On Thursday, Studio Current began a massive series of workshops with Beth Graczyk teaching the first of four sessions of Confluence and Rebellion, ideas that her group Salt Horse has explored as well as ideas she explored with Torben Ulrich in Cacophony For 8 Players in OtB OW New Works 2012.
I’ve worked with Beth and others during Salt Horse’s Investigative Movement Practice class series at Velocity Dance Center, exploring improvisational dance through pacing and embodiment of textures and other physical qualities, among many other things. At Beth’s Studio Current session we played in the context of the longitude of sensual experience in the moment versus the latitude of physical experience of movement, through various tempos, textures, patterns, explorations of space and many, many other factors. We also played with text, reading passages in a variety of ways, paces, tones and such both solo and in duet.
If this reads like a jumble of information with little coherent connection, rest assured that is how I’ve experienced it as well. I have enjoyed the overall experience, and I’ve picked up bits and ideas through the many experiences. But there is a lot to explore, a lot to take in as you explore, even a heavy dose of reading material.
Eventually, I gather, the experience will ingrain applicable lessons that I can apply in turn to my work. Meanwhile, I await next week’s fun and adventurous journey into exploratory confusion.