How can dance improve movement comfort and artistic freedom of violin playing? In this research, I deal with application of dance therapy and somatic principles to music instrument playing and pedagogy. Can we get to this lively experience of violin stop being an external object and becoming a natural part of our body? Or either we become a violin, a music itself through our whole bodies?
February 21, 2025
Me and my violin. Discovering the relationship on the floor. What is possible to do together? Not to break in each other? The topic of leaving and coming back together. Gravity. Giving support. Yielding. Melting. But also danger of falling down. Danger of no more wish to leave from down there. Push. Facing each other. Close contact on the heart. on the wood. Beats on the wood like the beats of my heart. Our lives are bound with our closeness and far aways. There is strong track of the instrument in my body. In my posture. Way of move. Disproportions. Pains. Singing soul. Sensitivity. The more I look at you, the more you look from inside me. Indivisible part of each other.
February 11, 2025
Second. Time element. A bit of a day running towards its end. My second week. Will this week run away like a second? What does it mean to be second in a row? Second note in the row of the notes is the one giving a time pace. One is just a single one. But the second comes in certain time after the first and gives the feeling of timing, of a rhythm. Will also the second week do the same for my work?
I feel a need of more structure now. I went through free fascination by the outer place, the residency space, outside places, nature, lake, my inner impulses what to create and how. I already set all these in some framework of thoughts, words and movements. Now I feel to create a structure as a safe space to put them in order, hierarchy, relevant relationships. Also to give my body mind system this kind of structural safety and balance.
Performance is now getting into a structure. There are scenes with a meaning and intention what is to be shown and expressed. Now, the work continues in developing particular movement material from the scenes. Playing more with possibilities they allow. Some bridges between some scenes are now much clearer. I still feel an importance of clarity in movement and its connection to violin playing, from which it arrived and also because of my own confidence in what I do within the space. The structure of movement sequences give me the feeling of safety. I find out, that parts in which I believed to just improvise, need to be much more fixed to provide this safety for me and clarity from those watching from outside.
Weather is beautiful, but very cold. Frozen structures in the nature provide beautiful inspiration.
I lead the Shared Practice this week. It makes me thinking much about our group and needs, not only what I do here, what I live from , what I do out of here as a practice in movement and somatics. What issues occur the most in our discussions, connected to what we do and prepare here? These come out the most:
SPACE. Particular space. Big studio. For particular aim. To give performance for public there. How to adapt? How to make ourselves safe and comfortable there?
FEEDBACK. What kind of a feedback usually people give us? What kind of a feedback is really beneficial and which makes us only more fragile and even anxious? What kind would be beneficial now, at this stage of our creative work?
I take these two issues to our Shared Practice.
Space. We discover the studio together. I support the process with free improvising on my violin and move with others. We have time to settle and experiment. Focus on inner-outer flow of our awareness. Play with different dynamics. Discover objects that attract our bodies, create interactions and nice experience from the space. We discover sounds of the space, its rhythms. In ending share circle, we point several questions that came out from the process.
What starts my focus? What changes my dynamics toward the space, how does this particular space change my dynamics? What does meeting of other body, other eyes, other dynamics distracts or inspire me to move within? Where does the playful moment start from? What anchors me within the space? Is it my body, breathing, self-touch? Or rather a familiar object that I can relate to, hold, play with? Is it the wall I can use as support and yield in?
How to keep myself aware of where I am, not to loose within this space? And if, what is my cue, my tool to get back to space awareness?
Feedback. I already experienced much of that. Of many kinds. And when I look back, not most of them really gave me what I needed. Now comes this question “why”. What do I need within feedback? Feed – Back. I enrich the people by my performance. I give energy. I loose energy. However the result is. I need feed back. Get something back from them. What feeds me? What is really nourishing for my process? Everybody may reply these questions differently, what is clear for me now is, that it should ever miss our interference of saying what we really wish and need from the people observing us, “eating” ou energy at that moment. What do we ask back from them at that point, at that time? Because not every time we wish constructive criticism and many times that one is not even nourishing at some stage of our creative process. But what we surely need always, is support, open heart, energy, share in a context of respect to what they see is that THEY see, it is not us and not definite. This is, what I dare to say, a difference of constructive criticism and feedback. Feed – Back. I feed you by nourishment of my art and wish you to feed me back with your experience, possibly of the same kind, going from same source, in character of poetry and care. Today, therefore…we go through feedback activity, inspired by witnessing role from authentic movement, open, supportive, silent and respectful. Big difference is in a role of mover, who – in this activity, presents a piece of of the performance, which wishes to share and get support and feed-back, without previous share of what is this piece about. A witness is recording the mover by drawings and words in poetic way. In share, witness feeds the mover back with this poetic record. This activity is not only supportive, but may provide the mover new CREATIVE perspective in how is the piece perceived by other person and get inspiration for further work. And additionally…it heals the wounds from previous not respectful feedback we might have gone through.
