Movement written report for La Mer

Categories of movement

• Travel
• Turning
• Elevation
• Gesture
• Stillness and falling

The movement piece

The first part of our movement piece was our group entrance, where line by line we got into our positions on-stage. My entrance involved walking into the centre and then turning to face the front, ready to perform the next set. This was in the travel category of movement and set the stage. We then did the jumping sequence, which practised both elevation and turning, since we did the jumping and turning 180 degrees on the 8th jump, then 8th again, then 6, then 4, then 2, then 2 again before finally turning a full 360 degrees in one jump. then one by one we all used a different gesture, incorporated into travel, to move into a long line across the stage. We then transformed from one freeze frame to another, with distinctive elements of our characters in each, and back again. 

This part was very difficult in terms of spacial awareness, since when we devised and rehearsed it in class it worked fine and looked really good, however when we got to the stage we realised that it was much smaller than the classroom. We had to alter the piece to fit into the space, which was quite a challenge for us as a group, however I think that the end product was far more effective than if we hadn't been pushed to change it.

I think that I learnt a great deal about doing movement in large groups. I'd worked on movement in smaller groups for the transition pieces and generally in theatre before and in GCSE core dance, however I wasn't used to incorporating very subtle, independent moves into a move that a group can do as one body. 

Movement 1

How did you find silent improvisation?

I really enjoyed it, especially in the moments when we were completely in complicity and moving perfectly with the music. Watching over the video you can see how well it worked, and I'd love to work with physical theatre more. We managed to portray the theme of the sea really well as a class with absolutely no dialogue or drama, and I'd like to practise with this exercise a bit more if I get the chance to. 

Another thing that was fun was when we did a silent warm up in class. Claire simply began to warm up silently and used signals to tell us what to do. It was really fun and unlike anything we'd done so far in the year, which was refreshing, and since we had to work silently it really helped the class begin to focus and work together as a group.

How can you use it in devised work?

At the minute I think the intention is to have a movement piece involving the entire group at the end of the performance, which will be really fun. In regards to the silent warm up I think it would be good for our group, since sometimes it's easy to get caught up in discussion of the devising and end up not doing much work, however if we do a silent warm up straight away then we'll get into the mood for working and we can go straight into devising and improvisation with no chance to "block" ourselves.