Group Forms Week 3

This week in Group Forms, because Crystal was at IABD, we had two workshops instead of our regular classes.

On Tuesday, Katherine Logan gave us a workshop on her MFA work, which involves the framing of the camera and the power dynamic that a camera brings into the space with it. We experimented with improvising in front of the camera as a soloist (and how uncomfortable it makes one feel to do that - when in front of the camera, you typically have no control over who sees the footage, where it goes, or what's done with it.)

We also improvised in front of the camera as a group with the intention to compose collaboratively for the frame; we took turns operating the camera while this was going on; and finally, we remembered that the camera operator and everything/everyone in the room was a part of the dance, and let that influence our work how it may.

It was very intriguing to think of our gaze as a movie camera in our head, and to try to suss out all the different nuances of this power dynamic - including that the camera operator even has the power to cut people out of the frame. Katherine posed the question, "If Mia - for example - doesn't make it into any of the footage, then does that mean Mia wasn't here because she didn't make it into the record?"

On Thursday, Michelle Sipes came and gave us a workshop about PILOBOLEAN compositional tools and strategies. I was a little nervous at first about this, because I am definitely not an upside-down or weight-share loving person in general. I attribute this to my primary training in ballet and Cunningham, which means my body would like to stay upright, thank you very much. BUT! I LOVED this workshop! I did things I never thought my body could do and eased into the weight sharing. The easiness in my body and the support/supporting of another body was enjoyable. I would love to work more in this style in the future!! (something I never thought I would say about being upside down)

While we have not worked on our movement banks or scores in class yet, we still had to complete them this week.

When tasked with studying architecture and how people move through it, I chose to observe the white beams outside of the Wexner Center.

This is my second movement bank, investigating slow movement and stillness (documented in my apartment, because I couldn't find an available studio to document it in.)