Externally Observing my Embodiment

By Zara

Once I had developed various foundations for movement vocabularies in response to different behaviours and experiences, I recorded and observed myself improvising using these vocabularies and reflected on common movements and motifs that I intuitively delivered in my movement. I also noted my experience of performing these improvisations and what emotions and experiences I felt I was channelling into the movement.

Following this, I observed discrepancies between what I felt and what I saw manifested through the movement and made tweaks and refinements to common motifs and movements in order to help narrow these discrepancies. Furthermore, I added new movements and embellishments to movements that further articulated what I was replicating and communicated the experience of pretending to be the being I was creating.  Effectively, after working from the inside-out to generate material, I worked from the outside-in to refine it so that it manifested as I had intended.

Afterward, I reflected broadly on the collection of movement vocabularies I had created and pursued combining them into one, incorporating articulations, movements and motifs that I felt most effectively channelled the feeling of trying to fulfil a ‘natural’ role. My response embraced a feeling and resultant aesthetic of distorting and contorting myself and also feelings of fatigue, struggle, weakness and frustration.