part two 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
🎶: slippin into darkness - WAR
when I think of improvisation I think of jazz, WE, Black people, people of the African Diaspora are Jazz. We have had to be. We are also hip hop and the blues and gospel and RnB, but we are jazz. We move, live, and adapt as jazz. Our being in places infected and overrun by white supremacy does not allow for otherwise.
i knew was I was jazz in my freestyles and only had access to that improvisation in safe spaces, in spaces that were not attached to proving my worth. improvisation has saved myself. (other things have saved my life, but improvisational movement practice has helped save myself)
improvisation is (one of) my deepest embodied survival memories/strategies passed down, it is (for me) a tool of liberation and methodology for investigation. I had to become jazz, become improvisation - improvisation built my care practices. Improvisation brought me back to my own touch. Improvisation reintroduced me to my hips and spine. Improvisation is helping me heal.
