Teach the touch exercise to a friend and blog me on how it goes. What was their reaction? Were they able to stay with the exercise? What did you learn in the process? I can't wait to hear how it goes.
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About Me
- Louis
- My efforts toward enlightenment through creativity and physicality are what my dances and my teaching are all about.
23 comments:
I taught this exercise to my husband, we have been married for 7 years and we have a great connection so all in all it was great. I explained tthe idea as if he was following a white puff ball (the kind that float around in the fall) with his finger, never leading, never pushing, just moving with the energy. We stood in silence for 5 - 10 minutes and finally I grabbed his hand and we both laughed. I asked about his feelings. He said that "it felt like he was in another realm after he turned off his thinking". I described my experience to him both at home and in class. The two were very different. His body movement is much more constrained, less organic. In class I had a greater feeling of "energy control" than at home. I believe the outcome is restrained by the willingness your partner has to completely give into the exercise. It was great, I really enjoyed sharing this with him.
I completely agree with what Rachel said about the outcome being restrained by the willingness your partner has to completely give into the excercise. I taught this to my boyfriend, and try as I might to teach him, he didn't quite get it. I explained the directions exactly how we were taught in class, and while he understood what to do, I'm not so sure he felt anything by it. He wasn't willing at all to just let his body go and just feel the energy. I'm pretty sure he was just self conscience. When I did this in class, I was able to just turn my brain off and give in to the experience, however he was not capable, or willing to do that. Maybe if I try again and convince him to stop caring about what he looks like I'll get a better response. I'd love for him to really get the full experience because it really is amazing. I loved doing it in class!
I taught this exercise to a girl in my house. She was very skeptical at first of what we were doing, I could tell she thought it was strange and irrelevant to dance. I tried to explain the feeling of following the energy but she didn't really get it until I told her to think of ET, which I thought was funny. I think she needed a concrete idea to hold onto while doing it because just following a random energy was too abstract. As we continued to do the activity I could tell she was becoming more and more comfortable with it. She stopped trying to lead or follow and allowed herself to just go with it. At the end she made a comment on how she didn't think that that was what dance was like which I thought was interesting since we sort of had that discussion in class on what dance is and who decides.
I taught this exercise to my mom. She was very excited to try it out because she has been asking about what we do in this modern class ever since the quarter started. I explained that the goal was never to lead or follow, just to feel the energy flow and completely let yourself go. We did the exercise for a little longer than 5 minutes, and it was interesting to see how the exercise progressed through that time. At first, she was very still and tried to lead a lot, but as the time went on, she relaxed more and it felt more like she was flowing and getting into it. I asked her how she felt about it afterwards and she said that it was an exercise she would have never connected to a dance class, but after she physically tried it, she understood the goal to become one with yourself and let the energy flow. I think she liked getting a taste of what our class was like!
I taught this to my friend Thomas. It was not successful at first. Even though I explained to him that we were supposed to relax and let the energy flow instead of leading, I felt like he was leading a lot. After a while, i think he relaxed a bit and the movement felt a little more natural and free, but still bound. I felt like he was a little tense and felt like he needed to understand what we were doing right away. After telling him to really close his mind, we tried it again and I felt like he did improve by letting go. His movements were more free.
I taught this exercise to a good friend whose never done anything like it before. After describing the process, he seemed to know what to do. However, when we did the exercise.. the both of us were either moving A LOT or not moving AT ALL. His energy to me, seem to vary. In the beginning.. he was quick to lead my finger but when there was some traveling initiation in space.. he became less confident and reluctant to follow the energy. It takes a while to grasp the concept of this exercise.. and therefore, we gave it a couple of tries. =)
I taught this excersise to my friend Madeline. I explained it by saying "We are gonna keep the tips of our fingers touching but neither of us are going to push, lead, or follow, it's just a really light connection and you follow where the energy goes." She said she was confused how this related to dance and wasn't sure if she would "do it right." I told her there was no way to do it right or wrong. Afterwards she said she thought it was really exciting to not be leading OR following but feel like there was still a natural pull and path. I then explained how it is an excersise to start people in the direction of contact improv and she then said how cool it was and how she could see that it is relevant. It was different with her because she is not a dancer and we were just standing in our small room but it was still a really interesting and fun experience.
