This study is mindful of the individual dancer. The approaches considered will be from the perspective of the dancer, not the watchers judgement, although it is important to consider that performance requires observation of the third-person and therefore may be touched upon to clarify the behaviour of a dancer. Levels of consciousness and levels of self, discussed later in the essay through scientific and psychological study are drawn upon alongside examples from practicing improvising dance artists to contextualise. The study will later explore this as a taxonomy of practice in the role of a dancer.

 

Phenomenology defines the study of self in the world as we experience it; a psychological study that privileges the conscious mind as a form, analysing acts of consciousness to develop logical meaning. This develops from a complex account of awareness, perception, attention, self, embodied action, intention, social interaction, linguistic activity and culture.

“Consciousness is an entirely private, first-person phenomenon which occurs as part of the private, first-person process we call mind. Consciousness and mind, however, are closely tied to external behaviours.”(Damasio. 2000:13)

 

Through the captured interaction between the body’s cognitive action and the physical environment, we allow our neural system to guide action of the body. Our cognitive system, developed by individual knowledge, contributes meaning and sense to this action in response. The body’s habits signify the conditioned cognitive system, allowing action to play out through the unconscious, the core conscious and the extended conscious, (Damasio. 2000:16) dependant on the level of organisation needed in the present moment, which will continue to be defined later in this writing. For each level, the regions of the brains motor cortex that control parts of the body create the mental image of an envisioned action through recalled experiences, memorised by the brains interior organisms.  The brain works quicker than the body therefore allowing us to action certain interconnected brain networks from habit, thus surviving in the proto-self; a term that relates unconscious collection of actions to the individual representation of them. However, if we give awareness to the occurring image, defined by Damasio as core consciousness, a developed sense of core-self happens. This is characterised as the biological transitions of a person accounting to the simpler kind of phenomenon, where conscious reference to the here and now occurs for the individual.

Extended consciousness as explained by Damasio is the complex biological phenomenon that elaborates a person’s sense of autobiographical-self. This is where an organisation of images not only occurs in present time but in relation to the past and future. This allows the individual dancer purposeful viewing, manipulation and optimal planning in environment and space.[1]

 

          Phenomenology proposes that ‘when we give consciousness to an activity we help experience its intentionality.’ (Smith. 2013: online.) Intentionality should not be confused with intention: to aim or plan. Smith proposes that intentionality is the dancer’s mind representing an image through subjective understanding, experiencing from the first person. These experiences bring new meaning to the mental image, constructing sense in specific brain regions. We continue to evolutionise mind/body knowledge through a guided exploration of the core and autobiographical self in an inter-sensory experience of the world. For example, we can describe an arm swing action by acquiring a background of information that characterises that action; the arm glides forward and backward in space, rotating in the shoulder to a 90 degree angle from the standing body. If we give consciousness to the action during execution, we can describe and analyse the experience from the ‘self,’ factoring notable features of the action informed by environment and our sense of it. As the arm swings, I give attention to the weight of the hand. Noticing the curved fingers, they extend in response, making the swing much faster and lighter. The swing is now initiated from the hand, affecting the balance of the whole body as the foot rocks from ball to heel. The force of the swing is initiating this. The faster rhythm is responding in time to the music from another room[2]. If the reader took the memory of the swing as a way to execute the movement, the elaboration and understanding of it may be described differently as they would do this from the autobiographical self. The evolution of the action noticed by the dancer could change how she then chooses to approach the arm swing action in the future.

          Recent philosophy of the mind has focussed on how intentionality is grounded in brain activity, (Smith. 2013: online.) developed into the mental images formed by perception, thought, imagination, emotion, volition and action. However, characters of kinaesthetic sensation bring feeling to the meaning of these mental images, developed by the brain through signals read from particular inter-sensory body sites. This mind body connection is established when consciousness is given to both. Psychologist, Philip Zarrilli refers to this as the psychophysical; an approach that measures perception when the mind and body are connected. This conscious relationship between mind and body experiences allows us to understand ‘what-it-is-like.’  “We account this as a conceptual-sensory experience.” (Zarrilli. No date: online.)

