tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-254797722024-03-13T12:03:24.957-07:00March to MarfaEnsemble Thinking, Improvisation, and Real Time ChoreographyJulie Lebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09605018342623397712noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-39969104987765784282008-08-17T00:48:00.002-07:002008-08-17T00:58:08.453-07:00practice the workWe try to make the Imrovisation dance be alive here in Oslo.<div>For one week now we practiced in the mornings. "Kom igang uke" the good old people of the improvisation community of Oslo..7 of us. We lost our studio some years ago and didn´t find a new one yet</div><div>Thinking about pause a lot and how to keep the energy up, and how to change between different states and to stay strong.</div>sirihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01563658568072001866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-82641175136274380762008-05-03T10:38:00.003-07:002008-12-14T13:25:53.350-08:00Grand Unified Theory<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3cFfhjn-5bJbJk3HWzE5ZslROm8TcbmOo1aYPPhM0KvaUyzUSRUvnPZgDCxNDPPBtPfWnIhHcbIXj32Jh3uJwVxsBIlKBLKtk5n9_DZL997ue7HYEIo1A4px2kx441Gc4rcJ/s1600-h/GrandUniTheory.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3cFfhjn-5bJbJk3HWzE5ZslROm8TcbmOo1aYPPhM0KvaUyzUSRUvnPZgDCxNDPPBtPfWnIhHcbIXj32Jh3uJwVxsBIlKBLKtk5n9_DZL997ue7HYEIo1A4px2kx441Gc4rcJ/s400/GrandUniTheory.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196207602091871362" border="0" /></a>tool: anything used as a means of accomplishing a task or a purpose<br />logic: interrelation or sequence of facts or events<br />aesthetic: a philosophical theory or idea of what is valid at a given time and place<br /><br /><br />Those three elements can be the same thing and be given equal status or be completely different. <br /><br />Questions -<br />Does your aesthetic determine your logic?<br />Does your logic determine your tool?<br />Does your tool determine your aesthetic?<br />Does your tool determine your logic?<br />Does your logic determine your aesthetic?<br />Does your aesthetic determine your tool?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05011493116427816409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-71405316933048690462008-04-16T23:10:00.004-07:002008-04-21T23:30:33.986-07:00Hold With the Open HandSomething I like to think about while improvising and well, making work in general - hold with the open hand.<br /><br />Put out your hand palm up. Put something on it. That item is fully supported against gravity. You can move that item where you want to. If you want to drop is, just tilt your hand. If you had been grasping said item, you would have to open your hand and then tilt it the proper direction to let the item drop.<br /><br />While improvising, support your idea fully but don't let your support get in the way.<br /><br />As .<a href="http://www.38special.com/">38 Special</a> sings : <b><b><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></b><span style="font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Just hold on loosely, but don't let go<br /> If you cling too tightly,<br /> you're gonna lose control</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05011493116427816409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-66052668377714782832008-04-14T14:44:00.003-07:002008-04-14T15:15:36.313-07:00M 2 M '08 and something I want to tryWe came, we saw, we danced a lot. Last night Kelly and I watched some of the afternoon working sessions. Clean spatially...could see the duets, trios, clumps how we were all working spatially.<br /><br />Couple things I noticed - events kept unfolding almost always at the slightly faster than a glacier impro pace. This is not to say that people were not dancing quickly, but the chapters (for lack of a better word) came and went at a similar pace. Scenarios were presented but not investigated for long. Vocabulary was brought back but a scene is more than just its movement vocabulary.<br /><br />A score I would like to try is have a group of people working, let's say 7. One person is designated the observer (Though all are observer/participants...) When the observer sees a situation/scene - example: standing slow quarter spread throughout the stage with wild CI duet up stage and solo downstage - s/he tells everyone to pause and identifies the situation. <br /><br />How much can the identified scenario be investigated? How much can its boundaries be stretched before it morphs? How much material is there in that one scene? Does the ensemble need to move on so quicklyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05011493116427816409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-56599248515044198332008-04-01T15:29:00.004-07:002008-04-01T16:27:23.234-07:00Opening the blog to all March to Marfa crewsMarch to Marfa 08 is now over. It was again a great experience. It has been suggested to open this group to all different crews: 2006, 2007 and 2008 as a communication link and continue the discussion. <div><br /></div><div>I suggest using the label options to sort different discussion and use the comment options when a subject is interesting to you.