Magnet Theatre by Lewis Megan;Krueger Anton;

Author:Lewis, Megan;Krueger, Anton; [Anton Krueger, Megan Lewis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Intellect Books
Published: 2016-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Case Study: Exercising the Subject Body

There is an exercise I use that reveals how power and creativity can be realized when the body becomes the central modifier in the moment of movement. It is an exercise that I use to create language or material for new work, as it yields up a richness of original language that feels rooted in the domain of the individual, rather than artificially copied from elsewhere. The exercise is called ‘shift.’ It needs time, and I would typically not introduce it during the first six months of training. It requires a certain sinking into the landscape of one’s own body; a certain trust and surrender; a ‘being’ in the body that doesn’t happen immediately, even with the most experienced practitioner.

What is important about this exercise is that the body completely becomes the subject of the movement. The mover allows the body to take the lead. This can sometimes take a while, which is why I wait to introduce the exercise until students are more confident and less caught up in wanting to please me. They need to be patient and prepared to engage in the exercise for their own sakes. It is very easy to see when the body is not the subject. There is a rupture in shape and rhythm, and the person acts out a predetermined decision that leaves the body behind as something that is being acted upon. The movement feels willed, known, calculated and constructed. When the mover manages to stay with the body – to wait, to listen, to follow the changes – then the movement shifts gradually, initially, and begins to feel organic, unknown.

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