’s post is all the information in a nut shell, so It was nice to read over and see where her reflection have been drawn in relation to the specific elements.  

Give one or two examples of how your own practice has developed this term?

SEEING !! I feel this is a big element and my main focus this month in terms of my movement practice. I would say I have improved however, I know sometimes I catch myself out by not understanding what I am seeing. I have a habit of choosing multiple targets, not allowing myself to stick with one subject and really focus and be true to that one thing. However by having the ‘seeing and being seen’ as a main focus, I feel I have accomplished two things. One, seeing and actually seeing and the second, sticking with a focus and following through with it. That’s not to say I have finish developing it though.  

How has reflective practice supported this?

By reflecting I question. I have always been intrigued with questions and found they help me to develop. A question feels a lot less intimidating and invites more possibilities than a statement does (for me anyway). By questioning: What am I seeing, when I look? Allows me to work on finding an answer, and the reflective process is anything from just thinking, to journaling or blogging. 

What connections have you been able to make across your different studio classes?

I have noticed a connection between experiential anatomy (EA) and feldenkrais, in the way we attend some of the movement tasks. There is a certain level of attention that is needed in EA to understand and get the full potential out of the information given and the movement task that follows. By learning about and doing feldenkrais, although they are different I feel I learnt a level of tuning and awareness that I can take into other tasks. 

The whole understanding of our anatomy and in relation to other spies, has given me almost an insight to our inside and how we are formed, work and develop. I believe this is just a general level of understanding in which I can address in all classes. 

Which movement principle and/or practice(s) have you found most useful and why?

I have found the navel radiation pattern (NRP) to be the most useful as It has given me a clear image and connection between the whole of my body, which has been useful in everything I do. However learning about the digestive system and the mouthing pattern has been most interesting and present in my practice. 

What would you like to develop further in your practice next term?

I would still like to develop seeing and being seen, but maybe not as a main focus. I would like to see if all the work I have done this term would stay with me without it being my main focus. How can I experience a new experience? This question has intrigued me in this term and I would like to play and investigate this further next term.

November summary

 

Over this month I have concentrated on ‘SEEING AND BEING SEEN’, this has been my main focus as I have received feedback questioning what I am seeing. I have previously set myself too many targets or areas to look at and not fully given my attention to each one. I feel this has resulted in me not feeling like I have achieved anything, therefore I decided this month I would give my full attention to ‘seeing and being seen’ in all classes and self-practice.

In relation to Friday classes, moving from the Star Fish onto the Sea Squirt, there is a shift in organisation from the centre, to the head. This is where the digestive track and the mouthing pattern come into play. The mouthing pattern connects the Sea Squirt and babies together as they both explore and investigate through their mouth.  

I have really enjoyed learning about the mouthing pattern and the movement development in babies. This has a close relation to the learning's about the digestive system. From one of the self-study movement tasks I found when moving with the mouthing pattern I started thinking about leading with the head. After I noticed this I brought in the awareness of the digestive track a found this is a place I like to be.

Referring back to my October blog I talked about experiencing a new experience, this is most present in the self-study tasks as I always refer back to what we did in lesson. However on Tuesday in our release class we repeat phrases and within these I always try and bring a new awareness each time. This question is still an ongoing puzzle that I would like to explore more next term.

October Summary

The first few Friday classes around perception and senses gave me a lot of food for thought, and helped clarify and understand my question for dissertation which is around sense perception. By practically learning about this made it easier for me to remember the important aspects. I always knew I was a visual learning, but by actually moving with information I found is a lot better.

Learning about cells and doing the self-study task, moving with the awareness of the cells brought up a challenge or question:  

How can I experience a new experience and understand it as a new experience?

Do I have to?

This came after having previously in class done the same task, I found myself just thinking and noticing what I felt the first time, therefore having the same experience. Then this also brings up a question about my question:

Isn’t it always a new experience?   

These questions are like puzzles I would like to try and gather the piece and fix them together.

The Navel Radiation Pattern was very clear for me, and my interpretation before moving and after moving with this awareness was different in terms of shape.

 

This could have been because we were curling and uncurling during moving.

The Navel Radiation Pattern has been an aspect of the Friday classes I have taken into other classes, especially in Tuesdays release class. It has worked as a kind of grounding and lengthening tool in my moving. Also in Mondays SRT classes with Katye the lengthening though the centre idea has been valuable in my improvisation, allowing me to use full range without strain. Yoga is another class where the connection with The Navel Radiation pattern is used.

Overall this month there has been a journey with my academic learning and understanding, with my movement practice. The information has informed my moving allowing more awareness of my bodily functions.