Peggy Hackney's: BREATH

We all breath. We are all living mammals that need oxygen. This is shown by the need for air by our lungs. Breathing happens automatically as we don't have to think about it at all times, unless we are in a moment of struggle. Paggy Hackney says; "breathing can be influenced by and is reflective of changes in conciousness, feelings and thoughts." This means we can change our breathing through feelings, thoughts and patterns out of choice. Dependant on what mood we are in, we can decide on our actions which is followed by breath.

Peggy goes on to say, that if breathing is blocked in someway, then future patterns of movement are prevented from developing. When moving with breath your movement is more fluent and flows more easily so that it looks and feels aesthetically pleasing.

Movement emerges from breath. Breath influences every aspect of movement. This is the package to movement and rhythm as it helps erge phrasing and timing, spacing a performance out. Using breath whilst moving is very satisfying as you can feel relaxed.

When you may need to take time to breath under pressure.
Using various breathing patterns helps to releve any unwanted tension and removes waste substances from the body. When you feel under pressure, you get an increase of adrenaline and this can sometimes increase your breathing into a panic. Movement patterns can therefore be shortened or rushed and this could ruin your performance, all because you aren't breathing properly.

Movement using breath.
Some people attempt to move through learning and knowledge. Some people picture how the movement should look and perform sections of images instead of it being fluent. When moving using breath, people discover that it helps to initiate the body and helps to activate the muscles and joints if you breath into them areas. This will always help with you are choreographing, because if you are ever stuck on a phrase you can just improvise by using the breath as it always gives different styles and ways of moving with dynamics. This is all part of the creative process.

Occasionally, if people are not too sure about their body, they don't feel like they are able to set there body free to explore ways of moving. Most people are scared incase they get injured or because they feel embarrased, so they just mark the movements instead of performing the movements.

Upper-lower connectivity in relation to breath.
Air rushes into the lungs because of muscular activity throughout the body. Respiration is an activity that comes from the diaphram and muscles in the stomach (abdominals). When there is a contraction there is more space and involvement in the upper body assisting the lungs to fill and contract; the opposite then occurs. The diaphram would be less effective without the abdominals. If you have strong abdominals and you hold them tightly, then this will decrease the amount of breathing and will shorten the movement leading to 'upper/lower' disconnection. This can effect dancers as they diet and breath in as an attempt to look thin.

The whole torso is involved in breathing. Peggy Hackney mentions, "I imagine the experience of breathing to be like an internal massage, with the movement of the organs massaging the muscles which then feel more alive to movement." I feel that this is an enjoyable quote to think about, as it paints a distinct picture of the organs and muscles. Here, Peggy is saying that when you are breathing there are physical actions occurring inside the body. When you begin to think about this, you can start to understand how the body works and how to breath into the body when you are moving. As the body needs oxygen to get the muscles working, you need to find a way to breath deeper and more efficiently, to help activate the muscles quicker for smoother movements. When I read this quote and then begin to dance, I can feel my organs and muscles inside of me moving. This makes me feel happier as I know that my body is working properly and it is in the correct condition. It is as if my internal organs are trying to dance deep within (perhaps imitate my movement externally).