 

In understanding how heightened awareness of individual consciousness works scientifically, drawing upon the development of image and action, this research will now begin to apply this process to the individual dancer when improvising for performance. In referring to improvisation for performance, the term ‘form-based’ will be used. ‘Form is the shape of something; recognition of form is a way we make sense of the world around us’ (Buckwalter. 2010:34) By beginning to define form-based improvisation, we can then begin to consider the intricacies of the dancer’s role within this, a role that will begin to define ‘the conscious dancer.’

Buckwalter continues to provide the reader with definition of form that gives insight into the act of composing; shaping the arrangement of the dancer’s body in space and time. In improvisation, she observes that ‘the advantage of an outside eye from which to arrange the dance isn’t often there.’ (2010:34) In improvisation there is little to none planning, the dancer becomes an instant composer, having an outside eye from inside the piece. There is no opportunity to edit. This has led improvisation artists to find alternative ways to organise dance in space. Examples range from “selective scores, structures or tasks, creating methodologies for choosing, developing awareness practices, giving focus to frame or reference, posting a question to be asked or answered or proposing ideas to be researched and articulated through the dance itself.” (Buckwalter. 2010:35)

     Paxton states through his conversation with Lepkoff that “the relationship between form and improvisation is intrinsic” (Lepkoff & Paxton. 2004:42) Thus, improvisations can arise from rules, just as rules can arise from improvisation, giving opportunity for an ongoing dialogue to be played out by the dancer. In form-based improvisation, the dancer not only consciously acts upon the meanings given to them by the environment but further shapes the language of the body through time and structure as recognised.

 

The role of the dance performer can be explored through a taxonomy of the practice; doing, feeling, thinking and sensing. By deconstructing the behaviour of the dancer through these four categories, the activity of individual consciousness can be further explored. This is not to say that the four behaviours can act alone, nor explained in isolation, as Buckwalter posits, “mind and movement are part of the same entity.” (Buckwalter.2010:67) By giving focus to each of the four behaviours, not only does this identify training and approaches that a dancer can use to develop as a performance improviser, we juxtapose the idea that improvisation is ‘overly simplistic.’[3] Lepkoff concerns himself with the idea that an artist’s way of moving may be overlooked if ‘one’s view is limited by the idea that all improvisers are doing the same thing – “just improvising.”’ (Buckwalter. 2010:5.)

 

 The Doing Dancer:

Before we consider form in relation to what the body is doing, it would be useful to highlight that particular artists improvise to bring presence, liveness and unpredictability to their movement vocabulary prior to performance, in order to build their source of movement and its development for improvisation. Richard Bull uses his playpen[4] rule to push the individual into unfamiliar physical territory and Nancy Topf uses dynamic anatomy to source movement material[5]. Although mention of the individual dancer is highlighted throughout this essay, in movement or performance improvisation, dancers may choose to work out of solo, thus providing opportunity for influence in our movement choices.  

“Evidence suggests that when observing action, we internally simulate the observed movement using similar brain regions used to execute movement with our own body […] this being described as the human mirror system.” (Blasing etc al. 2012: 304)

 

The ‘human mirroring system’ creates a communicative pathway between an ensemble of dancers. In studying external influence when consciousness is available, the system presents a range of possibilities and exchanges that will continue to develop movement dialogue for the individual dancer.

