Workshop 1

How can the body explore jazz and release technique and fuse them together?

Date of workshop part one: 18/11/19

Aims

• Clear understanding of the differences between these styles. 
• Research and watch videos to encourage and stimulate ideas. 

Planning and Research

• Workshop schedule: 

16:30pm - 17:30pm (1 hour) - Full workshop focused on an in depth research of release and jazz to achieve a clear understanding of these styles. 

Video Sources I have looked at:

• Arroyo, M. [Online Video]: 2014. Falling and Rolling| workshops and classes| Guy Nader. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtjEjn9CtfA&t=178s>  [Accessed: 18 Nov. 2019]

•  Aschaeu. [Online Video]: 2015. Floating Release Technique. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8hty8x6UJc>  [Accessed: 18 Nov. 2019] 

• Eaton, L. [Online Video]: 2017. Contemporary Dance (Release Technique) Exercise 7. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMuKjhgRDgg> [Accessed:18 Nov. 2019]

• Victoria, C. [Online Video]: 2012. What is Safety Release Technique? Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntYhMwHap-A> [Accessed: 18 Nov. 2019]

Quote - 'Joan Skinner, the American choreographer, dance improvisation pioneer and former dancer with the Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham companies, created the technique from early experiments in the 1960s.' (Londondance.com: 2020)

Date of workshop part two: 19/11/19

Aims

• Dedicate workshop to improvisation and record it in order to choose movement that I am interested in developing further.

Planning 

• Workshop schedule

 17:30pm- 18:00pm (30 minutes) Improvisation task - Short workshop undertaking the research of release technique from workshop part one and thinking about the certain types of release whilst improvising. I specefially thought about the idea of throwing away my energy as well as releasing my energy to the floor.

Reflection - Workshop part one and two

I decided to separate my first workshop into two sessions, therefore workshop part one was primarily based on the opportunity to research into the two styles I will be fusing together, jazz and release. Moreover, the second session to my first workshop was focused on improvising and gathering ideas to inspire my choreography.

               Workshop part one was an effective research session that has extended my knowledge on release technique. This style of contemporary is very fresh and new to me as a choreographer as well as it being the first time performing it within a solo. However, I need to research further into this style as there is a range of information and technical elements I need to uncover first before I would be confident to begin choreographing. Initially, I am eager to allow a process that is explored fully and approach movement away from my comfort zone; therefore at this stage I am prepared to research before jumping ahead of myself. On the other hand within this workshop I only touched on the basics of jazz and although I have studied this style in-depth previously, I still need to explore the different techniques of jazz and the stylistic qualities that need to be conveyed through a choreographic process. As this is my first workshop I still feel pleased with what I had achieved because within one session there was no urgency to study both styles in depth. Furthermore I am pleased with the start of my workshops and due to watching videos and researching, I am confident that I will be productive in my next leading session and I will produce movement from my improvisation task that could possibly be developed and used within my solo. 

                  Secondly, workshop part two began with an improvisation to help generate new ideas in which I gave myself the intention to feel the space around me and the idea that my limbs were constantly reaching/stretching, I also focused on my breath throughout this. Furthermore I also wanted to incoperate release by involving moments where I would throw my energy away or I would completely release to the floor because floor work is a stylistic quality I am very interested in. My improvisation lasted for around twenty five minutes and most of the movement did not intrigue me choreographically but overall it was relief to just move without thinking. Moreover during my improvisation, there were moments in which I shocked my self due to letting my body go, therefore this has inspired to improvise more frequently throughout my workshops as it will help me explore what my body can do. From this workshop it was clear that my studying of release has a long way to go, for example I would forget to use my breath or when I looked back at my recordings I was aware that I had lost the dynamics of release. Overall I am still pleased with my process so far because my body is slowly adapting to this new style and I will continue to spend time researching in some of my workshops in order to continue my learning.  The video above is a short section from my improvisation in which I felt was the strongest dynamically and I was able to hear my breath at times.