by Cate Deicher
What kinds of choreographic impulses can open and closed Choreutic forms elicit in you? In our Advanced Space Harmony workshop, December 3 and 4, Carol-Lynne Moore and I will be exploring the experiences of both kinds of Choreutic forms.
Laban’s Space material has always held a keen interest for me. As I undertook creative projects for dance groups and theater productions, the space material became a springboard for choreographic ideas. Robert Ellis Dunn talked about how Laban’s scales serve to stimulate the neuromuscular system and spark compositional possibilities. I recall working with 3-rings in his classes – 3-rings being simple closed forms – and playing with formal strategies for inventing movement material. We re-phrased, re-ordered and re-oriented the rings to create new material, sometimes unrecognizable as a 3-ring. But of course, that was the point.
Lately I’ve been working with open forms, like “snakes.” Here I find myself drawn more to improvisational explorations, letting the momentum launch me into movement sequences that break wildly from the form, but feel nonetheless connected to it.
In the upcoming Ico workshop, I’ll be sharing some of these ideas for composition and improvisation, and also drawing on the work of architect Christopher Alexander. He writes poetically about Fundamental Properties of Wholeness. His list inspires provocative ideas for developing movement material. I’m excited about applying these ideas to the exploration of simple and complex spatial forms to see how these might help free us from our “choreographic bags.”