One of my dance classes in college was "Improvisation". I had no idea what to expect. I had heard of freestyling before, but never improvisation. In fact if anything, I would have thought they were synonymous. I was so ready to dismiss this class given my history with freestyling, but because I needed the credits, I was ready to dread my way through it. First class in and I immediately noticed something different about this style, something interesting, the kind of "freestyling" I was willing to try out. Welcome to blog post number 13.
My teacher Kelly Roth, may his soul rest in peace, described improvisation as instant choreography. No thinking, no rehearsing, no calculation, just movement. What makes improvisation different from freestyling is that it usually has prompts to guide the movement. So unlike freestyling where you are free to move however you like, improvisation includes instruction. It has structure, it has intention, it has direction.
My classes would go something like this... You come into class and the teacher gives a theme for the lesson. You get in front of the class and without any external music or rhythm, you begin to move with the prompt in mind. You get feedback once you are done and the next person goes up. The prompts would range widely from incorporating time (start, stop, go) to your movement, to level and directional changes, to decentralisation of the body, to textures (hard, rough, soft), to use of props, the list goes on and on...
Unlike my reservations for freestyling, I am open to improvisation. I welcome the guidance. I like that the freedom of movement still has an objective. Improvisation stretches your creativity in that the same prompt that's supposed to guide your movement is, the same one that limits you to a specific feel. In between the freedom and the guidance, you get to explore all the possibilities . The beauty of improvisation, dancer friends.
Keep creating & sharing!
~Your dancer friend
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