Movement reflections

We began with a warm-up, followed by impulse exercises in pairs. We passed impulses to each other and allowed them to guide our movements. Through contact improvisation, we explored the space and how we could move in relation to another person. I particularly enjoyed “Round, By, Through”, which encouraged us to discover different possibilities of movement around and through the shapes our bodies created. We also used eye contact and elements of physical theatre.

As the lesson progressed, we gradually added new layers to our improvisations. My partner and I were given the emotion of fear, which we explored through changes in expression and movement. We performed under two different pieces of music, with two pairs performing at a time while the others watched and tried to recognise the emotions.

The tango music felt especially powerful to me. It connected so closely with our movements and our emotion that the performance became deeply absorbing. Although we did not speak, I could clearly imagine a story: a struggle between life and death, between the fear of dying and the desire to live, without knowing which would win.

This experience reminded me how much we can communicate through the body, our relationship with a partner and our response to music. It also gave me a way into character work: beginning with a physical response and an emotion, then allowing a story and motivation to emerge.

The biggest challenge was the physical stamina needed for three and a half hours of movement. By the end, I was tired, but it was a satisfying tiredness. I had thoroughly enjoyed performing, and I felt grateful to be doing this work again.

Today, we explored the connection between breath and movement. We began with a warm-up, moving with our breath and becoming still when it paused. We then tried allowing the breath to lead the body and shape our movements. From this, different shapes and positions gradually emerged at three levels: high, middle and floor level. We explored transitions between them, connecting individual shapes into a sequence.

After that, we divided into groups of three, showed each other our movements and learnt to repeat them and synchronise with one another. One moment was both funny and revealing: a classmate warned us that her movement would be difficult, but we both repeated it quite easily. It reminded me that we should not decide in advance what other people will be able to do. Something that feels difficult to one person may feel quite natural to another.

We then worked with music, changing the dynamics, tempo and rhythm, and experimenting with moving in unison and in canon. I especially enjoyed the canon. Blanka gave us instructions: one person would stop, another would keep moving, and someone else would begin again. It reminded me of singing in canon, when voices enter at different times and become part of one piece. It was fascinating to see how the same principle could work with bodies and movement.

During the sharing, we performed alongside another group and received additional tasks: making eye contact, stopping, continuing to move or coming forward, downstage. The audience noted the moments when we caught their attention and met their gaze. I really enjoyed feeling that people were watching me. We moved for about fifteen to twenty minutes without a break, and I became very tired, but the audience’s attention inspired me and gave me the energy to continue.

Watching the others perform felt like witnessing a little miracle being born on stage. To me, it already looked like a finished piece: I could see characters, relationships between them and a whole story. It was so clear and readable that I wanted to applaud. The movements felt motivated, and everything came together naturally and beautifully. At times, I even had goosebumps. I was particularly struck by how a story that an audience can see and feel can emerge from movement.

At the end, all four groups tried moving at the same time. There was less space, and I noticed that I almost stopped observing the others: all my attention went towards my own movement and finding space among everyone else. This time, there was no audience, and I could no longer watch what was happening as a spectator either. By then, I was exhausted and finding it difficult to keep moving.

Thinking about how to improve this work, I would like to expand my own movement vocabulary and find more interesting and varied ways of moving. For that, I need practice, time and a willingness to experiment. As a group, we would benefit from more rehearsal and greater trust in one another. We are still getting to know each other and becoming familiar with how each person moves and works, so there are moments of uncertainty. I think experience will help us become more aware of one another and work together more easily.

The lesson was exhausting, but it was a joyful kind of tiredness. I like feeling that I am working on myself and understanding why I am making the effort. I want to become stronger, slimmer, quicker and freer in my movement. Despite the tiredness, I left today feeling that I really wanted to keep going.

Today’s movement lesson focused on dynamics. Our main exercise was individual work with a chair. We explored it using different parts of our bodies, varying the pace and quality of our movements, and then developed a short movement piece. First, we shared our ideas in pairs and gave each other feedback. Afterwards, we performed for the whole group and our teachers.