February 6, 2025
I came with many particular plans what to do. As every step in new environment, I come with the plan and the place has its own. This place is talking to me through very inspirational spirit, making me curious and silent, stop pushing the plans. What will change from my plan? The topic? The way I research? My goals? Are there even any now? How will this place print in my violin playing and movement? I empty myself to create space for these new incomers.
Emptiness is an invitation to start something new.
Focus. This is the word of the beginning.
Everything around attracts my attention. Not just wooden floor at the studio as well as in my room, not just the garden, even when covered by ice, but more all the seemingly small details of this place. Ornaments in the bathroom. All the different plates with flowery patterns. Each different. Sticky notes of past and present people going through this place with their energy and creative spirit. A cat. White one. Scents of kitchen carrying different tastes and cooking habits of inhabitants. Sound of the house. Sounds of the outside. All the stimuli start my focus. But do they really ? I need my senses already open to see, hear, to enjoy this sensual poetry. My focus starts with opening of my senses. But not just for attention caused simply by being at new place. Much more for curiosity and fascination. And this is, what I wish my focus is like during my creative process here. Not just openness of senses for attention. But also curiosity and fascination.
At the studio, I work with direct focus. I take my violin and simply walk around the room with direct focus to discover the space. I start supporting myself with playing simple rhythm and changing of directions connected with music signal. It helps me to discover the place together with the instrument in my hands, get in pace and release. It somehow reminds me the beginnings on an instrument. Direct simple movements with no rhythmic and dynamic changes. Just focus on elementary playing movement principles, their directions. Simple warm-up exercise for space adaptation and getting connected with the instrument, for other players and teachers comes out of this work.
For compensation, my body needs to experience different movement. I start experimenting with shaping while having my violin on different body parts. Where I can go with this to still feel violin as my part and not as a requisite? How far can I go to feel safe for my wooden fragile instrument? What all can I do and still manage to play at least something really simple?
At this point, it is clear for me, that I just started working on…maybe a performance? Embodied violin is my research, a way of playing to be free in movement and expression, my life journey. Now maybe also a small solo piece…
I am researching movement characteristics of left and right hand on violin. The way they make the sound go out of the instrument and live through the minds of others. I research this element through violin playing first. Then without my instrument, with hands only. Simple repetition by body part that is responsible for particular sound, articulation.
Sometimes it is just a finger, moving from the last joint. Sometimes the movement affects further parts, travelling through the arm further. I let the movement sequence to the whole body and observe, what happens. Last, I go backwards in movement process from the whole body to the starting movement.
What does it bring? Did it make a difference in my hand movement?
I feel more support from the body in meaning of no interference by any additional tension from other body parts and more natural connectivity in my hands and arms movements.
I am not searching for exhibition. I do not wish to show, how much I am able to do, how far can I go with my movement, with my music, in a meaning of craft. My intention is not to show technical craft.
I want to show my relationship with violin. Not like a description, but that essence, emotions, feelings. What is happening in this relationship, how I feel about it, what makes me happy or exhausted.
I wish to show a relationship. The relationship of two bodies. Mine and the violins. Because what else is the violin than another lively body, that enters to interaction with me to create something? I am going through this process, feeling incredible fragility of the violin in my hands. Every second of my movement, it can fall out of my hands. I am responsible. I have to be fully aware, respectful, empathetic. Like for any other lively being.
Shared food for breakfast. Shared words. Listening. Awareness of the others. Walk next to the river. Helping hand of an old man, to grab a stone from the water. Sun on my face. Headache, that I can gently care of with smoothness and no rush. Self-allowance to do nothing. Be nothing. Go anywhere. Herbal tea. Warm bedding. Simple poetry of everyday life. Simple small things that bring a little magic to our lives when we look at them that way. Simple things that create art moments. These small things already make us artists when we stand towards them like to an art.
Am I allowed to dance or move in front of the people, when I am not a professional dancer? In the morning, at the table, this question occurs not only in me. So, can I? What or who gives us permission to express artistic visions?
When my body wants to say and share something. Isn’t it enough? When my body becomes a vision, isn’t it enough? This strong feeling that this is not what I want to show myself through, but that there is something to be shared through me, because it is connected also to the others, isn’t it enough to give myself allowance? Because it is all about that. I am the one giving allowance to myself to let my body dance and share with others.
