At the Tuesday night contact improvisation jam we warmed up with the image that our bodies were paint brushes, leaving strokes of paint on the floor and through the space as if space itself were a large canvas.
At the end of the evening people talked about their discoveries (not all of which were yet articulatable)
Here are some notes from what was said and some of my own discoveries:
*** The focus of sharing a common plumb line between the two bodies: the moment I commit to an unpredictable, mutual center there is instability- a volatility that is an invitation for the unforeseen.
*** Being off-balance allows the adrenals to open full throttle- who needs to warm up?
*** Part of being off balance generates fear. I find that when I yield my center for awhile, I can only go so long before I need to re-find center. Then I can yield again, maybe for a little longer this time.
*** Gravity is what allows us to orient, I think of the phrase “coming into gravity.” If we know where the plumb line is, this knowledge of our mutual pathway to the ground keeps us safe.
*** My dance partner said in the middle of our dance: “When I dance with this focus I LOSE something (in the best sense of the word).” I asked what is that you lose? “Control.” Letting go of controlling the dance opens us up to the unplanned, un-pre-thought, greater sense of adventure as we happen upon a series of Aha! moments.
*** Falling into the up. It is out of this shared center that smaller people can take big people into flight. The teeter-totter -- falling down into the up.
*** When we fall off balance together the feet become like schools of fish—the dance roams, migrates through the room more.
*** When we fall through the space together and I’m falling first I like to investigate how to fall away and back into my partner at the same time.
*** When we are on our feet and falling through space together, I like to roll to the topside of the off balance.
*** Yielding to a mutual center can also mean yielding to a mutual dance. I found myself dancing less with my ideal and more with my partner.
*** I was surprised that this focus lead to an intimacy that appeared from a mutual suspension of will.
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