</div><div><br /></div><div>Labels suggestions:</div><div>unapologetic self-promotion</div><div>communication link</div><div>opportunities</div><div>tools</div><div>science</div><div>links</div><div>...</div>Julie Lebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09605018342623397712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-91862389174426849552007-09-16T15:11:00.001-07:002008-04-01T16:07:30.924-07:00short postHi all,<br />found my passwords again and re exploring blogspot this sunday afternoon. But just wanted to let everyone know that we are in the midst of organizing March 2 Marfa 2008.<br /><br />Shelley Senter will be leading the mornings and afternoons will be in the theater. The dates are March 24th - 31st 2008. It's Monday to Monday.<br /><br />Will send more info when it is available<br /><br />AndrewAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05011493116427816409noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-1168495002629535202007-01-10T21:35:00.006-08:002008-04-01T16:26:14.161-07:00Dancing the brainI have been curious about neurones, brain and pattern recognition because of Nina's "dancing the brain" idea. Here some interesting radio shows about that subject.<br /><br />On Radiolab, WNYC: Stories of people whose brains and bodies have lost each other. They ask how does our brain keep track of our body? They examine the bond between brain and body and look at what happens when it breaks.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/05/05">http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/05/05</a><br /><br />Again Radiolab, WNYC: <blockquote>"We examine the line between language and music, how the brain processes sound, and we meet a composer who uses computers to capture the musical DNA of dead composers in order to create new work. We also re-imagine the disastrous 1913 debut of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring…through the lens of modern neurology."</blockquote><a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/04/21">http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/04/21</a><br /><br />On our beloved Canadian CBC Quirks and Quarks Radio Show:<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> Knowing Me, Knowing You</span><br /><blockquote>One of the hallmarks of being human is our ability to empathise with others – to read people’s expressions and emotions. Even with complete strangers, we somehow understand how they are feeling, what they are thinking and what their intentions are. But how do we do it? Scientists have been grappling with this for ages. There just didn’t seem to be any obvious mechanism to explain it.<br /><br />But then, about 15 years ago, something weird happened in a monkey lab in Italy. Scientists there discovered a new type of brain cell. They called it a “mirror neuron”, because of its ability to mirror the activity of those around it. The neurons were firing not only when the monkey itself performed an action, but when it watched an experimenter perform it as well. So, even when the monkey was completely still, and did nothing but watch someone else pick up a peanut, its brain fired as though it were picking up the peanut itself. And that got researchers wondering if this could be the key to our exquisite mind-reading abilities. Toronto science journalist Alison Motluk set out to explore the implications of mirror neurons, and prepared a documentary, called Knowing Me, Knowing You. Here are the people she spoke to:<br /><br />Dr. Christian Keysers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands has been studying these neurons for some years now. He says they have the uncanny ability to mirror or mimic what’s going on in the brains of others.<br /><br />Dr. Marco Iacoboni, a neuroscientist at the Brain Mapping Center at UCLA, had had a hunch that imitating other people’s facial expressions was somehow linked to feeling what they were feeling. This turned out to be true.<br /><br />Dr. Mirella Dapretto, who works with Dr. Iacoboni at UCLA, immediately began wondering if malfunctioning mirror neurons might explain the problems that autistic people have.<br /><br />Dr. V.S. Ramachandran is Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California at San Diego. He thinks the combination of language and learning by imitation that mirror neurons seem to enable may explain why humans have such a rich and rapidly evolving culture.