I had a headache and wasn’t feeling very well today, but I still wanted to take part. I enjoy these lessons, particularly discovering new things and working with an object on stage. Of course, I don’t move like a professional dancer, but, as Yana and I joked, we’ll win everyone over with charisma. We just need to find it and put it to use!

What stood out to me was how much the dynamics of a movement can change its meaning and the way it is perceived. Blanka demonstrated how the same touch can communicate very different things depending on how it is performed. The same applies to working with an object: even a small change in speed, force or fluidity can change the energy of a scene and what we communicate to the audience.

This connected with yesterday’s lesson on intention and our discussion of Katie Mitchell’s approach, particularly the detailed exploration of the text, circumstances and characters’ objectives before rehearsals. It is important to understand not only what I am doing, but why. For example, I might move a chair so I can stand on it to reach a vase on top of a cupboard, or push it aside because it is in my way while I am dusting. The action looks similar, but the intention changes its dynamics. If I lean on the chair while lost in thought and it shifts, the movement happens without me intending it. In my future work, I want to explore how understanding the circumstances and my intention can help me discover the dynamics of a movement and give my actions on stage a clear purpose.

In this lesson, we started by dancing in pairs to different music, keeping eye contact all the time. Then we worked with Viewpoints: we moved along a grid, like a chessboard, changed our speed, repeated other people’s movements and explored the distance between us. It was interesting to see how relationships and situations gradually came out of these simple tasks.

I really liked that we interacted with everyone in our group. It felt as if we had known each other for a long time and were now one team. There was a feeling of togetherness, and I felt very comfortable working with everyone.

I felt completely different with different people. I liked how Jamie responded to me: it made me feel more playful and excited, and I kept following him. With Sam, I felt like a guardian angel. With Layla, we had a connection too. With some people, the relationship felt more like friendship, with others like a partnership, and with others like a relationship with a client. It is amazing how one look and that first contact can be enough to feel what kind of relationship is beginning between you.

When we repeated the movements we had found, it felt a little different. The first time, we improvised more, and the body reacted first. The second time, I started thinking because I wanted to repeat what we had done more precisely. My partner sometimes moved away from our sequence, and I tried to bring him back.

This is where I want to explore kinaesthetic response a little more. Although perhaps this is exactly where I do not always need to think. I want to find that balance: when should I make a conscious choice, and when should I let my body respond to my partner on its own?

I am also thinking a lot about freshness. How can a scene still feel alive the second, third, tenth or hundredth time? I want the movement pattern to stay the same, but to keep feeling what is happening and responding to the person next to me each time. I do not want the movement to become automatic just because I already know what comes next. At the moment, I have more questions than answers, but I really want to try this and feel it in practice.

Today we began the lesson by moving through the space and changing direction. We moved sharply, changing direction on a clap. We then added shared impulses to our movement: we had to clap, jump and sit down together. We tried to sense the moment when the group was ready to act and respond to that impulse together.

After this, we moved on to creating a character through their walk. Blanka used Laban Effort to help us explore different movement qualities: a heavy or light step, direct or indirect movement, a quick or slow pace, and bound or free flow. Each quality offered two possibilities, and each of us chose our own combination.

As we continued walking, we answered questions about the character who was emerging: who they were, their name and age, where they lived and worked, what motivated them, what they feared and what they dreamed of. I found it interesting that my body responded first, and thought followed afterwards. The character gradually emerged from a physical impulse, from the walk itself.

My character was Bill, a builder from Texas. He was over fifty, he was lonely, and his greatest fear was losing his job. His colleagues were younger, and he knew that they could work faster. This made him even more anxious. At the same time, he had a big dream: to see the sea and dolphins.

Bill had a heavy walk and direct movements. He also seemed quite a straightforward person to me. His flow was sometimes bound, and his pace varied, although he usually moved slowly. Through his walk, I began to feel his age, his anxiety and his relationship with the world around him.

Then we came to my favourite part of the lesson: animal studies. Blanka asked each of us to choose an animal. At first, I wanted to be a panther. I love its grace, its physical fluidity and the way it moves through space. However, I realised that it would be physically difficult for me to recreate its movements at the moment, so I chose a turtle.