                         This movement dialogue is the mediator between who the dancer is and the world; a physical language that reflects history in the shaping and sharing of movement habits and curiosities. Susan Sgorbati exemplifies this through her investigations into personal movement vocabulary. This solo improvisation practice creates “space for a dancer to build his or her own techniques for sourcing movement, to develop skills, as well as to integrate what he or she has learned in technique class.” (Buckwalter. 2010: 17) Through technique, training and movement style, dancers embody an aesthetic that provide an audience with a language to read, interpret or follow. Lepkoff explains that an aesthetic offers a point of view, from the embodied technique of a dancer, (Buckwalter: 2010 :5)  which is presented in space through choreography or improvisation. Lepkoff argues that by referring to dance through the terms choreography or improvisation, we limit the view point of the watcher; using Khambatta’s ‘The Great Divide’ to support this statement. (Lepkoff: 2004:45) Lepkoff’s response opposes Khambatta by sharing that dance performance should be viewed as “a million pieces.” He appears to encourage an appreciation of the individual detail in the multiplicity of the dance field, giving precedence to each individual’s creative and aesthetic commentary when presented in space. Sgorbati’s practice of Emergent Improvisation supports the envisioning of Lepkoff’s metaphor, asking dancers to manage the multiplicities of self-organisation, emergence and complex structure.

“There is enough going on to feed the dance – the dancers must be aware and adaptable enough to sustain a self-inventing movement vocabulary, whilst retaining enough awareness of their surroundings to respond to conditions as they develop.”(Buckwalter. 2010; 135)

 

When the doer is conscious of the multiple choices available, potentially no piece is ever performed the same. We explore this consideration further through the work of Katie Duck[6] when discussing ‘The Thinking dancer.’

               Here, Duck identifies how a dancer’s technique acts in the role of doing for form-based improvisation, she states:

It is the finest way to condition the mind and body for quick decisions. Intelligent dancers can make quick decisions because they not only understand the limits of their own body work but because they understand the limits of the body. They study body. (Duck: no date: online)

 

Further, she explains that we do not give focus to technique when all behaviours of the mind/body are addressed in the present moment. In fact, technique should underpin the choices made around composition;

I do not think that any specialisation can define an art form. I think that the art form is defined by its inherent use of time and space, communication and the elements. In the case of this art form, the body is the element. (Duck: no date: online)

 

It could be said that this is why improvisers give particular attention to movement vocabulary prior to form-based improvisation. When a dancer enters a space, it is suggested that through the study of the body and technique, attention to how the arrange of movement in space should be given, not what is moved in space. Movement should underpin and respond to choice.

 

 

The Feeling dancer:

In performance, an audience may define what the dancer is doing through their emotion, therefore interpreting this as understanding how they feel. This may be factually evident if the dancer cannot control their emotion, for example, they have stage fright and feel a sense of panic; the audience observing tension in the muscles, sweating or flushing. Damasio states that feeling must not be confused with emotion. ‘Feeling is the term used for the reserved, private mental experiences and emotion is a term to design the collection of responses that are publically observable’ (Damasio. 2000 :42) Such that although the audience observes muscle tension, sweating and flushing, the performer could be feeling happy. Damasio contends that a well-trained performer can control the expression of their emotion, suppress anger, mask sadness, as well as induce an emotion through processing images with memory or sensory devices that relate to a factual emotional experience. This external manifestation can be disguised but not blocked by the changes that occur in the viscera and internal milieu; giving the performer control over whether the feeling occurs in the conscious. They have a choice. This states that a dancer could in fact create these external manifestations for the act of performance and in turn prescribe what the audience will then read. In relation to improvisation, a dancer may not be able to prescribe the emotions conveyed unless they have a specific structured intention entering the space. As an everyday human condition, emotional observations do not require consciousness; they act as an “underscore that punctuates specific thoughts in our mind and actions in our behaviour.” (Damasio 2010: 43) However when ‘conscious is available, feelings have their maximum impact and individuals are able to reflect and plan. (Damasio. 2010:58) In attending to a feeling, the improvising performer is able to control how the mind and body present it in relation to the duration of the performance. Further to this, it must be considered that responses hidden from sight such as chemical, organ, blood and heart can bring consciousness to a feeling, everyday much of this internal activity actions in the proto-self; unconsciously. When a neural activity pattern induces emotion, the body/brain makes sense of core self in relation to its environment. Self emerges as the feeling of the feeling, the automatic emergence of the known without ever asking for it. Damasio believes that consciousness begins with feeling, which is why it is important to relate what we feel to what we think in order to achieve a full understanding of knowing what occurs in the moment.

