http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H7eCkwkGak&feature=channel_video_title
Here I explain a few things I think I need to improve and how they felt to me when I performed them in class. As I am not familiar with Graham Technique I had to concentrate a lot more than normal and put more effort in to small things I would not think about (as they normally come naturally to me), such as my turn out in various positions to normal. I enjoyed the way that Graham used angles to create shapes in here choreography.
Graham Technique originated from Martha Graham who was positioned in America doing dance and choreography. Her work was abstract and she was compared to professional artists such as Picasso and Dali, due to their works being very different to everyone else. "Dance is a hidden language of the soul of the body." This is a quote by Martha Graham herself and this explains how your inner self and feelings can portray the movement by the use of the body and technique. This helped Graham to break normal/traditional ballet rules and pushed limits in contemporary dance also pushing her to become a modern practitioner.
Graham's technique is very similar to Cunningham's in the way that the fundamentals occur; curves, contractions, spirals, shifting of weight, suspension & falling, tilting & leaning and release.
When performing "6's" I couldn't keep my hands on my heels as I have really stiff shoulders; this needs improving. Also in this sequence I realised that I didn't begin the movement up to the 'D' shape with my hips, I would cheat my way up. I will show pictures of the step-by-step positions of "6's" and I will show my mistakes also.
You can see that in position 4 my arms are not touching my feet.
I felt really comfortable when performing the technique in the 'lumbar' position (legs out straight in parallel) as I could use my strength and flexibility to my maximum and with ease. In this position I would perform the lumbar stretch (leaning forwards, putting chest to knees) and include curves and contractions to change the shaping; this stretched out the hamstrings, gastrocnemius and lower back. "A dance of appearance, rather than 'being'". Graham. M. Pg 20. Modern Bodies Dance and American Modernism, from Martha Graham to Alvin Ailey. (2002). The University of North Carolina Press. United States of America.
Spirals in Graham technique twist from the torso to the upper spine. Graham says this helps to strengthen the spine and creates suspension. The use of suspension and falling that Graham uses helps to create strong but flowing sequences as it shows how gravity can create movement. This is also portrayed in Cunningham Technique; Standing in second with a wide arm span (in 2nd) and tilting/leaning to the side, middle and other side. This can then create a tipping or falling sensation when released from a second stance.
When I was in class performing this technique, I held back in the travelling sections as I wasn't used to this particular style. This made me look stiff and look as if I was just marking the sequences instead of attempting them to the full. I realised towards the end of the class that you will not perform this technique unless you put all of your energy into it and take as many risks as possible. Trying to create various dynamics made her work look more aesthetically pleasing and it was more exciting to dance. I remembered the work of Bartenieff and I began to use my breath during the movement, which helped with deepening and 'packing out' the phrases to keep them constantly flowing.
Emotions that occured:
- The strength that I could put behind my dance made me feel more comfortable as I was unfamiliar with this technique anyway.
- Realisation about how my body moves.
- Determination to learn more of Graham and Cunningham Technique.
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