The first reading I read was about form. I’ve never really thought about form in improvisation before but after studying this reading I’m considering that there is form in everything we do, including improvisation. Whether were conscious or not of it. A statement that sparked my interest was ‘ You’re talking about form in improvisation? Then it’s no longer improvisation.’ ( Halprin. A, 2014, 122). For me I think there has to be an element of form in improvisation in order for the group to ‘perform’ safely, but is this classed as form or structure? And are you fully improvising the piece?
To help answer these questions I will study if I use form in class when I’m asked to improvise, I feel that subconsciously I will do so.
The second reading was about structure, having a structure during improvisation can be as little as to how many dancers you want in sight of the audience or how long you want the improvisation to last. Something that confused me was ‘structures can be imposed from the outside and discovered from the inside’ (Kent De Spain, 2014, 158). I’m not sure what this means, I would interpret it as you can set a structure before improvising but finding out the limitations this gives you or the freedom it can provide will be made present during your improvisation.
This weeks readings were very clear, to work this into my improvisation practice I’m going to be conscious if I create a form when dancing and how structures provided will influence the movements I choose to perform.
Bibliography
- De Spain. K (2014) Landscape of the Now: Artistic Form. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pages 120-127
- De Spain. K (2014) Landscape of the Now: Structures. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pages 158-166