 

 

The Thinking dancer:

Nina Martin’s concept ‘Kill the Choreographer;’ developed from her personal relationship to improvisation, where she encourages dancers to ‘admonish the internal choreographer that tends to plan ahead, set up something or consider what movement will work best.’ (Buckwalter, 2010:20) In wanting to overthrow and evade the minds habits, she approaches improvisation through the method of ‘Neuro state’ – a training which aims to develop speed reading of the space with an ability to respond quickly, working with the brain and nervous system to get at pre-conscious movement, thus preventing preconceived attitudes towards a dancers choice. For this section, it would seem appropriate to question how we construct the conscious mind. Firstly, it must be seen as a process by which the mind, with the help of consciousness, is a continuous flow of mental patterns. The flow moves forward in time creating images developed from any sensory modality. The human mind is equipped with “vast memory, with the powerful ability to categorise items in memory, with the novel ability to code the entire spectrum of knowledge in language form and with an enhanced ability to hold knowledge in mental display and manipulate it intelligently.” (Damasio. 2000:311) The brain has the ability to construct neural patterns that map memory and knowledge (organisms) to external objects, causing manipulation of the organism in that moment, affecting change. In applying extended consciousness to this theory, “based on core consciousness for development over time as well as moment by moment,” (Damasio. 2000:200) we are asking to become aware of the ‘largest possible compass of knowledge.’ This intelligent manipulation allows for the most successful planning and delivery. However, there are simply too many images generated for all to be conscious. It could be said that Nina Martin is trying to avoid reaching the extended consciousness state and relying on the core or unconscious brain in order for the body to respond only to that moment.

However, research into Katie Duck’s work further explains why extended consciousness is important in the role of the thinking dancer when creating instant compositions[7]. “The performer has to be in constant process with choice and chance.” (Duck. no date: online) If choice and chance is not considered during the experience “they can appear to be moving too much but that’s because there are simply far more options (choices) then there are space to contain them. What they are actually doing is moving, without choosing (in time) to move.” (Duck. no date: online) Chance gives perspective of the space in time, placing emphasis on structure to allow a process of transformation with the choices made. Duck explains this further,

“If a performer lets a chance go by (for example: stillness) it effects the duration and chance is available. If a performer makes a choice (for example: to exit) then it effects how we perceive duration from the very moment the choice takes place.” (Duck no date:online)

 

When score or structure is given to chance, in the form of movement patterns, less emphasis is placed on the duration of the piece. However, what can still be apparent to the dancer is the option to create choices within this. Buckwalter describes Sgorbati’s Memory Form, a distinct project of her work, Emergent Improvisation that helps us imagine how choice and chance becomes available to the thinking dancer in performance improvisation;

“The dancers create a short improvised sequence and then repeat it over and over again. To recreate the actions that occurred in the sequence the dancers must remember their own movements as well as their timing in relation to others. Originally person A tips over, raising his leg, while person B ducks under it. But the next time, B is late. A’s leg is already coming down. B catches A’s leg and still accomplishes the maneuver – a variation of necessity arises in the moment.” (Buckwalter. 2010:135-136)

 

Although the movement patterns are the same, the extended consciousness of the dancers within this allows choice to take place. In the case of dancer B being late, dancer A could have chosen to let the leg fall and continue with the movement. They chose to catch the leg. This examples an extended conscious choice, where Dancer A chose to consider the effect of their movement in relation to the past, present and future of the structured improvisation. Thus evoluntionising into the invention of new action; “the ability to transform and combine images of actions and scenarios is the wellspring of creativity.” (Damasio. 2000:24)

