Finding Freedom in the Bodymind- The Being Space

Finding Freedom in the Bodymind-

The Being Space

There is a place of un-knowing- a place in the body, where there is no need for specific form, no need to define, and definitely no need for function- or thinking of function, and there is no room for judgment.

It is an open field- maybe it is close to what is called open attention in Continuum Movement, or constructive rest, it could be a movement meditation- or stillness- just being in the internal space- giving room for the being-ness of existence without the need to name, learn, control, or analyze…

It is a space of allowing and sensing, receptive but not expectant… or something like that.

This place is a major recuperation zone. Supremely beneficial to the autonomic nervous system as it shifts into the parasympathetic flow of rest and digest, sooth and settle. It may be the unconscious processing space, sort of the unconscious movement processing space etc. It is a place of slowing down, letting go, healing. 

In this place deep cellular holding patterns can loosen and begin to resolve. 

Photo Credit- Ella Condon- The Dreaming 

EmBODY/Earth

We need to change the way we exist in this world so that we are supporting life- our own life, each other’s life, and the life of the planet-our home- Mother Earth. 

The best way that I know to achieve this is to delve deeply into what it means to exist in and experience our human body. Our bodies can be seen as the microcosm and the earth the macrocosm. How we treat ourselves is a direct reflection of how we treat others, the planet (i.e. that which is outside of us.) In order for life on earth to thrive at this point empathy and support for the deep reality of existing must expand to others and to the earth. When we cut ourselves off and split parts of ourselves into pieces, objectifying our bodies, we do not feel the connection to all that is around us. So the body-mind split is dangerous. Look where it has led us. When we create separation we often behave badly. 

The "we are one" idea becomes more and more powerful as we look at the ways we have been behaving towards each other and to the world around us. 

So here is a little Sounding exercise to lead us toward acknowledgment of our own fluid nature (we are somewhere between 60-90% water, depending on our age) and origins.
Play with the sound MEM, MMMMMEEEEHHHHMMMMMM, MMMMM, EEHHHH, MMMMM.

Keep breaking up the pattern of the sound as you play with the sound, lean into the novel, leave behind the FAMILIAR. Chew on the sound and roll it around in your mouth, free up your tongue.

Mem- is the 13th letter in the Hebrew alphabet literally meaning- Water

It is a great sound to play with to bring coherence to the soft tissue in our body. It may also raise imagery or feelings. Let these things come and go like clouds.
The sounding should be playful and free. Go between the MMMMs and the EH part as often as you like. Let your tongue roll inside your mouth as you play with the MMMMs- allowing the tongue to do a rolling wave movement will change the sound within your head possibly producing overtones.

The 10th cranial nerve, the vagus nerve, participates in many types of processing and regulation within the body including heart rate, digestion, it even plays a role in orgasm. Sounding can stimulate the vagus nerve and lead to healing.

This work is drawn from Continuum Movement - developed by Emilie Conrad. I have studied with Mary Abrams and many other Continuum teachers.
Photo Credit- Ella Condon- Echoes in Willowbrook

Columbia Ballet Collaborative Show this weekend

Just had tech/dress with Columbia Ballet Collaborative. Kokyat was there too, shooting, shooting, shooting! I went a little early so I would have some idea of the space and lighting possibilities. I watched a few of the other choreographer's techs. After seeing their pieces I had some doubts about my own work, thankfully my doubts eased up when I saw my piece with lights. Production values are so important!

It was challenging putting this piece together with only one 2 hour rehearsal per week and sometimes missing dancers. I had planned to do three movements. There are two. Not enough time to get it all done... alas. Well, we have 8 minutes. I am using music that Michel Ayello made; She Said Wait and Okla-Home the first is a song Michel made while watching me dance in Ella Condon's L'Empreinte video (http://vimeo.com/27892955). He used a poem I had written while listening to his Lawson (http://thelugglab.bandcamp.com/album/lawson ) album for the first time. Okla-Home is on Michel's album Dust Bowls it is the first movement.

I have enjoyed working with the CBC dancers. Thank you Jen Barrer-Gall! (She danced with Octavia Cup in the Dreaming this year at the FringeNYC and we await her return)

Here is the link to the show this weekend!

http://www.columbiaballetcollaborative.com/Welcome.html

Laura Ward/Octavia Cup Dance Theatre

&

The Secret Theatre

Present

Red & Black: Dances from the Past and the Future

“There is nothing like dream to create the future. Utopia to-day flesh and blood, tomorrow”- Victor Hugo

Secret Theatre in Long Island City

Thursday October 20, 2011 at 8pm

Friday October 21, 2011 at 8pm

Tickets are $10

For tickets got to www.secrettheatre.com

For more info about the company go to www.octaviacup.org

To see videos go to www.octaviacup.org/videos.php

Laura Ward/Octavia Cup Dance Theatre will present Red & Black: Dances from the Past and the Future on October 20, 21 2011 at the Secret Theatre in Long Island City. Within the spectrum of Red and Black we move from passion to joy, from caprice to constant, from dreamlands to harsh realities in an evening of original expressionistic contemporary ballet en pointe. Included in the program is She Said Wait a new work in progress by Laura Ward featuring the Columbia Ballet Collaborative with original music by French composer Michel Ayello, and Chicanery, choreographed by Jaime Thompson. Octavic Cup is revisiting Dumbarton Oaks Celebration (2009) to Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks, L’Aigle Noir (The Black Eagle 2002) and excerpts from their recent FringeNYC show The Dreaming (2011) with an original score from Michel Ayello.

‪Secret Theatre‬‬ ‎
‪4402 23rd Street‬‬‬
‪Long Island City, NY 11101-5000‬‬‬
‪(718) 392-0722‬‬‬


7 to 45th Rd/Courthouse* or
E,M & G to 23rd St/Ely.**
Close to N,W & R Trains at Queensboro Plaza
Walk north on 23rd to green gates on the left side of street.

The eleventh hour- FRINGE NYC ay-yi-yi

We had our venue prep yesterday. Serious highs and lows on my own personal roller coaster. Why is is that technology and the struggle between analogue and digital can bring me to tears? Just start talking cable connections and transformers and I begin to panic. A feeling most easily equated with sitting in the dentists chair. Insert Ativan here. Just kidding. Not really. Yes, I am...
Needless to say, while dancing, directing, choreographing and overseeing takes a toll, it also is hugely rewarding.
I saw the Stormy Pow Wow projections from Anna Hovhannessian for the first time last night. They knocked my argyle socks right off! (i was wearing argyle socks for venue prep- earlier in the day I was stopped by a street fashion blogger-in my grubby work outfit- Yes it was pink and black and red and matched my helmet, backpack and bike...)
Back to the good stuff. I also got to hear how Jason Greenspan's supreme allied commander sound design was going to work with Michel Ayello's score- and can I say SCORE!!!! WE WIN!!! I am so pleased about the sound in the space. Jason mixed a bunch of dream texts into the music. David Gordon, Cassie Roberts, Georgina Aragon, Nana Hitomi, Michel Ayello, Jay himself and I all spent several recording sessions working hard to create a diverse vocal and emotional range for the texts. We have some French, some Spanish, even some Japanese. The texts came from my mom, David Gordon, Michel Ayello, and me. We recalled dreams from the distant and immediate past. A full plate of madness if you please.
And Thank You Peri Schlossberg for being the super trouper of the day!!!