PROCESS OVERVIEW
Describe your process.
We started with an opening warm up, first standing, relaxing our bodies and shifting our weight from side to side, slowly we put our hands on the floor and rocking left and right relaxed our bodies more and more.
Gradually we reached the floor and began to feel the pressure of our body on the ground.
Once on the floor, we began to move the bent legs left and right, leaving the hips free to follow their natural movement.
- Gradually from the floor we got up by taking advantage of the dynamic swing of the legs and with the help of our arms we lay again on the ground for a few times.
This was to figure out how to interact with the floor without impacting or falling weightlessly to the ground.
- Standing with the help of the pole, we tried to understand how our body weight interacts with an apparatus, as if it were the floor.
We leaned against the pole and moved by using our weight and trying to create shapes.
Still holding one hand on the pole we approached the floor and from the ground we tried dynamic movement by exploiting our off weight and the pole.
Then we changed pivots to the pole, experimenting with body parts that are not hands, such as feet, knees etc.
- The final part of the project involves a small game: representing an invented story through movement on the floor and on standing always remaining attached to the pole with a body part.
First I give them time to think and create their own story, then one by one they told the story to their classmates and performed it.
At the end of the whole lesson we talked about their experience, how it made them feel, their emotions. I was very impressed that all the girls were enthusiastic and spoke so highly of the experience!
How did you choose your project? Why did you choose this method
June is the time for performances, and the gym where I work will also have an end-of-course recital, and the students who will participate are very excited.
I teach pole dance and my students only do pole, they have never done dance or other movement sports. One of my students came to me and said she was worried because she felt very stiff in her movements and didn't want to look bad at the recital.
So I thought a Flow class could be a great help, to encourage her and the others be looser in their movements and have more confidence and knowledge of their bodies in movement.
I organized a class for my final project, just for the purpose of freeing their minds from their limitations and to make sure they started to have fun with movement.
2. What felt good (or provided a healthy challenge) in creating this project?
It made me feel good to create something that could help people release their imagination and free them from the chains that are imposed on us by today's society.
The idea for the project came naturally after my girls' concerns about their stiffness of movement, I took their request for help to give them confidence and fluidity in preparation for the recital.
I have always believed that body movement should give pleasure and enjoyment, not be viewed with fear. People hold back too much, they come to class after work with all their worries and personal problems, and mentally they remain bound to that state, compromising all their performance.
So I created something that could make them feel good in their own bodies without shame or fear.
3. What do you think your project offers the viewer/participat? (Tools for accessing a Flow state, more awareness of the floor, etc. )
I believe my project can offer participants a greater awareness of movement, more confidence in moving on the floor, so horizontally, not just vertically (what they always do in pole dancing classes instead), and a different method in approaching movement in general.
4. If there is ONE thing that you would do differently, what is it?
I would spend a little more time on the opening warm up, focusing more on exploring the floor and giving inputs regarding the body parts involved in the exercise being done and also how to interact with the floor by pressing the body to the ground.
5. What did you learn from this experience that you will apply to your own training or teaching?
I've learned that if people are pushed to do things they don't usually do, they bring out the best in themselves, put themselves out there, and erase all kinds of fears. They gave me confidence, they had fun, and were open to this new experience. This thing taught me to want to make as many people as possible feel these emotions.
2C. 1-3 Sentence Summary of your project
Contemporary floor flow.
Experiencing floor flow and freeing the mind, becoming actors of your own imagination.