During semester one, 1999, the Somdance team worked with a small group of self-selected dance students. The team chose a somatic theme for each class, and developed a class structure to explore that theme with students. This enabled us to gather information on the effectiveness of various methods with dance students, and to begin to define core principles and methods.
Below is an outline of each class, indicating the theme, the approach taken, and selected students feedback on the class. This outline indicates trial material only, and uses terminology we are familiar with. Please email with any questions.
Students present: 6
Theme: Observation - movement and breathing
Activities:
* Observing other students dancing
* Observing own breathing while dancing - breath as "compass"
* Observing "small dance"
* Shifting attention in body, observing changes in small dance
* Shifting attention while dancing - teacher directed
* Shifting attention while dancing - student directed
* Observing where attention travels while "just dancing"
Feedback:
* "...a wonderful experience ... a sense of wholeness..."
* "...more relaxed and flowing..."
* "... good to witness the change in other students..."
* "... difficult to understand... love how my timing changed..."
* "... a sense of calmness..."
* "... enjoyed the sense of awareness..."
Students present: 4
Theme: Soft (peripheral) vision
Activities:
* Observe phrase and feedback on what was seen
* Exploratory process that evokes peripheral vision
* Observe phrase again, and dance it
* Explore extent of peripheral vision in threes
* Gestural improvisation using P vision
* Movement improvisation "reading", using P vision
* Dance phrase as whole group
Feedback:
* "... have always used this naturally ..."
* "... sharper + clearer..."
* "... understood ... but felt [better] when I just looked at the teacher..."
* "... the phrase was a lot easier to pick up..."
Students present: 6
Theme: Alignment, self-balancing
Activities:
* Learn dance phrase
* Attempt "good" alignment in pairs and test in phrase
* Kneeling 'perturbations' to sense self-righting process
* Crawling, head leading body following in pairs
* Hands on head and sacrum while moving
* Return to dance phrase
Feedback:
* "... felt lovely and soft ..."
* "... my body is completely out of line! ... I felt drunk!"
* "... touch really helps you change the movement quality ..."
* "... relaxing and beneficial ... didn't understand how to achieve this in an ongoing way outside class"
* "... felt like I was looking down rather than having my head straight"
* "... a difference in the way my spine works ... how awkward it felt to be put into the posture my partner thought was right."
Students present: 2
Theme: Mapping the spine
Activities:
* Observe known dance phrase with soft peripheral vision
* Practise spine "self-lengthening" in dance phrase
* Anatomical information with pictures and discussion
* Practise imagery surrounding the structure/function of the spine
* Do dance phrase
Feedback:
* "... sensed the lightness ... a picture in my mind ... difficulty understanding ... the idea of pressure on the discs"
* "... a more natural comfortable position ... able to take that feeling into some parts of the dance..."
Students present: 4
Theme: Shifting attention in body
Activities:
* Observe dance phrase - do not go on to doing it
* Shifting body attention in "small dance"
* Movement improvisation based on attentional shift
* Learn on do dance phrase
* Hands-on work and discussion
Feedback:
* "... difficult to just let myself listen to my body..."
* "... noticing my attention drifting and coming back..."
* "... Didn't like it at all ..."
* "... felt I had no connection with brain and body ... out in space..."
Students present: 5
Theme: Folding/unfolding
Activities:
* Joint folding warmup, progressing to moving in/out of floor
* Anatomical imagery re joint capsules
* Movement improvisation using "silken garment" imagery
* Parallel plie, hands-on
* Return to dance phrase including folding/unfolding
Feedback:
* "... learnt to have movement coming from inside the body... felt good, free"
* "... going from structure to improv and imagery flowed nicely... takes time to feel the subtle changes in my posture..."
* "... sense of relaxedness and lightness... it was as if his body had moved but I wasn't sure..."
* "... folding was even stiffer because I was consciously trying to create the softness..."
* "... I definitely felt more relaxed more fluid..."
