Bartenieff Fundamentals (Laban Movement Analysis).

This video shows the work of Peggy Hackney and includes all six principles of which I will be investigating and learning from in class.

Using the work of Peggy Hackney, I will be discovering the use of my Breath, Core-Distal Connectivity (involving the six limbs in the body), Head/Tail Connectivity, Upper-Lower Connectivity, Body Half Connectivity and Cross Lateral Connectivity to help give a broader depth into my dancing.

I have invested in Peggy Hackney's book; 'Making Connections: Becoming embodied through Bartenieff Fundamentals' as this will help me investigate further into the principles of how Hackney uses and sees the body in movement. This may also interest me when it comes to choreographing my own movement so that I can always relate to it and experiment.

I discovered that you can begin an initial movement or phrase from breathing. I learned that you can create rhythm from the basis of inhaling and exhaling. This helps when I am in the studio improvising and I close my eyes to try and feel the areas in my body in which my breath reaches. When I do this I feel like there is more to work with in the sense that I can articulate my joints more freely and perform to my maximum with minimal effort, releasing any tension.
Using breath throughout a phrase, emphasises the movement; such as a plie in 2nd with a curve. If I performed this specific movement without breath my curve wouldn't be performed to my optimum level, whereas if I performed this with breath my curve would deepen and would automatically align my core correctly. 

When I was given a sequence of vigorous and slow movements I was told to use my breath to help with the change in dynamics, as my breathing will differ from others in the class. This assisted my motions and made them look more smooth as they interlinked one another changing levels and strengths. When I thought there was a specific move that could be elongated and suspended, I would deepen my breath and inhale a bit longer than other movements and then exhale fast so that I could release my movement from stillness to motion. This made the choreography look more interesting and appealing to watch.

I was told to partner up and feel how the other person used their breath whilst they were dancing and then switch around. Feeling another persons hand on various parts of my body helped to focus on the areas that my breath could reach. This eventually came automatically and I didn't have to think too much about the places which I could breathe deeply into. This made me more aware of how much my body parts can move and how much they are incorporated when dancing.

I will build upon this principle throughout the following lessons and try and embrace my breathing as I think this is important when dancing, as it helps to relax me into the movement.

My Goals:

1. Using my breath to help deepen my movements and make them more fluid.
2. Thinking about my centre and how it is used to promote the spine.
3. Thinking about the diaphram when dancing.
4. Thinking about my flexibility and how I can use my breath to extend, intensify and increase my motions.