Improvisation is a regular activity I have in my Contemporary Ballet Class. I find that doing improvisation exercises, improves the awareness dancers have for each other. It also trains them to notice nuances and movement details which will prove useful in their future training. The use of improvisation also makes the dancers aware of choreographic elements, enabling them to respond better to instructions and directions during choreography.
This week, I was working on structured improvisation. In class I had 2 dancers starting off with a mirroring exercise that was being done as each dancer was approaching the other. At the point of contact, the dancers were instructed to do a walk exercise with poses at moment of their choosing. On my cue, the dancers then shifted to a unison followed by having them make a shape that they would move and progress through the space.
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| Mirroring |
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| Walk Exercise |
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| Walks with a pose |
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| Unison |
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| Moving/Developing Shapes |
I found that doing this exercise, the dancers were being trained to overcome their discomfort with using space. The pose exercise also helped them overcome their comfort with certain positions. A very good lesson in this exercise is that the dancers learned to do their movements based on the demands of the environment and in response to the movements of their fellow dancers.
You may want to try this out for yourself:
1. Get a partner and stand face to face.
2. Start moving in a slow fashion and have your partner follow you. Use simple and slow movements, avoid movements that remove eye contact with your partner (e.g. turning your back etc.)
3. Switch roles with your partner by taking on the follower role with your partner as leader.
When you do this, I recommend using slow flowy music.
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