Things seem to be picking up and going smoothly as everyone settles into routines. Each week has been more or less structured as the first was in terms of classes, with classwork of varying difficulty, especially in areas of aerial and acrobatics. I went to see a show in Cardiff last Friday by the Australian company C!rca. I've already posted a short video of theirs sampling the show, but I owe a longer post on it. Otherwise, I've continued preparation for the Physics GRE, tried to keep a high protein diet, discovered the joys of tights and dumpster-diving for food, gotten to better know the fascinating people who chose circus school of all things, and posted about it all here.
Aerial
As much as I have enjoyed learning the trapeze, I know that I am not an aerialist at heart. It is like how I approach the unicycle – something I can do, and have enjoyed doing, but not something that inspires me the way manipulation, physics, physical theatre, or acrobatics can. I'll continue conditioning and practicing what aerial I've learned. At the very least it's excellent training in building strength, flexibility, and pain tolerance, and it pushes me well out of my comfort zones.
We've recently covered tricks such as drop-to-angel, gallopettes (forward and back), millwheels, hanging beats to front balance, and hock beats. All of these are what I call dynamic tricks: those that involve some sort of drop, slide, or balance, rather than simply forming a shape. These are especially challenging because I have to put myself briefly beyond muscle control, and trust form and grip to keep me safe. So far, no falls, but my forearms get sore from instinctively gripping too hard on these.
A fear of heights is really just a fear of the possibility of falling, as your mind considers all available options at any given moment and you realize that letting go is one of them. Your brain is aware that you have the option of falling, and though of course you'd never take it the fact it's there makes it more prominent than holding on. It's like trying not to think of elephants when someone tells you not to. You should focus on the narrow path but all you see is the cliff beside it. Then, of course, the dynamic tricks ask you to jump to a lower ledge, and you know you can make it there but you can't look away from the possible mistakes.
For next Friday, we each have to compose a brief presentation of aerial to music of our choice. I've decided to fit some of these dynamic patterns into my routine, as well as front balance (which I have yet to master, to much frustration and lower-ab bruising), to force myself to train harder and conquer this fear. As I try with juggling routines – write it, then learn to do it.
Acrobatics
My handstands have been getting much more solid. I even managed to tuck-up into handstand the other day without assistance. Not bragging or anything...
We've gotten into some harder tumbling, and a couple harder positions. Shoulder stand on feet, which is pretty much an inverted two-high, is a fun one, if harder to get into and balance. We've been working toward headsprings in tumbling, which is to the headstand what the handspring is to the handstand. Cartwheel on knees, despite kicking a friend in the face while doing it, has gotten better. I'm certain I'm going to try to specialize in acro.
I'll say more about last Friday's group presentations when I have the video from it available. Long story short – my group wore tights and A-shirts and was well-received. We played it safe with patterns, sticking to the simple ones we had solid, but the end result was a clean, 'dropless,' routine.
Physical Theatre
[I've combined the performance, play in performance, creative movement, and movement tech courses into this category for now.]
For creative movement, we've continued with choreographic work and have started to include concepts of stillness and repetition to movements. We wrote pieces by assigning random numbers to body parts and points in space, then using our phone numbers to define a sequence of "part-direction." These we then tweaked in pairs, adapted by finding moments of stillness and repetition, and went to town. Always fun to explore new ways to move.
In movement tech, we've finally gotten into some miming – specifically, Lecoq mime techniques. There's a 9-step sequence we've learned, the purpose of which has yet to be revealed, and we've also learned some basic mime skills – pushing/pulling, fixed points, climbing a short wall, invisible walls, suitcases, etc. The use of impact and impulse, opposing ways of distributing effort, creates much of the illusion. Last Friday, we worked with our eyes a bit too and I learned to do this.
We had our first introduction to mime on Friday of last week (the 12th), and then immediately had to put together presentations using it for our Friday devising/presentation session. The task was to create a "mystery house," which in many cases was a haunted house but sometimes got more abstract. My group's wound up, accidentally, being pretty close to the Doctor Who episode "Blink," complete with weeping angels and a creepy house.
In Performance, over the last week we've begun working with neutral masks. They look pretty close to the ones here. True to the Jacques Lecoq method (apparently, our instructor Bim Mason studied at the Lecoq institute), the purpose of the neutral mask is, not nightmare fuel, but to drop all facial expression and move all focus to the body language. For the first exercise, groups of four classmates would put the masks on while facing away, then turn around and stand to face the class. As we discussed their body languages, something incredible happened – I no longer felt as though my classmates were in the room. Something foreign stood across the room from us, watching, listening, as we discussed them like sculptures or lab mice.
Creepy? Yes, but incredible!
Equilibristics and Manipulation
New props have been introduced, as well as more specific types of manipulation! Classes are starting to look like a cross between the first few weeks of Strong Jugglers practice (i.e., introducing all available props) and festival workshops (i.e., teaching a specific skill to a big group). This offers something for everyone – beginners get to play with more, while more experienced jugglers broaden their skill range and learn more intricate manipulation ideas. We've gotten into various body throws and rolls, as well as club rolling/balancing and 3-club manipulation.
Other props that have been introduced include cigar boxes, hats, poles (balancing), diabolo, bounce juggling, and ball spinning. I've actually picked up a bit of cigar boxes, something I've never really tried before. Bounce is frustrating, of course, because it depends so much on the surface and any error will send you sprinting across the room. I've gotten some advice on working toward a chin balance while juggling, and with longer poles I've managed to get close to a seal position.
The instructors – Seb and Rod – have distinct juggling styles that show a great range to the students. Each instructor's approach has its advantages.. Seb does a lot with clubs, from what I've heard and seen, in a modern artistic style. Seb has run classes on body throws, and getting creative with a simple 423-esque pattern [actually, (2x,2)2(2,2x)2, essentially 423 but without throwing the 4] by mixing up where throws go – behind the back, neck, under the leg, etc. He also ran a neat class on club rolling and balancing, and how to mix collects and multiplexes into a three-club routine.
Rod is best known for his more classical, comedic ping pong juggling act, and he holds the world record for ping pong balls juggled in mouth (10). So far, his classes have been practical introductions to the different props with advice on tricks to develop. This has been useful for me for those areas that are new to me, like ball spinning, head bouncing, or cigar boxes. I've also gotten good practice advice from him.
Though I wouldn't call this the best school for E&M, it is certainly good for jugglers looking to expand their repertoire, add some performance quality, and develop their own unique style.
Rumor is that our first presentations will involve picking a random everyday object to manipulate. Perhaps it's time to revive my underpants plate-spinning idea from pre-high school days...
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