Rather than slicing the body into sections I like to think of the body as moving within circles of motion, with the movement between all these planes making up a sphere, our kinesphere, which is why I have been using words that imply movement in those directions, the tyre wheel, the helicopter, the knife-throwing or german wheel.
This idea reinforces the knowledge that our bodies are curved rather than straight, and helps us to stay pliant in our approach to our alignment and our dancing. We live in a built environment of boxes and lines...houses, cars, devices...fixed, straight lines and surfaces which do not match the reality of bodies and environment. So, I like to keep connecting to the idea of the flow and circulation of continual motion, like the flow of oxygen through the bloodstream moving throughout the body, like the tides rolling in and out, like the air currents that circumnavigate the globe.
Then, when I am dancing I feel supported by this idea of circulating and shifting between planes like rolling around within a sphere...sometimes close in to the body, sometimes larger than the room.
There is a functional aspect here physically as well. By feeling the connections between these planes I can achieve balance and control.
In a balance, like tree pose, I am able to sustain and control my balance with ease by applying the three directions of movement simultaneously—the vertical down through the supporting foot and up through the top of the head, the horizontal with the pressure of the foot into the thigh and the palms into each other, and the sagittal by drawing the navel to the spine or activating the front abdominal muscles.
The same principles apply in the turns we have been doing on one leg in turn-out (the low turn in the "Worlds keep spinning" phrase and the turn on rise at the start of the Baby Animals phrase) but the arms are extended to the sides to trace the helicopter plane.
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