My work is to make performance
- solo and company pieces - and my process,
amongst others, is to create instantly on stage...
to compose instantly..to improvise.
- solo and company pieces - and my process,
amongst others, is to create instantly on stage...
to compose instantly..to improvise.
This work demands -and has demanded- a thorough
and constant research into 2 areas:
and constant research into 2 areas:
one of COMPOSITION - how things are made
how they might go together
and
one of TECHNIQUE - abilities needed to have
a close relationship between the creative self
and the mind/body
a close relationship between the creative self
and the mind/body
For many years I've been discovering and developing
ways to impart this knowledge, this awareness.
ways to impart this knowledge, this awareness.
Naturally influenced by all various physical experiences
-sport, dance training, philosophy-,
I can say that the studies of T'ai Chi, Alexander Technique and
Ki-Aikido have been radical in the clarifying and inspiring of the
development of the technical area.
-sport, dance training, philosophy-,
I can say that the studies of T'ai Chi, Alexander Technique and
Ki-Aikido have been radical in the clarifying and inspiring of the
development of the technical area.
As for the Compositional area, I have been much stimulated
by musicians and writers as much as, if not more than,
choreographers; inspired specifically by the ways
many of the improvising musicians work together
in terms of the 'company' formation.
by musicians and writers as much as, if not more than,
choreographers; inspired specifically by the ways
many of the improvising musicians work together
in terms of the 'company' formation.
In the TECHNICAL area we study
how the body/mind works, how its energies are manifested,
the anatomy and its associated mythology and philosophy,
and how to direct the body to give and receive on
a kinesthetic wavelength.
how the body/mind works, how its energies are manifested,
the anatomy and its associated mythology and philosophy,
and how to direct the body to give and receive on
a kinesthetic wavelength.
Spine / hips / and skin are some of the central interests
in this area at present.....along with the need
to be able to handle the weight
the perceptions and the ordination/co-ordination.
In brief, the technical work centers on kinesthetics
rather than aesthetics.
and uses often a process of 'reverse engineering'
to re-discover how we move, are moved.
In the COMPOSITION classes I deal with the subjects of
space / time / theatre / voice /
entrance-exit / music / object /
protagonist-antagonist-support.
in this area at present.....along with the need
to be able to handle the weight
the perceptions and the ordination/co-ordination.
In brief, the technical work centers on kinesthetics
rather than aesthetics.
and uses often a process of 'reverse engineering'
to re-discover how we move, are moved.
In the COMPOSITION classes I deal with the subjects of
space / time / theatre / voice /
entrance-exit / music / object /
protagonist-antagonist-support.
These areas are required for at least 2 reasons:
1. to be able to have an awareness and a refinement of intention
when deciding spontaneously in the act of improvising.
2. to have some references as tools of simple analysis
to look in depth at what is made,
both by ourselves and the others when
working in a group configuration.
Without this ability -and the tools for it-
we are often at the mercy of our subjectivity and
seldom have the complementary power of our objectivity,
a state which can reduce the nature of our 'compositions' to the
merely personal and lacking in the 'universal' power.
1. to be able to have an awareness and a refinement of intention
when deciding spontaneously in the act of improvising.
2. to have some references as tools of simple analysis
to look in depth at what is made,
both by ourselves and the others when
working in a group configuration.
Without this ability -and the tools for it-
we are often at the mercy of our subjectivity and
seldom have the complementary power of our objectivity,
a state which can reduce the nature of our 'compositions' to the
merely personal and lacking in the 'universal' power.
The 2 areas of teaching -technique and composition-
naturally pose questions from one to the other,
interacting as a figure of 8 spiraling
through the passage of the lessons.
naturally pose questions from one to the other,
interacting as a figure of 8 spiraling
through the passage of the lessons.
A main interest now is also a detailed research into
the area of the moving body speaking and producing sounds;
this, integrating with the observation that the mind taps into
a certain layer of intelligence when moving.
the area of the moving body speaking and producing sounds;
this, integrating with the observation that the mind taps into
a certain layer of intelligence when moving.
J.H. 1999
