Early Jan saw us continue our movement patterns and progress through the creature scale. To begin with we studied the HOMOLOGUS PATTERN which on the creature scale represents the FROG. The pattern itself gives me clarity as it is still quite simple. The pattern enables me to start to give weight into my limbs and therefore the relationship with gravity comes into play as when in the pattern my spine and head are off the floor and therefore we engage with the world differently. This is interesting as the inner tissues of the body supporting our organs become a support system for our whole body. If we go back to yielding and pushing which we began to look at before xmas made me question how this sits underneath this pattern and how it can support my movement. In this pattern in order to move we need to yield and push.
The pattern also distinguishes UPPER BODY and LOWER BODY movement, so the movement starts in one area of the body and moves through to another part of the body. This is most commonly seen in a 5-6 month old baby where they rock back and forth.
Our next lesson saw us begin to teach and observe our peers a short phrase that included homologus patterns. My findings were interesting when observing other people. I realised that although 2 people may be doing the same movements it does not mean the intention and focus is the same. For example I may be thinking about yielding whereas someone may be thinking about head tail connection. Therefore the movement looks slightly different.
I have also learnt to be DISTINCTIVE WHERE THE INITIATION IS COMING FROM. If this isn't clear then my body will not appreciate the movements I am trying to do. For example, when I come to the floor in my technique class I send the pelvis down first and let gravity do the rest. I MUST BE CLEAR.
I also made note that as a VISUAL LEARNER I like to watch others demonstrate first but also I must use verbal queues as well when teaching as not everyone is a visual learner.
Personally I enjoy this pattern and I dance in this pattern a lot in my other classes. I feel my limbs are a great support to move and I like to use the floor too. I don't really know why I spend so much time in this pattern but I do feel comfortable. Maybe the challenge now will be to not go back to this when improvising. I must push myself to find new movement without going back to this place.
Moving on now to the next pattern, the HOMOLATERAL PATTERN. Which relates to the LIZZARD, so now the connection from FROG to LIZZARD starts to split the body in half vertically instead of horizontally. The most difficult pattern I think as this involved crawling with the same arm as leg. It is much harder than it looks. This is strange because as a baby this is what we first did in terms of traveling. This may be because we have forgotten as the older we get the more integrated movement we have so going back to something simpler is actually much harder.
The more known movements in this pattern to me are movements such as tilting from side to side and cartwheeling. Again this is a pattern that I do like in terms of the more complicated movements. I enjoy using gravity with my dancing which is probably why I like to spend more time upside down and on 4 limbs.
Here is the image of each pattern and how it works. To me this is clear and is easy to imagine when I dance. To me this could be included in my MAGIC BAG game as it offers a certain way to improvise.
Again we reverted back to teaching both Patterns as phrases to our peers. This is in preparation to our peer assessments where we take 15 mins to teach our peers are interests.
I learnt about my own movement that I tend to go through each movement slower in order to consciously make the connection of the focus and intention. Its the figuring out of how I can increase pace whilst still have a clear intention in my mind, This will take practise in order to reach these places quicker in my movement.
Working with someone else helps:
- Teaching
- Moving
- Learning
- Witnessing
- Sharing
- Directing
The last movement pattern will be explored in my next BLOG post.