First, I put on socks. Then I had the idea of pulling my T-shirt over my head so that I could peek out and hide again, just as a turtle retreats into its shell when it senses danger. I really enjoy working on studies like this. At the same time, I thought how lucky the people who had chosen a rooster were: they could move on two legs instead of four! Next time, I might try a kangaroo, a monkey or another animal that can move on two legs. I would like to explore different possibilities.

The next stage of the exercise was new to me. We had to gradually transform the animal into a human, beginning with 80 per cent animal and 20 per cent human, then increasing the human proportion and reducing the animal proportion. I had never worked with this kind of transition before.

It was important to carry the animal’s way of looking and noticing its surroundings into the human body. We could communicate this through the position of the head, the gaze and our reactions. Even as I became more human, I continued to feel the turtle’s caution. The sense of danger stayed with me: I was always ready to retreat into my shell. I really enjoyed keeping that state alive and exploring how it could exist in a human body.

I think this work will be useful for our assessment project, which we will be creating in our devising lessons. Today’s exercise gave me a chance to feel how an animal’s movement and behaviour can become the foundation of a character, and I would like to continue exploring this.

We began today’s Movement class with a warm-up, after which Blanka reminded us of Michael Chekhov’s Six Directions.

We explored these directions through movement and breathing. What I found particularly interesting was that, although we were almost standing still, the exercise required quite a lot of energy. I could feel my energy extending in different directions together with my breath. Even without travelling through space, there was a strong sense of movement throughout the body.

We then explored hand movements. One exercise involved imagining that we were waiters carrying trays, and later we used books and other objects. This helped us explore movement, attention and control over our bodies.

My favourite part of today’s class was working in pairs.

We moved together, trying to stay synchronised with our partners using peripheral vision rather than looking directly at each other.

I feel incredibly comfortable working with Layla. When I look at her, she somehow reminds me of myself when I was 18 or 19. I feel that we were quite similar at that age. Perhaps that is why I found it so easy to sense and read her movements. She, in turn, was very quick to pick up on my intentions and respond to them. There was a wonderfully natural sense of understanding each other without words.

We then started working in groups of four. There was no permanent leader. Anyone could initiate a new movement at any moment, and the others had to sense the change and follow. We tried not to look directly at one another, continuing to use our peripheral vision.

For me, the most important aspect of this exercise was the feeling of working collectively. We were not simply copying movements; we were constantly listening to one another through our bodies.

Gradually, we extended the exercise to the whole group. Now we had to keep every member of the group within our awareness, because anyone could become the leader at any moment. I really enjoyed that feeling of being focused on my own movement while remaining open to everything happening around me.

It reminded me of the focus and attention games we often play at the beginning of our classes as part of the warm-up. But today I could see much more clearly how these skills could develop into more complex ensemble work and how useful they might be for our future production of Evie and the Animals.

For me, ensemble work is not simply about moving in synchronisation. It is about sensing others, noticing the smallest changes, accepting someone else’s initiative and knowing when to offer your own.

After today’s class, I returned to Michael Chekhov’s writing and reread his ideas about directions of movement and the relationship between physical action and an actor’s inner experience.

As I was reading, I was reminded of one of the ideas behind his technique: we do not necessarily have to search for an emotion or feeling first and then express it through movement. We can begin with a physical action, an impulse, a direction of energy, and allow an inner sensation or emotional state to emerge through the movement itself. I feel that this is exactly what we were trying to explore today.

And once again, I find myself thinking how absolutely fascinating all of this is! All these acting techniques, the connections between them, the possibilities of the human body and imagination. As I read Chekhov, I remember things I studied years ago, discover things that are completely new to me, and suddenly begin to see familiar ideas from a different perspective.

Sometimes I experience an almost childlike sense of excitement: “Wow! This is amazing!”

I love that feeling. I get enormous pleasure not only from the classes themselves, but also from the opportunity to learn again, to explore, and to discover new dimensions of acting.