HOW TO MAKE 'GRID' / article on Self-Coaching Workshop 2010, published by BAL in 2010
HOW TO MAKE “GRID” by SUISO OGAWA
Keywords in the work of “GRID”
[Public]
- When an individual or group activity generates common interest to all, the activity
can be considered as “public action”. In the case where it’s considered to be more reasonable to make an effort to gain common profits rather than one’s own or individual profits, “public” comes into effect. In that respect, it differs from totalism. With an ideology of totalism, we intentionally do not value and not rely on “ myself” or “individuals” while prioritizing a profit of us as a whole. It (the concept of public) proves that the European communities are established on the premise of individualism. (excerpts from Wikipedia Japan)
- I’m interested in bringing daily life activities to stage. These activities contain different viewpoints.
- Exploring and experimenting preconditioned rules of the choreography to know basic factors of “Choreography” ( movements to be shared by more than one person).
[GRID (= lattice pattern)]
- Height/ width and vertical/ horizontal lines are a basis of things. It can be a indicator in measuring angles of curved lines.
- A sense of “emptying” yourself- The emptiness activates our imagination and allows intuition and a sense of proportion come to you.
- A value of “nothingness”
- Play with the gap between a body being an organic entity and “nothingness” expressed by the organic body. The gap stimulates our imagination.
- Name a space- Translate each space into words.
[BODY]
- Awakening body’s sensitivities
- By relating to a space, a body can exist within the space.
[RULES]
- Make rules to let imagination come out of one’s body
- Rules are set so that we can share common awarenesses
- Mind and body to be seen should not be over-controlled yet should be ready to pursuit rules.
- Execute actions as genuine as possible
- Rely on one’s own “movement experiences” and observe objectively what happened to your body by filtering the experience with the “rules”.
- Shared “senses” creates a culture. Rely on your own “sensibilities”.
Movement Motives
1. Standing for 10 min while feeling “midline” of the body- A practice of
“doing nothing”.
2. Standing while feeling midlines of five different spots in the room- Observe the
whole space and imagine where you want to place yourself.
3. Share the midline- Make a common midline
to be shared with more than one person 4. Move the common midline back and forth- Sway the line back and forth
5. Petal and stem- Imagine a surface that is attached to the common midline- Make contortions on the common “surface” by moving gradually from the
end of the line.
6. The first step-
Share the transition of physical and psychological state, from pedestrian state to performative state.
7. Flocking- A practice to embrace wholeness and individuality, to physically
express your will while accepting other’s.
8. My space- Gain awareness for both your own space and other’s space through “eye level chain game”.
9. Dance piece: [GRID]
9-1. Measure differences between your own body and the other’s body to figure out
similarities of these bodies
9-2. Walk with other people’s strides to experience their sense of physicality and spatiality. (Strictly speaking, it is not possible to share these individual
senses since the size is not same.)
9-3. Make grid patterns on the floor by walking back and forth, right and left with a same stride
Feedback from the participants
- To have the sense of observation within a body was almost a culture-shocking experience.
- I felt my body became more open by sharing my physical sensations with other performers.
- Through a series of exercises, I could learn that the sense of commons is built on the recognition of differences among individuals.
- I felt so full of energy after this workshop.
- I learned that I can live in a more relaxed manner in my daily life too.
- I felt curious to do these exercises, and felt nice to see other performer’s movements.