 

The Sensing dancer:

“The senses work in conjunction with the proprioceptors to monitor body awareness.” (Olsen. 2004:16) The primary senses are located in the organs of the head and inform how we see through the eyes, hear through the ears, smell through the nose and taste with the tongue, awareness of this being selective through the focus of attention. The general sense receptors for touch including pressure, vibration, cold, heat and pain, located in the skin arising from the peripheral nervous system, directed into the spinal cord. “If information reaches the highest level, the cerebral cortex, conscious sensation may occur.” (Olsen. 2004: 16) Through our capacities for receiving and responding to information, the more developed we become at bringing awareness to sensation, the more choice we have. The senses motivate movement and pattern choices allowing a constantly changing relationship with the body to self and environment. A kinaesthetic sense.

     Lisa Nelson investigates how the body composes itself for action by closing the eyes, the dominant sense, relying on the other senses to navigate and respond to the space. “The activity of composing the body from sensory information usually happens so reflexively that it goes unnoticed.” (Buckwalter. 2010: 53) This being because when our movement stimuli become familiar, awareness of the sensation diminishes. However, by moving with less familiar senses, awareness is given to the information received through the nervous system. “By working with the eyes open and sometimes closed, the dancer gathers further information about how they make choices via the interplay of senses.” (Buckwalter. 2010:53)

      For psychologist J.J.Gibson, movement and the senses are intertwined. (Buckwalter. 2010:53) Senses work simultaneously, collecting information through movement over time, prompting further sensory investigation through the play of memory, association, further investigation or confirmation. The choice to bring awareness to particular sources of sensory information is what changes the execution, intention or impulse in the performance of a movement between one dancer and another. Nelson’s example above is one approach in a field of many that trains the dancer to consciously respond to sensory information during performance. What this section highlights, is that by doing so, a dancer can build a relationship with their environment, creating correspondence that allows for unpredictability.

 

Conclusion:

In choosing to separate the roles of an improviser into four approaches of doing, feeling, thinking and sensing, this study has allowed an awareness of the layered changing patterns in the mind and body systems. Form-based improvisation shares that the dancer’s role is a conscious approach to technique, theory and composition, positioned to experiment in present time. With conscious choice and chance at play in improvised performance, a dancer is sharing their autobiographical self with a watcher. They have the freedom to arrange their body, thoughts and feelings in space and time, forming how they want explore, develop and communicate.

         Furthermore, what this study has highlighted is that the dance “not only has the potential to provide insight into cognitive, emotional and aesthetic function and behaviour, but also has the potential to impact approaches.”(Blasing et al. 2012:304) You are not ‘just doing anything,’ when improvising- there is a study and skill behind it. The balance between making sense of self through the body/mind is what makes improvisation ephemeral.

 

 

Word Count 3,281

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes:

[1] The scientific terms given to the levels of self and consciousness are taken from Antonio Damasio & can be further explored through tables 6.1, 6.2 & 7.1 in his book, The feeling of what happens. (see bibliography) These tables are available in the appendices [1] (Figure 1, 2 & 3)

 

[2] It is recognised that this explanation is a memory of the experience. For the purpose of explanation the writer has used documented vocabulary of the action as performed, highlighting only the individuals response. Further investigation, not for this study, may begin to consider how an external audience may experience the conscious self of a dancer.

 

[3] Deborah Jowitt claims that artists have always had to ‘defend themselves against charges that they lack identifiable technique and indulge in careless public improvisation.” (1999:1) Further to this, in Lepkoff and Paxton’s email volley published in Contact Quarterly, they continue to refer to improvisation as ‘just improvisation.’ (see bibliography)

 

[4] Richard Bull developed a practice called ‘playpen,’ to “counteract a natural tendency to repeat familiar movements and broaden their movement palette.” (Buckwalter. 2010: 22) Buckwalter continues to describe and give an example of this practice for the dancer to engage in  and experience. The example on page 23 includes Laban’s Movement Analysis to explore new movement territory.

