part one of some thoughts on improvisation brought on by questions from Ife Michelle in conversation with Ayan Felix & a separate conversation at Duke Dance's ‘Hot House’ with Reggie Willson on extemporaneous movement.
🎥: a day in April when the pain was mild and a day before I got really sick
🎶: sixties medley (live) - Marvin Gaye
Having an improvisation based practice has allowed me to chip away and unlearn movement based hierarchy from ‘Dance Institutions’ in which I was ‘under-qualified, underestimated & the underdog’. It has allowed me to get back into my body when processing trauma that has taken me out of my body. It has allowed me to get more comfortable in my body and confident in my movement quality.
My practice is not about getting to something new. I feel like In improvisation classes you can often be pushed to get to something new. I think of my improvisational practice as getting deeper into something. The newness of movement or sameness of movement isn’t my main objective. What the process of improvisation gives me, moves me towards, or releases me from is what I’m after - whether that’s phrase work/written reflection/ tasks/etc. Something lies for me within the repetition of the practice.
I think as Black Queer Movers we (me & my friends at least) understand that improvisation is freestyle is movement exploration and making sure that those are not seen as separate when facilitating open (level) movement/somatic improvisational spaces while ensuring that everyone feels rooted in the knowledge of their own bodies be crucial.
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