All together now, or paying attention while improvising.

Recently I was talking with a friend about the experience of performing improvisatonaly and the attention required. Basically, she was asking what I was paying attention to as I was dancing/performing. As we talked we came up with an impressive list, which partially included: proprioceptive self (where I am in space and where I'm moving), the quality of my movements (strong, light, direct, sudden, etc...), where I am in the room/theater in which I'm moving (in the center, close to an edge or corner), where other people are in the room, how they are moving (what and how), how close we are to be another and how that is changing (proximity), emotions and feelings emerging from myself, other individuals and the groups as a whole, the developing relationships of individuals and the group, emergent forms (compositional tools or structures), tracking how the past interweaves with the present (remembering elements and choosing to repeat or evolve), and a number of other elements. Basically, I'm tracking myself, the other individuals, and all of us as a whole in the present moment with awareness of the past. My friend commented how this seems a lot to track at once. And, of course, it is. But I am not tracking each element individually, but as a whole. Earlier in my experience as an improviser I could only track a few elements at a time, but that was when these elements where only differentiated and not yet integrated. Learning to improvise is much like learning to walk - first you must learn how to use the different parts of your legs and upper body, figure out balance, and experiment how all the parts fit together. It takes awhile to learn how to coordinate it all, but once it is coordinated you don't have to pay attention to every part as it is now integrated into one movement. The same is true with one's ability to attend to all these various elements while improvising. At first you need to figure each of them out and then, and only then, can you integrate them. I do, often, go back to singular elements to strengthen and deepen my awareness and skill with them, but when improvising they merge into a single awareness that is fluid, precise and multi-layered. 

With that said, there are certainly times individual elements come to the forefront during a performance. The emotional tone of the piece might be the main focal point for a while, but then later proximity or movement qualities may be for forefront. Everything isn't always equal in ones attention, but they are always present. The emotional tone must be supported by the proximal relationship between performers as the movement quality is essential to the expressive nature of the moment. While at moments certain elements are more obvupious than others, but at those movements the other elements continue to support the whole.

Again, we first we differentiate the elements of improvisation (or, really any skill, activity, art). Once we begin to differentiate we also begin to integrate until we can hold both the individual elements and the whole of them. When this integration happens we are free to take the present moment together as a whole, or focus on one element or another. When we reach this point we have freedom of choice and freedom of attention and the real, deep practice of improvisation begins. 

*Photo is of me and my company, The PlayGround, performing last December at Georgetown University Hospital, where we are the dance-company-in-residence. 

A reminder from Rumi

Haven't posted any poetry on this blog, but this one feels important for me to remember right now:

Today like any other day
When you awaken empty and frightened
Don't go to the door of the study
and begin to read
Instead, take down the dulcimer
Let the beauty of what you love
be what you do
There are a thousand ways
to kneel and kiss the ground
There are a thousand ways
to go home again.
- Rumi

Why I'm Excited About The Chemistry of Lime Trees

Way back in 2008 I began thinking about and planning The Chemistry of Lime Trees, with the first incarnation appearing as a solo in the summer of 2009. Since then I have worked closely with my collaborators - Susan Oetgen, Kathryn Harris Banks, Stephanie Yezek, Stefanie Quinones Bass, Jonathan Matis, and Tony Melone - to build a work that is layered, visceral and has surprised me in many ways.

I am excited for our upcoming performances March 14 through March 24 at The Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint because we have not had the opportunity to share this work with our community in DC proper - we've performed it in New York City, Milwaukee and out in Reston, but now we'll be right downtown.

I am excited to share The Chemistry of Lime Trees because it is a work unlike any other I've made - being based on factual historical stories involving plot and characters it is much more theatrical than my previous work. It is emotional, intense, and even occasionally funny.

I am excited for these performances because we will be performing 8 times over two weeks - highly unusual for a dance company. This will give us the opportunity to share the work with a broader audience, deepen our performing experience and hopefully give everyone who wants to see the performance an opportunity to see it.

These performances are a culmination and a continuation for the company. It is a culminate of five years of research, rehearsing, creation and performing The Chemistry of Lime Trees. It is the second project of our two year project - The Perimeter Project - which started last fall with our presentation of Scenic Route. Over the next two years we will exploring the role of borders and boundaries, both real and imagined, through numerous projects, performances and events.