Students present: 5
Theme: Spinal imagery
Activities:
* Developmental movement based warm-up with focus on head-pelvis connection
* Anatomical information re spine, visualisation of vertebra
* Rolling up/down spine
* Movement improvisation
Feedback:
* "... useful to look at the spine on the skeleton..."
* "... found myself more deeply internal ..."
* "... moving with my spine 'sequencing'..."
* "... I got distracted part way..."
* "... find the 'meditative state' hard to achieve..."
Students present: 6
Theme: Release Breath, Practise in Hands-on work
Activities:
* Hands on process with partner on floor
* Sensing, watching, feeling breathing,
* Moving each limb and head
* Sensing/listening hands
* Expanding awareness of breath through whole body
Feedback:
* "... rather too conscious of my breath at times..."
* "... I could feel my breath deepen when I was concentrating on the small body parts..."
* "... I have never felt so relaxed..."
* "... I was able to let go control in the receiving part..."
* "... movement of the body parts without any effort whatsoever..."
* "... the small ... to big area ... breath worked so well for me..."
Students present: 3
Theme: Breathing, Balancing
Activities:
* In pairs leading and following, using breath to create physical rapport and movement
* Hands on with partner focusing on breath
* Image of pendulum to approach balance
* Take into dance phrase around balance
Feedback:
* "... I really wanted to breath fully into the areas, it was stimulating..."
* "... spontaneous improvised pendulum great fun..."
* "... my neck felt very long..."
Students present: 1 Somdance and 3 visitors
Theme: Hands-on approaches to discrete dance tasks
Activities:
* Students choose a dance specific movement task
* Using hands on contact to promote spreading of attention
* Teacher hands-on assistance with tasks
Feedback:
* "the walk felt like I was floating. When I progresses to a leap it felt incredibly natural and like part of the run. During the leap it felt easy and I felt relaxed. The plie was deeper and the jump felt weightless. The landing became softer..."
Students present: 2
Theme: Observation and work in specific simple exercise
Activities:
* Learn phrase involving lifting legs and arms - lying on floor and standing
* Spreading attention by doing discrete movements from phrase and articulating: "When I lift my arm/leg I notice that..."
Feedback:
* "... now I feel I have heaps of info but not sure which to apply..."
* "... what releases when I relax one part, what releases when I relax another part..."
Students present: 5 Somdance, about 30 others
Theme: Spreading awareness
Activities:
* Application of awareness processes in standard large class
* Sensing standing/walking pattern - attn to feet and then to head
* Class sequences - Head/Pelvis/Feet expanding awareness
* Specific directions for rising and lower, plie and straighten
* Mental rehearsal of the sequence prior to doing it
* Applying awareness to time between sequences
Feedback:
* "... I especially noticed changes and progression in the travelling piece as time went on, and it began to flow more..."
* "... Felt extremely tense in my neck and found it hard to be aware of anything else..."
* "... I wonder if what feels right is looking right..."
* "... I 'switched' into the awareness immediately and I felt very light..."
* "... it helped to gain a free quality in the movement. Also a good concentration level..."
Students present: 1
Theme: Multiple points of awareness. Confusing the conscious mind
Activities:
* Student does well known/rehearsed dance activity.
* Exploratory process that evokes state of expanded awareness
* Using expanded awareness in dance activity
* Student uses varied counting sequences while doing dance activity
Feedback:
* "... I could sense myself coming in and out of either forcing the movement or allowing the movement... my brain was concentrating on 'number games'... one particular movement... was definitely better as I was more balanced than previously"
Students present: 4
Theme: Feedback from the students re whole semesters work
Activities:
* Each student chose a particular process they found beneficial and coached the class with it as class did repetitive dance phrase.
Feedback:
* "... everyone lost all their inhibitions and just
'danced'..."
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Please contact the Somdance team before using or disseminating any material from this site. Thankyou.
Any problems with this site, please contact Greg Holdaway at greg@alexandertechnique.com.au