CORE: Embodied Investigation with Nancy Stark Smith. Week 1

[Rachel Boggia]

Renowned contact improvisation teacher, writer, and editor Nancy Stark Smith calls this exercise "hieroglyphs"and describes it as "writing from the body." You will need a pen and paper.  

 

You can choose to do this activity by listening to the mp3 or following the youtube video below

 

 

HARVEST:

Please share jpgs of your hieroglyphs (you can take pictures of them or scan them) and your comments in this forum

 

[Hannah Kosstrin]

I found it interesting to draw some of the glyphs in the second exercise by allowing the weighted motion of my full body to move the pen over a measured amount of time, and then for others to just drop them out of the end of the pen without really tasting them. I didn't decide this plan ahead of time, but I noticed it happening.

I chose to do this activity on the back of printouts of my pre-performance talk for Bebe Miller Company at Bates Dance Festival because I draw much articulation in my dance writing from elements of my embodied practice. It doesn't feel as full-circle as I thought it might, but something is there under the surface.

[Tamara Searle]

Mmmm....reminds me of automatic writing by susan hiller  

http://www.susanhiller.org/otherworks/from_india_more.html

loved it

[Felipe Torres Díaz]

[Sara Coffin]

I was surprised how large my internal sensation seemed in comparison to the outcome of the external pictorial representation. When in action, thinking of the extension of myself through the pen, it felt as if the pen markings were matching the magnitude of my internal sensations. But surprisingly my perceived matching scale was not as so.

I love the TKG- tensile kinetic graph idea!  The depth and type of sensation that were cascading through can be seen in the changing marks! :)

[Adriano Bittar]

It was great to do it! I think that the glyphs showed different aspects of the things I was sensing and feeling. I was struck by the fluidity of the drawings and got interested on knowing what could be done with all that material!

[Adriano Bittar]

[jess humphrey]

Has anyone ever tried this before and after an Underscore? Before and after performance? Curious...
Thank you for guiding this Nancy!

[Katerina Elraheb]

[colleen bartley]

version from the exercise alone in my house with attached glyphs

[colleen bartley]

glyphs during Underscore at movingartsbase