Having started with the most current writers about imagery in dance, I have recently found myself back with the pioneers of ideokinesis and their pupils. Mabel Todd's work is written in a very 'medical' way with lots of Latin terms and I found it quite hard to access although the thrust of what she is saying is clear. What has been fascinating is to see how the ideas initiated by Mabel Todd have been filtered, refined or revisited by her pupils and then by their pupils - to a state whereby they are current and accessible, in my opinion.
I have much admiration for Mabel Todd - a true pioneer, and am intrigued by the fact that Todd, Lulu Sweigard and Barbara Clark all became involved with ideokinesis and movement as a bid to correct personal physical difficulties. It was interesting to note that Irene Dowd felt it appropriate to dispense with Sweigard's 'Nine Lines of Movement', as she reviewed and refined her work in 'Taking Root to Fly.' This suggested to me that it is possible to start at one point and then refine a notion or a system further which may lead to eschewing earlier manifestations of something that has possibly evolved. In contrast, it is also interesting to note that many original notions remain.
I have been able to trace ideas from printed source to my interviews for my research - for example the notion of stacking the skeleton to create an aligned stance. This is evident in the work of Mabel Todd, Andre Bernard, Irene Dowd, Lulu Sweigard, Eric Franklin and Valerie Grieg, and they all conform to the notion of a central axis which runs through the body, although they all describe it slightly differently at times. I was particularly drawn to Grieg's visual description of posture as building blocks (below in a version which I have created myself)
I have been using this imagery for some time and have had notable success with it, none more so than it being reported in more than one of my narrative interviews as being something used by the interviewee as a matter of rote.
I have often alluded to the dancer as a tree with roots extending into the ground, the trunk supporting the branches and twigs, and the top of the tree reaching ever upward. Although a simple metaphoric image, this concurs with the notion of aligning the body as described by Irene Dowd, 'see if you can allow head, rib cage, and pelvis to be centered in relationship to each other and effortlessly supported and connected by your spine. Let your sacrum hang down to connect you to the ground just behind your heels. Let your central axis, soaring out through the top of your head, suspend you from the sky' (Dowd, 1974, reprint 2012, page 11). It took me a while to comprehend that there were areas of the spine that cannot extend upwards, and this notion now makes complete sense to me in terms of actual anatomical possibility.
What has resonated more than anything else is how vital it is to ensure that all teachers have a thorough and correct knowledge of the functions of the body. I find this slightly disconcerting as although I have a fair knowledge, I am not fully trained in kinesiology. I also truly question as to whether or not my fellow ballet teachers are, and this has presented itself as an area of future investigation and interest.
Throughout this course I have been reassured and challenged in equal measure with regard to my teaching and I am sure that I always will be, and this is part of the rationale for my continued relationship with learning. I have already been presented with areas for further investigation, which I cannot ignore. At some point I hope to be able to continue with my studies, but for sure will take a break of some sort after the end of January!
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