Clowndance Summer Course 2022
MONDAY: Play
Prime Objective- to explore the physical, emotional and intellectual state of play.
Material Covered:
- Games of walking, encountering each other and the space (Davison, 2015)
- Games of trickery and complicity (Wright, 2006)
- A long-form, open ended game discovering a state of play and the instant creation of meaning
- An experiment comparing a clown game around fixed space (Wright, 2006, pp. 67–68) and a dance improvisation task (Blom and Chaplin, 1989, p. 177) as provocations for playful movement
- Playing comedy through ‘Bubbling with Pleasure’ (Seyler and Haggard, 2013, p. 55) See blog- Bubbling with Pleasure
Moment 1:
Right at the start of the day, I asked everyone to simply walk in the space. We began, and I noticed several of us were walking soundlessly, as dancers have been trained to do. I encouraged everyone to let their heels strike the floor, to acknowledge the mass of their bodies, to own their gravity. As soon as we did, there was a shift- we relaxed, woke up to each other and to our bodies. After a few moments, our heel-beats synchronised, and there was a subtle feeling of power blossoming in the room.
Sound later became a key feature of the long-form Find the Game Game, perhaps growing from this sense of release. We observed that dancers are not often encouraged, or even permitted, to be noisy.
Right at the start of the day, I asked everyone to simply walk in the space. We began, and I noticed several of us were walking soundlessly, as dancers have been trained to do. I encouraged everyone to let their heels strike the floor, to acknowledge the mass of their bodies, to own their gravity. As soon as we did, there was a shift- we relaxed, woke up to each other and to our bodies. After a few moments, our heel-beats synchronised, and there was a subtle feeling of power blossoming in the room.
Sound later became a key feature of the long-form Find the Game Game, perhaps growing from this sense of release. We observed that dancers are not often encouraged, or even permitted, to be noisy.
Noise comes out of your face… Technique cuts your head off, if the face is involved, it makes sound.
Journal extract from group discussion: 18/07/22
Journal extract from group discussion: 18/07/22
Moment 2:
We explored games of complicity and trickery adapted from John Wright. One of these, The One Person Moves at a Time Game (Wright, 2006, p. 52) I wanted to take further for dancers, to probe an assertion of Wright’s. The rule of the game is that only one person in a group must be moving at any given time, and the principle of the game is to play with the expectations of the other players about when the mover will stop and someone else take over. Wright claims that this is most successful when the participants simply walk, resisting the urge to embellish the movement.
We discovered that dancers could in fact move beyond walking into improvised movement or dance material, which added texture to the gameplay. The feeling within the group shifted between building something together with each dancer picking up on the previous mover’s offer, and finding individual moments of provocation, risk and play. Speaking afterwards, we discussed the difference in feeling and focus between a dance improvisation and a game. When we improvise, the language is all around making an offer, sharing, saying yes, whereas the game allows us to say no, to trick, and to put each other in the shit. In this moment, we flowed from one to the other, and even teetered between the two.
We explored games of complicity and trickery adapted from John Wright. One of these, The One Person Moves at a Time Game (Wright, 2006, p. 52) I wanted to take further for dancers, to probe an assertion of Wright’s. The rule of the game is that only one person in a group must be moving at any given time, and the principle of the game is to play with the expectations of the other players about when the mover will stop and someone else take over. Wright claims that this is most successful when the participants simply walk, resisting the urge to embellish the movement.
We discovered that dancers could in fact move beyond walking into improvised movement or dance material, which added texture to the gameplay. The feeling within the group shifted between building something together with each dancer picking up on the previous mover’s offer, and finding individual moments of provocation, risk and play. Speaking afterwards, we discussed the difference in feeling and focus between a dance improvisation and a game. When we improvise, the language is all around making an offer, sharing, saying yes, whereas the game allows us to say no, to trick, and to put each other in the shit. In this moment, we flowed from one to the other, and even teetered between the two.
Lucy Wordsworth (L) and Sarah Butler (R) attempt to put each other in the shit.
Dancers scurry five steps ahead, this forces you to slow down and find the actual game
The game is always the ‘yes’ - the offering
Game format forces you to really concentrate on each other- single body parts not whole shapes.
Journal extracts from group discussion: 18/07/22
The game is always the ‘yes’ - the offering
Game format forces you to really concentrate on each other- single body parts not whole shapes.
Journal extracts from group discussion: 18/07/22
Moment 3
I offered two provocations to create short improvised duets:
I confess to assuming that the former task would result in funnier, more playful, more interesting movement material, as it taps more directly into a state of inventive play. In fact, the opposite was true. The dancers, unbidden by me, approached the improvisation task as if it were a game, using the same mix of complicity and trickery, and with a rapport built up by playing games together through the day.
I offered two provocations to create short improvised duets:
- The first was another from John Wright, The Fixed Space Game (Wright, 2006, pp. 67–68). The rule is that the players must maintain a fixed distance between them, and the principle is to watch each other and play with complicity and trickery as they attempt to maintain the distance.
- The second was an improvisation task, The Conversation, from Blom and Chaplin’s much-loved book The Intimate Act of Choreography (Blom and Chaplin, 1989, p. 177). The task is to develop a call and response duet between two dancers, and the principle is to build the movement from each other, listening (in physical terms) as much as you are speaking.
I confess to assuming that the former task would result in funnier, more playful, more interesting movement material, as it taps more directly into a state of inventive play. In fact, the opposite was true. The dancers, unbidden by me, approached the improvisation task as if it were a game, using the same mix of complicity and trickery, and with a rapport built up by playing games together through the day.
Saying ‘no’ (putting each other in the shit) in a dance improv context gives instant
interest, personality, drama.
Motifs still developed, but through a thought process, a nonsense narrative. We invest in a motif if we see it as having meaning or currency
Journal extracts from group discussion: 18/07/22
VIDEO: Samantha Bosworth and Sarah Butler
Playing an improvisation task as a game, saying no, and building and developing a motif- tracing a sparkling rainbow shape with one hand- through a nonsense narrative.
Playing an improvisation task as a game, saying no, and building and developing a motif- tracing a sparkling rainbow shape with one hand- through a nonsense narrative.
End of the day thoughts about art centred around the artificial divisions between areas of performance-making and the possibilities of creating shared space, particularly shared training experiences, between actors, dancers, musicians and others. We wondered whether training more collaboratively and sharing space across disciplines might make work that’s more accessible for audiences. My own contribution was that dance is already funny, we just don’t let on that it is.
Personal reflections repeatedly featured the word joy, also feeling happier with uncertainty and the desire to blur roles across disciplines.
Personal reflections repeatedly featured the word joy, also feeling happier with uncertainty and the desire to blur roles across disciplines.
Bibliography
Blom, L.A. and Chaplin, L.T. (1989) The intimate act of choreography. Cecil Court, London: Dance Books.
Davison, J. (2015) Clown training: a practical guide. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Seyler, A. and Haggard, S. (2013) The Craft of Comedy. 21st Century Edition. Edited by R. Barton. London, New York: Routledge. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dmu/reader.action?docID=1128307&ppg=3.
Wright, J. (2006) Why is that so funny? a practical exploration of physical comedy. London: Nick Hern Books.
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