Dance Workshop with Michael Schumacher: day1

The Dance and Music Improvisation Project has started today at school. I'm attending as a dancer for whole . This two weeks workshop is lead by Michael Schumacher and Mary Oliver. Everyday, from Monday to Friday, we will start at 13:00 and finish at 16:00. Yes, we'll have plenty of time.

I've joined a warm-up at the barre in the Ballet Studio. It was for me the first time to do it, actually. I was just following person next to me. Then we had a short meeting with other students from music department.

After meeting, dance and music team were separated. We sit in a circle. Referring the difference from normal Ballet class, Michael started to explain what he's expecting from us, how we should contribute to the group. That is to understand everybody has a different aesthetic from other.

Questions. What is improvisation for you? Did you improvise today? Body is our instrument. How do we feel around? Smell, Taste, Touch, See, Listen. Sensitive Perception. awareness. memory. Today we talked a lot indeed.

He gave some tasks. We traced the space as if we became an insane detective. We tried to "travel" to outside of the building with our extended senses. We played with all the information in studio.

To finish the first day, he introduced the concept which W.Forsythe developed. And we tried to move with this idea, read the floor as a score, use a shape of letter and object, or analyzed others' movement. For me, and I guess also for others, this  part was the most exciting part in terms of physical joyfulness.

What's next, tomorrow?