 

[5] Nancy Topf looks to the dancers body, exploring anatomical imagery to source movement. This can come from an appreciation of the dancers individual skeleton, using sensory exploration to discover and respond to the weight, shapes and shifts in the body. Buckwalter continues to example Topfs approach on page24 of Composing while dancing (see bibliography)

 

[6] Katie Duck is a dance and music improvisation artist based in Amsterdam. She particularly associates herself as an experimental dance artist, researching into the experience of instant composition, through the curiosity to understand the nature of the body. Her extensive work, writings and research can be found on her website www.katieduck.com.

 

[7] A term used to define a method of improvisation that gives precedence to the composition of the piece; using approaches such as scores, set material or specific rules and games. This can also be seen as form-based improvisation.

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix

 

Figure 1                                                                                        Figure 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

Books

 

Buckwalter, M. (2010) Composing while Dancing. The University of Wisconsin Press. USA.

 

Blasing, B. Beatriz, C,M. Cross, E,S. Jola, C. Honisch, J. Stevens, C,J.  (2012) Neurocognitive control in dance perception and performance. Acta Psychologica. Beilefed University Press.: Germany Pg 300-308.

 

Damasio, A, R. (2000) The feeling of what happens: body, emotion & the making of consciousness. London

 

Damasio, A, R. (1994) Descartes’ Error: Emotion, reason and the Human Brain. Papermac, London.

 

Jowitt, D. (1999) ‘Introduction. Bremser, M. 50 Contemporary Choreogrpahers. Routledge, Oxon. Pg 1-11

 

Olsen, A. (2004) BodyStories: A guide to experiential anatomy. University Press of New England. Hanover & London.

 

Journals:

 

Lepkoff, D & Paxton, S. (Winter/Spring 2004) “Between the lines: Re: Presenting Improvisation.” Contact Quarterly. 29,(1) 42-49.

 

Lockford, L & Pelias, R, L. “Bodily Poeticizing in Theatrical Improvisation: A typology of performative knowledge.” Theatre Topics. 14(2) The Johns Hopkins University Press.

 

 

Web-based sources

Duck, K. (no date) Interview: Proximity (Accessed 12.01.14)

www.katieduck.com/about-katie-duck/text/interviews/interview-proximity/

 

Zarrilli, P. (no date) body, breath, activation, performance. (Accessed 13.11.13)

www.phillipzarrilli.com/trainapp/index1.html

 

Smith, D, W. (Winter 2013 ed) Phenomenology, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (Accessed 12.01.14)

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/#7

 

 

Extended Bibliography:

Books:

Banes & Lepecki (2007) The senses in performing. Routledge: Oxon.

Barrett, L, F. & Lindquist, K, A. (2008) The Embodiment of Emotion. Semin, G,R. & Smith, E,R. Embodied Grounding. Cambridge University Press, USA.

 

Landgraf, E. (2009) Improvisation: Form and Event – A Spencer Brownian Calculation. Duke University Press: Dunham and London.

 

Varela, F, J. (1991) The Embodied Mind. Cambridge: London.

Zaporah, R. (1995) Action Theatre: the improvisation of presence. North Atlantic Books: Calafornia.

 

Journals:

Campbell. “Somatic sensibilities: exploring the dialectical body in dance” Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices. Nov 2012. Vol 4 iss 2.

 

Eddy, M. “Somatic practices and dance: global influences.” Dance Research Journal. Winter 2002: pg 46-62

 

Roche, J. “Embodying multiplicity: the independent contemporary dancer’s moving identity” Research in Dance Education. July 2011. Vol 12 iss 2 pg 105-118.

 

Wonzy, N. “The Somatics Infusion” Dance Magazine. 2012, vol 86 iss 5 pg:36-39