</blockquote>Source: <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/05-06/apr01.html">http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/05-06/apr01.html</a><br />Dowload that mp3 here: <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2005-2006/mp3/qq-2006-04-01c.mp3">http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/media/2005-2006/mp3/qq-2006-04-01c.mp3</a>Julie Lebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09605018342623397712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-1156788605491268382006-08-28T11:04:00.002-07:002008-04-01T16:08:47.234-07:00Anybody going to Marfa in 2007?Hi!<br /><br />I saw the small square in CQ about Marfa 2007 with Steve Paxton. I wonder what will be the connections between Ensemble Thinking and Steve's approach. I wonder what he is interested to work on. The spinal work? The puzzles? If anybody nows, write a comment to this post, thanks!Julie Lebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09605018342623397712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-1156226899073759162006-08-21T23:03:00.001-07:002008-04-01T16:09:28.018-07:00Most efficient and best ways to work since there is never enough time to work with Nina.It takes to a group a period to settle and find ways to communicate. By the end of the week in Marfa, it felt like the idea to work in small group, divided in part observers and doers was most efficient. We would extract patterns, strategies in a simple short way to be then able to share it with the entire group. We would also wave at what one was saying if it was true for us as well. Non repetitive and focussed discussions are to me the best warm ups and downs. It puts me in a very specific mindset, ready to think and be aware. That's the real warm up we need to do that work.Julie Lebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09605018342623397712noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-1144786052429801502006-04-11T12:40:00.000-07:002006-04-11T14:01:16.673-07:00response to ET as lensHmmm...<br />It seems that conciousness, modes of attention and states of mind create an aesthetic and/or values about what is good, beautiful, true or real. So far in the ET that I have experienced I find one rigorous and unified state of mind. I have not performed in that strict framework enough to judge whether or not it create its own aesthetic. But I suspect it does.<br />It seems like some states of mind are too inaccessible for ET - because they are inaccessible to a normal audience through the medium of performance. Values like shock seemed challenging to ET. Questions about performance- is the space a stage for the entertainment of others or a space for self-realization?When does one fail the other? Why are they separate?- seemed to be popping up via performance...<br />What I think I was doing in Marfa was learning about what kinds of departures from the "score" can I view through the lens of ET and what kinds muck it up so much, or as Nina said "tear the envelope?"<br /><br />What seemed to work is that if I let my attention be wide enough (sometimes it felt like 360! and I believe that this expansiveness was arrived at through the exercise aspect of ET) almost anything was possible. Like, I am screaming fuck and it (the scream of fuck) is in a line and there are three of us and it takes the hot spot from Heidi.<br />Hmmm, there's more I want to get down to. Questions really. Like what is ET's or anyone's take on theme and development in live performance?Sarah Gamblinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03578692383796617403noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-1144735093668930922006-04-10T22:51:00.000-07:002006-04-10T22:58:13.676-07:00Ensemble as LensHello,<br /><br />One thing that I had hoped to do in M2M '06 was look at set work through the lens of Ensemble Thinking. If E.T. is a useful tool then it should be applicable to not just improvisation but also choreography. This is assuming the definitions of impro and choreo are that impro the observers are witnessing the act of creation and in choreo the observers are watching the product of creation. Time is instantaneous in one and compressed in the other. Just as a hammer is a good tool cuz it works on wood, on steel, in France and when it's raining.<br /><br />So is E.T. a set of ideas that is universal? applicable to various aesthetics and movement forms? Or does it breed it's own aesthetic?<br /><br />AndrewAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05011493116427816409noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25479772.post-1144691698339582472006-04-10T10:52:00.001-07:002008-04-01T16:10:39.089-07:00Welcome to the blog of March to Marfa 2006<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2263/1075/1600/group2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2263/1075/320/group2.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>I hope this will be a useful tool to continue discussions on interesting topics, stay in touch and start new projects.Julie Lebelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09605018342623397712noreply@blogger.com0