Aquaticontact explorations between Collin, Gaynelle, Keane, Jazz and Stephen.
Music by Steve Roach and Kevin Braheny from "Dreamtime Return".
Contact Improvisation duets in water-
This video is produced for research into my preliminary explorations of improvised aquatic movement. Its the start of a project to encourage development and dialog about this form. So I'm inviting those that are interested to offer your video responses, ideas, feedback, experiences and so on. Oddly i haven't found much material on improvisational water dance. There seems to be a gap between synchronized swimming and aquatic bodywork. Western Europe (e.g. Switzerland, Sweden, Germany), northern California, Washington seem to be the most active, perhaps also Hawaii (Big Island), and Australia (Byron Bay). Likely because the Contact Improv communities there are vigorous and have easy access to interesting venues for swimming or practicing aquatic massage forms like Watsu.
A little about these videos- The motion of our bodies may seem slowed down but these images are in real time or close to it. Video playback and software processing alters the perception of motion in time. It's just how one usually moves in this context, under water. It was Gaynelle's first time really exploring this form. For myself, just a mere 8 hours of experience between 6 previous sessions. The technique for aquatic dance improvisation thus can develop rapidly and seems to be an easy learning curve for people that understand movement well. The vids have been helpful in gleaning substantially more about further developments. Which is one of the reasons I've posted them, to provide you with ideas, which i hope will be shared with your video responses! None of us had nose clips. This significantly alters what can be done and i highly recommend them.
The video was taken with a Flip Ultra camera. And there seems to be a few other affordable water proof cameras or enclosures out now.
A little about technique- These experiments were approached from my orientation in Contact Improvisation. This duet form has an emphasis on weight sharing, leaning into each other through a continuum of spontaneous, dynamic movement. In a deep water medium the emphasis is more on maintaining the connection via push; pull. Whether push, pull, or offering weight it's done in such a way so the partner has options to move otherwise. An example is to offer an open grip. Keeping the thumb with the fingers, in non opposition, avoiding excessive clamping, binding or hooking. Yet a sensitive, assertive, decisive, clear touch is also essential for these dances to bloom into their full dynamic and have continuity.
My practice was of allowing availability by offering resistance or passivity or responsive shaping. With push; pull one could keep positioned so as to offer other available surfaces of our body to interact with.
It may appear that we were clunking into each other some times but there was never any kind of alarming impact. It is a principle in Contact dance that every one takes responsibility for themselves. This allows partners to move with out being overly self conscience, trying to protect the other from every possible harm.
Its good practice to be aware of how oneself and the partner is breathing. Keeping heightened awareness of the self and anything that may come into physical contact, or in contact with the partner is an important skill. From this awareness of sensation arising within the body or from an outside stimuli (ting jing, Chinese) one chooses or reacts in response. This is the nature of improvisation.
The skills utilized in object manipulation, that is how to efficiently move the other, was an element of focus for me.
It is exhilarating to practice ting jing, using the entire body to sense, respond and maneuver or be maneuvered. Often aquatic contact dances in the beginning can have a characteristic of peripheral connection via the arms, and legs perhaps. Then the push; pull dynamic can become an incessant activity (tiring) or lead one into a sustained submissive passivity. This is one of the reasons i like to begin a dance with no contact, so each person can discover the other gradually and find the pleasure of movement in their own way. Including aquatic bodywork affirms this quality of quietude, allowing for lingering, sustained passive extension in balance with contraction. This may reveal the feeling of how water acts upon the body that may be lost when in a continual commotion. Happy dancing!
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Specter - Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny, Michael Stearnsby helenmelon10004,270 views
I am very inspired by this video. Check out my music video at .
And let me know what you think. I can easily envision several scenarios for "compositions and stagings for additional videos.
TekBehr 2 years ago
Hihello Gary, I appreciate your feedback. Some of the implications of this form are access of movement for those with disabilities or those seeking to investigate dynamic 3 dimensional orientation. These videos offer a number of intriguing artistic suggestions, rather than just watching I'ld like to see people inspired to explore their own movement, particularly in nature, try it!
Thanks for getting me hip to your music et al, I'm curious about your inspirations...
collinleach 2 years ago