Marnie's work is coloured by her exposure to the Body Weather training, developed from Butoh dance by Min Tanaka. This two-hour exploratory started with a warm-up of kneading the body and 'detatching' the ligaments from the bones to soften up the movements of the body whilst stretching and removing excess energy. Afterwards, the session was spent exploring the notion of decision-making, working towards what she called 'the zero point'. In Marnie's theatrework, there is no neutral point, only a point of the least expression possible, from where one can work. We spent the day trying to get to this point, through walking exercises in larger and smaller groups.
The first part was spent just walking around the room, at three different speeds and in-between the other people around us. As we added backwards movement, awareness and intensity was heightened, and we had to pay sharp attention to the rest of the group. This connected us, and we then added a sequence of stopping and starting, heading in a certain direction. We were trying to reach a point where we did not decide where to go, but simply went there. The idea was to move without accentuating the stops or the starts, but to simply be present and to allow for it to happen, through letting go of the expectation of movement.
We then divided into groups of three, and created a square within which we all moved three sequences each, whilst the other two observed. As one finished, another took over, so everyone was alternating between movement and observation. This highlighted some important questions and issues, and especially the conflict between deciding and being decided. What we were working towards, was almost somewhere in between these two, a point where one neither decides nor is decided, but remains in movement and control even when still. The best description I can think of is a sustained impulse that lasts for the full three beats, to prevent the transition that arises from change of speed or direction.
The final part of the session was moved outside, to see if another environment could facilitate different energy. In the company of sunlight, grass, a natural breeze and a slight slope, we found that our bodies were already in motion and the transitions were cleaner and less accentuated. As part of a greater whole, the group members could tap into the flow of the outside world. Marnie's work is about place-mapping, and aims to understand how the specific sight influences the performance, both in terms of energy and feeling of self within this space. The work we did showed just how much location matters, and had time allowed, we would have added terrain and then tried to apply the new sensation back inside, which could have developed our insights further. With the two hours available, the exploratory became an intense introduction to work that would be intriguing to explore in greater detail.
- Ragnhild Dale
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