For the second week of contact improv I was unfortunately ill and wasn’t even able to attend the lesson to watch the others. So i will be blogging about the reading i have done for this week, my thoughts and reflection on it. This week’s reading was about touch,experience and knowledge. How much do we even know about touch in dance? this article explores loads of research done from touch and knowledge. I will be reflecting what i found to have had an important effect on me and the most interesting parts.
Firstly, I enjoyed doing the little exercise about touching and feeling your jawline with the nodding. It made me feel more aware of my bones in my body. However afterwards, when i wasn’t touching it but kept nodding, it felt like my finger was still in touch with it, which i think and hope was the point of the exercise? To be aware and conscious about your bones in your body. I felt like a connection had been creating thanks to touch. I will keep this in mind for our following lessons, to be aware of my body and touch will guide me to it.
I completely agreed when the students were asked about what they felt about touch. When they said “Touch allows you to connect with another, from my experience it has helped me engage with my group members to a higher level of trust.”, I felt the exact same way at our first contact improv lesson. We were asked to close our eyes at some point during the exercise and literally all we had left was touching our partner and moving around. I did indeed feel i could trust my partner more thanks to touch. I also felt more intimate and closer to my partner, just like another student pointed out “…it brings a closeness a sense of intimacy and community within the class.” The whole point of contact improv i think is to bring us closer and to work as an ensemble and it’s all about team work. I can already tell that we are getting much closer in the group, and it’s only been two weeks we’ve been in this class! I am definitely looking forward to our next lessons and to put into practice what I’ve read.
Maria