I did this excercise with my mom. After we closed our eyes I felt her finger push mine towards me ever so slightly. I followed, trying to keep the touch light, and we accelerated. She told me afterwards that she thought I was the one leading her forward, which was interesting. She was squeeling and laughing most of the time, afraid of where our fingertips were taking us. She said she felt silly having her eyes closed, and thought this was a really funny excercise. After I told her more about what we did in class, we did it a second time. This time I think she relaxed a little more and let the "energy point", as I explained it, lead her wherever. She still giggled though.
I taught this exercise to a friend who is also a dancer. She has experience with modern dance and is currently taking a class as well, so the concept of just loosing yourself and following the energy was very familiar to her. When we did the exercise she caught on pretty quickly. She said it was "weird but cool." Seems like an accurate response, considering that's what we all thought when we did it in class!
I taught this exercise to my friend Jess. She laughs very easily, so she was just giggling randomly throughout the whole exercise. I told her to just lightly touch my finger, follow it, and completely forget about the limitations of the room. We were in her dorm room, so it didn't have the same feel or the same sort of freedom as it did in the open space of the studio. I could tell she was worried about hitting something. She just thought it was weird to just follow something without a goal or a destination. Makes you realize that dancing should be about the now instead of getting to the end.
I tought this exercise to my partner.It was really suprising how easy it actually was. I took like a minute to explain the exercise to him and then we were off. At first he would not move his finger. I said "you can move" he said that he didn't want to move and was resisting my movement. Then I told him the exercise was about listening not about a leader or a follower. Then he seemed to settle into it and I started to feel the same energy that I had felt in class with a hightened and intense focus. I asked him what he felt afterword. He said he just felt my energy and that the time flew by. I asked if he felt wierd and he said no. I was very surprised at how natural it seemed for him.It made me happy to know that modern dancers are not the only ones who are "weird" enough to do this kind of exercise.Also,I am always interested to know what part a persons culture and upbringing effects exercises like these. Enrique is from Argentina and their culture is very expressive and emotional painted on a canvas that rarely involves straight lines. I feel like our North American culture is more analytical and linear with a strong sense of black and white and right and wrong.Enrique also grew up with salsa,tango,meregue..ect which definatly involves feeling the energy between you and your partner.These factors could have also made the experience seem so easy and natural for him.Anyway,it was a great experience!!!
Juanita
sorry about the essay!
Juanita
I taught this exercise to my boyfriend. I told him about it right after we did it in class, and how much I loved how meditative it was for me. He was excited about it, but slightly nervous about trying it with me, thinking that it would be very dance-y. I started by explaining that we would just touch our fingers together softly and follow them where the energy would lead, keeping our eyes closed the whole time. He was more serious during the exercise than I thought he would be, and the whole experience was very similar to how I felt in class. We had the same amount of pressure between our fingers the whole time, and we ended up doing it for about 12 minutes.
When I asked him about how he felt about the exercise, he responded that, not only was he more aware of his own movements, but he also felt much more connected to mine. He was also surprised how much he enjoyed the experience, and was extremely relieved that he had not ruined it by laughing.
I really enjoyed this!
This exercise was taught second-hand to my friend Erich, with whom I was pretty much in the middle of an albeit paused conversation. I think it's interesting now to realize that we had been having a conversation because the exchange and constant shift of power between who was listening and who was "talking" was very distinct and absolutely conversation-like. There is something I used to always do with my hands when I was little where I would put the tips of my fingers together and move all my fingers together and away from each other at a rapid pace, focusing on the sensation, and noticing that after a while, it feels like my fingers are on a flat surface, sliding about. I told Erich about this after we did the exercise and asked him if he felt it. The reason why I wanted him to do that was because after a few minutes of listening to and talking to his finger, I felt as if my index finger was on some floating platform in space - that was my experience. Erich's was a bit different. After we completed the exercise, he said to me, "Was I supposed to feel anything psychological there? Because I didn't." I told him it was simply just an exercise but wonder if there was something meant to be shared that we somehow missed... This was fun, though. The time went by extremely quickly and I enjoyed feeling somewhat vulnerable but at the same time, immensely comfortable.
