The intention of week three was all about releasing the head and eyes, something which I have struggled with doing so in the past, but I feel this lesson has really helped me understand the importance of doing so.
After watching the two contact improvisation videos, Steve Paxtons Magnesium (1972) and Blake Nellis and Brando @ Earthdance (2010) I was able to understand the importance of head movements. Watching the dancers use eyeline and putting trust in to the strength of their head, movement was able to come more freely and more spontaneously. Steve Paxton supported this idea in the Steve Paxtons “Interior Techniques”: Contact Improvisation and Political Power, where he mentioned that when movement is spontaneous, it is then ‘pleasant, highly stimulating and elemental.’
The exercise which stood out most for me during this lesson was where we had to move about freely, giving the entire weight of our head to our partners. When our partners then let go, I noticed a complete change in my own movement to what I had done previously in the improvisation lessons, and it was as though I had a sudden realisation that I had not been using my upper body to its full potential. In the past movement had mainly been initiated from my lower kinesphere.
The questions which have arrised from this weeks class are the following:
Will I continue to use my upper kinisphere?
By relaxing my head, what affect will this have on the rest of my body?