Re: Soft for Dancers Up Date #2/ Articles On Line[was dance and language thread]

From: Armando Menicacci (armando@noos.fr)
Date: 04/03/02


Maybe this is a good way for me to put together a further step that 
includes or refer to Sophia and Antonio's notes.

Let's talk about the Macro. I've been talking a while with Scott 
about this macro: it has many description problems.

1) lack of an extension "command" (assuming that a plié is a 
flexion), or, in other words, this is not a Glissade, this is a 
"Temps lié".

Glissade and temps lié have exacly the same pattern except the 
extension timing. If you do dégagé while you shift your weight from 
une foot to another you're doing a Temps lié because the temps lié 
has a grounding (bottom-up) dynamic while the glissade has a 
lightening dynamic (top down).

So, while you are  making the firs dégagé with the left leg (line 
two), you are supposed to strech your right leg.

(It's funny to ee what someone "forgets" because you can see the way 
he feels his body)

So if the dégagé is done at the same time of the first plié this is a 
"Temps lié". If the dégagé is performed during a leg extension (after 
the first plié) this is a "Glissade".

>on glissade;
>do fifthposition
>do plié (demi) while plié do degagé (my left leg)
>	while degagé (away) 
>		put the weight of my body from my right leg onto my 
>left leg
>do degagé (my right leg) while degagé (away) 
>		return the foot of my right leg infront of the foot 
>of my left leg
>do plié (demi)
>end glissade;
>

2) Lack of dance (sorry, no command here)
Assuming that we have a perfect script we're still missing the dance. 
We have the right choreography, the right procedure, but how about 
interpretation? How about the lifez we give to a choreography? How 
about the quality of grounding or suspension we can have in arms and 
head and looks? Aren't these parts of the body participating? Is a 
dance professors someone who transmits procedures? Or is the 
procedure transmission just a way to share or awake a dance state in 
a student?

Let me put it this way. Every script we can make (of course including 
my exemple) is the choreography, but it's like a score in music: it's 
not music, it's notation.
------------------

To go with Sophia I agree that ballet has basic signifying elements 
as steps (remains the problem of interpretation of steps, again, the 
problem of dance), but if we assume this how to consider a step in 
Judson church pasta cooking as a dance performance? What is there a 
basic elements? Pouring salt into water ?(be careful with your answer 
I'm Italian.... sensitive to pasta cooking). As you say in contact 
flux is a what matters, but I'm not sure that CI's sens is only 
there. Plus I don't know if you say the word Flux referring to 
laban's definitions or Kestemberg's, and this is a problem for me 
becaus I don't know how to go on on this not knowing more precisely 
your point of view.
In any case in CI, as you said, the shape doesn't matter (this means 
procedure's scripts description like systems). This is enough for me 
to say that Dance (as I'd say Language or blindness, considered as 
abstract categories) is not a language per se. Some dances are 
languages that can use linguistics and instruments that are referring 
to meaning, syntax analysis and so on. Because dance appears to me 
more a state of sensitivity than a phisical procedure assembley or 
body practical discipline.

Antonio's point is very interesting to me as a research, and I look 
forward to see the database that's coming out in may, but there is 
first problem for me in segmentation: Where a "microdance" starts and 
ends? The question is liked to a linguistic thinking, because 
stilness (remember the thread?) is a myth. Or we can say that even in 
a still a silent body something is creating meaning and modulating it 
through time?
I think that in dance we cannot even start to analyze meaning (from a 
scientific point of view if we don't calculate ALL the tensions that 
participate. More precisely I think that we should observe six 
domains Skeletal (what mocap captures)
Muscle tensions (what EMG captures)
Diaphragm use (no capture at the moment or maybe with echography)
Respiration (I can't say here  why we distinguish respiration from 
diaphragms as two separate domains of analysis. We consider at least 
four diaphragms, and they all have different respiration)
Perception settings (same thing, too long for this mail. We consider 
that foveal way of looking is bringing inside a bound flow preferred 
potential, to speak with Kestenberg's categories )
And (finally) expression. This is becaus expression cannto be 
considered without all the rest. But all the rest is not universal, 
expressiveness is definitely linked to a relationship with the 
environnement. So, to conclude, All of these domains (divided into 
further detailed layers) are "readalbe" or interpretable only INSIDE 
a particulat cultural group and moment (space and Time).

I'm sorry It took so long. It's an interesting question for me and 
I'm full of questions

Cheers
-- 
_______________________________
Armando Menicacci (Paris 8 University)
75 rue Caulaincourt 75018 Paris
Home +33 (0)1.44.92.97.37
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