When teaching my neighbor the touch exercise from class she was very cooperative and showed interest to learn. She began reluctantly; I could tell she was uncomfortable with closing her eyes during the process. My instruction to her was to continue touching each other only using our fingers and to not push or pull but relax and let the movement happen. After this exercise she told me how she felt closer to me on a different level, she explained the communication exhibited in our movement told her I was in a good mood. What I took from her was how my movement affected her. I was unaware how significant the impact would be. Now when we see each other in the hallway we will remember the moment we became more than neighbors.
I taught the exercise to my ex-boyfriend/friend. i found it hard to describe the exercise. I told him that the point where our fingers met had its own energy and idea, that sometimes he would be leading and others i would be leading but all at once it would be like we where both leading. Also, that this would be because our movements would zone so well with each other that they would seem one and the same.He was a little confused, but I told him he would understand it after we did the exercise. It seemed that at first he did not feel as comfortable, because he got all giggly, and moved kind of fast. Slowly through the dance he calmed down and got more in the zone. The next day i asked him what he thought and he told me he liked it, but he felt that i was leading most of the time. I told him that more than half the time I let him lead, and at this point he realized what I meant when i said we would both be leading at once.
I taught this exercise to one of my friends in my sorority. She had never danced before or had done anything like this kind of exercise so it was pretty weird to her at first. It was particularly hard for her to just let go and stop trying to force the finger in a certain direction. In the beginning, she was leading the movement because she was focusing too much but after a few minutes, she started to relax more and let the energy do the work. However, she wasn't able to stay engaged the whole time and became self conscious every now and then. It was difficult for her to completely let go. I think this exercise really pushes people's buttons and makes them step outside their comfort zone. Not very many people are able to completely let go of their self consciousness but when it happens, I think its a really cool experience.
When I did this exercise with my friend, it went more smoothly than it did in class. My partner understood the exercise and was excited to try it and experience it. She is a friend that I have had many balanced and intimate conversations with, so I think we were very balanced in the exercise and comfortable with it. She thought the exercise was interesting, and hopes to try others with me as I learn them in class.
These are fantastic comments!
I taught this exercise to a girl I've known for a while. I think it helped that she had taken dance before, because she was more willing to get something out of the exercise than the 10 other people I asked to help me (they all had no concept of what the exercise could mean to you.
Anyways, I explained to her the exercise, and described it as Rachel did (I read her post for a hint on how to do that) and we did it. I think I changed my expectations of what to get from her, since she hadn't done the exercise before, and I expected a heavier touch on the fingers and for her to focus more on maintaining connection than just letting it flow. However, once or twice we lost connection (which I think means the exercise is going well since you have to be light to be able to lose the connection). It was actually really great, and the time passed really fast. Afterwards, I asked her what she thought about it and she said "It was like running your finger along the surface of cookie dough, since it was heavier than water." and "I felt like you weren't even there, and I felt really relaxed." I was really happy that she had gotten something out of the exercise, and she thought it was cool when I talked about how it turns into a dance in class.
I'm a little disappointed that I met with such resistance from most people though, that they thought it was just wierd or something and didn't want to employ their imagination in it....
Kris Brackebusch
I had performed this exercise with my boyfriend before it was assigned actually. And when you assigned it we had already broken up so I figured that I could just write about how it worked the first time we tried it.
It was hard for him to get used to not only because my directions for the exercise weren't as great as they were when Louis explained them but also because I just gave a brief explanation and then started going. He had a pretty hard time being able to do the exercise which I'm going to turn into a metaphor for the relationship being unsure and not very strong because that makes me feel better. Anyway it was very hard to do with him and the experiences I had in class were much different from when I performed the exercise with him.
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