Here is a video where I talk alittle bit more about The Chemistry of Lime Trees, as well as our current fundraising campaign to support these performances.



USA Projects 1 Version 2 from Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround on Vimeo.

Find out more about our USA Project HERE.

A little hospital dance

Over the last weeks I have been finding moments in my work at the hospital where I am between things without something to do. These moments are short - less than 5 minutes. It is usually when I am done on one unit and have a couple of minutes before I am to be at the next unit. Usually I just take my time until I go into the next unit. Recently I have instead found out of the way places, and with my iPod Touch, have captured my self doing short improvisational movement sequences - each shot is only between 30 and 60 seconds. The spaces are mostly hallways and stairwells - I wanted to shoot some in the elevator, but I was never alone long enough. After I had some footage I began editing the material - again, on my iPod using iMovie - while commuting on the Metro and buses around DC. Below is the final video. Enjoy. Hopefully my next hospital video will consist of shots from the elevator....


Hospital 11282013 from Daniel Burkholder/The PlayGround on Vimeo.

In case you didn't know, I am an Artist-in-Residence at Georgetown University Hospital where I work with patients, family members, nurses, doctors, and support and administrative staff.

Turning The PlayGround Green

I love being outdoors. I love to garden (though one might describe it as an "its complicated" relationship). I love hiking. I love dancing outside. Because of all this love, beginning January 2013 The PlayGround will begin transforming our artistic practice into a more sustainable and ecologically responsible process. The environment and climate change has long been an interest of mine and has manifested most prominently in the company's three year project, My ocean is never blue. During those three years the company explored humanity's multi-faceted relationship to water - from our personal relationship to spiritual, societal and political relationships. More recently we have explored the space where dance and nature can meet through our Scenic Route events. (see a wonderful video by Brian Harris from our last event here.) Beginning next year we will begin to incorporate those interests and concerns into our daily practices.

To begin, we are going to purchase carbon off-sets for the company's travel to and from all rehearsals and performances. Through carbonfund.org we will donate money in direct proportion to the miles we travel. This money will be used to develop renewable energy, energy efficiency programs, and reforestation projects. It is a small first step, but one we hope will make a difference.

As we move forward with this initiative - which we are calling The Green PlayGround - we will continue to finds ways to expand our conservation efforts to help make the world a greener place to dance.

Katie and Stephanie on one of our rehearsals for our recent performance of "Scenic Route 2.0".

Good Girls and Boys

Here is a favorite quote from Feldenkrais:

"The dependence relationship in which we are given a sweet if we are good girls and boys, in which we have to acquire the right to live by complying with somebody else's desires, must be completely eliminated before a society of creative and evolving beings will be formed."  

--- Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais from The Potent Self: A study of Spontaneity and Compulsion

The body is not an "if...then" statement, or why I love Feldenkrais

It is easy to want direct answers to questions, problems and concerns. This is certainly true when one is physically injured or are in pain. When we are suffering we go to an expert - our doctor, physical therapist, or even the trainer at our gym. Sometimes they are helpful, sometimes not. I would propose that the cases where we are not helped it is because we are often treated as an "if...then" statement. If you experience lower back pain then strengthen the abdomen muscles. Or, if your elbow hurts then you get a shot. But, each person is uniquely different and not one of us is an "if...then" equation. Why your lower back hurts may be entirely different than why my lower back my hurts. One elbow may be in pain because of an isolated, traumatic injury and another because of inefficient use of the whole body. To try and "fix" a person based on formulas may work in some cases, maybe even in many cases, but they will not work for everyone. Nor will they address larger systemic issues that may be effecting an individual's pain and discomfort. One must pay attention to how the whole works together, how the parts integrate into a whole.

This is why I love The Feldenkrais Method. A person is never treated as a symptom nor as a set of parts. We do not look at a person and think, "If A hurts then do B". We certainly consider a person's pain, but we explore how that pain fits in to their overall organization and functioning. When someone's lower back hurts you must look at the organization of the pelvis, the spine and head, their hip joints and even how they stand on their feet. And each individual's organization is going to be unique, so their path forward will also be unique. This approach is more complex and doesn't always yield simple answers. But it does give an opportunity for lasting and profound change in someone's organization and greater freedom in their movement.

When we approach the body as an "if...then" statement our understanding will be limited; if we approach the individual as a complex, integrated whole we arrive at a fuller and more satisfying place.

photo by Christine Stone Martin