Session 2

In Session 2 we looked at Butoh inspired approaches to creative work. We focused on various images given to us and explored physical responses to them. We were given a small amount of narrative to mentally connect to such as "you are a happy, fat, wobbly baby" and "you are glass cracking, piece by piece". We used the Butoh principles of physicality to respond to these images. We did this by adopting the Butoh principle that there is no right or wrong way to move. We simply responded physically to the images however we felt compelled to do so. When given certain images to respond to such as "wet towel being wrung dry" and "hot air balloon expanding" I first asked myself- how can I make an interesting piece of performance based on this? I felt almost as if I wasn't given enough interesting narrative to work on. However, as i progressed through this exercise I realised that my physicality for each image was extremely interesting and became a compelling piece of performance in itself. In "Ethical dimensions of the ethnogography of performance" by Dwight Conquergood he says performers "should not enter the field with the overriding motive of finding some good performance material". He talks about the importance of narrative and how we do not have to fall victim to what he calls the desire to "astonish not understand". I have to agree with this statement as in producing my own work I have realised that the purpose of performing is not simply to dazzle the audience with meaningful acting, but to simply tell stories in whatever way that may be. Conquergood states "I begin with text, then weave contexts around them to make them meaningful". This idea of using narrative as not the sole basis of a performance but simply a foundation to build upon is something I can relate to having done the Butoh exercise in class. I felt I was most successful in responding to the images when I took the narrative and tried to create some context around it to transform it in to physicality. An example of this would be the narrative of breaking glass. I tried to imagine the physicality of it, and once I became comfortable with moving my body that way I was able to expand upon it becoming more expressive and free with my movements. I felt as if my physical movements were actually telling a story. Another example would be the image of a hot air balloon expanding. For this image my movements were much less rigid and were quite free-flowing and loose. It felt almost dance-like and I was able to develop this idea in to a mini performance.