Nice Moves

Task Attention Movement

Whilst I was working on the IOU project I mentioned in my last post, I got to meet some really great creative people, and one of those was Emily Brown who was also assisting. At the time Emily was working towards an MA in Psychophysical Training Methodologies for Ensemble Based Performance. I got to see a performance she created which used some of her research and techniques. It was an ensemble movement based performance called 'Task Attention Movement' and it was amazing! It was very inspiring and captivating. Full of really interesting interactions and balances between performers. Every performer was focused and seemed very in control of their body, but it wasn't predictable or contrived. I found it quite addictive to watch and has provided some movement inspiration for a subsequent project I've been involved with. The audience was seated all around the performance space on four sides, and as I got to see it twice I got to see it from two different perspectives which was very interesting.

Emily has now completed her MA and is currently working at the University of Huddersfield with Drama students.

Body Awareness

I was also involved in a research session with Deborah Middleton and Laura Haughey at the Huddersfield University about Body Awareness - Somatic Awareness / Embodied (Self) Awareness / Feeling Sense. This looked a little into the unreliability of 'feelings' - for example feelings about how you are holding your body etc. The session looked into how each person - each body - has a characteristic manner of organising the whole system, and how affecting and changing how the body is used/held is done better by paying attention to the system globally rather than micromanaging. The day involved having some measurements and pictures of our bodies taken, then looking at each others characteristic manner of body movement and posture. This was followed by body exercises and then measurements and pictures taken again to review any changes. It was an interesting day and I enjoy getting more in touch with my body and what it's doing - perhaps one reason I like yoga - I find it quite calming and centring.

Deborah and Laura will eventually be writing a paper about their research.