A) Bodily thinking is the process of expressing
yourself through actions and movements without the interference of bias,
insecurity, and doubt from one’s mind.
B) I wanted to try two different
experiments with this project, both involving choreography. For the first, I
created a choreographed routine to the song, “Green Eggs and Ham” from Seussical the Musical. The style of this song and dance is
comparable to many other high-energy children’s theater numbers. After I created the choreography, I
took a step back to think about how it would read if I removed the music and
changed the energy of the piece. It
still functions as an art form, but carries a strangely different message without
the spunky music and purposeful positive energy.
For my second experiment, I tried improv
choreography – something I had never tried before! As a dancer that lives
within the parameters of 8-counts and aesthetically pleasing routines, I
managed to strip that away and kinesthetically respond to the music with
honesty and passion. I focused on
the discoveries I was making in the music and the story that I heard it
telling. It transformed, rather
surprisingly, into a dance piece that emphasized the many uses and wonders of
our hands. See if you can figure out all the verbs I am doing with them during
the dance! Often times in children’s musical theater, we get caught up in the
routine of repetition. After countless shows, we rely on automaticity to carry
us through dances. But why can’t
we make discoveries within these dances everyday, even if it technically looks
the same?
C) My first experiment that separated the
movement from the music made me realize the close connection between bodily
thinking and empathy. In
performances of children’s musical theater, we often feel the empathy of the
scene work and the emotions that arise from the dialogue. However, these emotions can be felt in
our bodies as well. Particularly
in dances, it is easy to focus on “getting it right.” Having turned out feet, landing properly from a leap, or
sticking a pirouette are all wonderful concerns of a beginner dancer. However, as one continues to dance through
the years, they cannot continue to find enjoyment in it unless they seek a
deeper level of understanding within it – this is the role of bodily thinking. It challenges the dancer to think with
the body, while also empathizing with the choreography to understand how to properly
perform it. There is always room
to discover more in a dance and in this field, even if the technique is
“correct.”
My second experiment is relevant to
children’s musical theater because it separates the actor’s mind from their
body. An actor, as any other profession
can be too, becomes blocked creatively by “getting in one’s head.” They start to analyze how they look in
the play instead of how they feel.
They must empathize with their character to truly understand his or her
thoughts and actions in the play.
Dance is wonderful escape to the world of kinesthetic thinking. We must ask ourselves: What is the
purpose of these dances? What are they radiating – celebration, conflict,
isolation? It is easy to become
programmed to do the dances with grace and technique, but there is so much more
to discover within them that we do not know. It is time to face the fear of
this unknown.
CEP - Bodily Thinking Video
This video contains 4 parts:
1) Seussical choreography with no music
2) Seussical choreography with music but contrasting energy of performance
3) Seussical choreography as if it were in a performance
4) Improv choreography to Latika's Theme
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