ALEXANDRA GIRBEA

WORKPLAN | 2017 September

This semester will have a lot of challenges for me and will be a constant meeting with new information and movement language – so i feel that my work plan should focus on the strategy of absorbing all the information and weaving a strong and flexible base for that.

On this base i want to develop a creative exploration of my interest which can or cannot develop into performative material.

Concerning all practice i want to be aware of the nature of movement, the way i use my body and its parts, the unbalances that happen and to develop a good strategy to correct those.

MOVEMENT LANGUAGE

– create a morning routine for warmup with yoga, chi qong, feldenkrais.

– in the individual work time i will explore deeply the challenges i meet in the classes, understand and research the movement patterns and the new coordinations and new neuro motric schemas. A slower but patient and curious process.

– research some points of personal interest like movement developmemt, spirals in the dance and whirling.

– take one or two times a week with a pilates instructor to work on the awareness of the movements in ballet and yoga and not only and to correct body imbalances.

CREATIONAL RESEARCH

I have not yet chosen on which subject i would work on during this semester. I have a few options of research that i have begun in the past and did not complete or new themes:

1. Circular spaces and bodies – an ongoing circularity of movement in a continuous dance. Cycles and circles of movement.

2. Embodying nature – Movement patterns found in nature mirrorred in the dance…how a plant grows, how a river flows, how a snake moves, how an earthquake or a tornado moves, wind as dance.

Or maybe a complete new theme comes to my interest and has a good potential.

LANGUAGE

– basic conversational level in hungarian.

PERFORMANCE

At least once a month.

READ

Read one dance book / month and one book/month on philosophy, poetry, humour or anything else.

FREE TIME

Give myself time to relax, listen to music and let all the information and activity settle down.
 

SUMMARY | 2017 December

Not only is my self image different than the others' image about me, but it differs from one day to another or from one class to another or from one movement to another. Sometimes i feel i have improved a lot, sometimes i feel i am not improving at all. I guess the reality is in the middle.

I see the evolution process as one in which the body incorporates many diverse movements through repetition and is trained with different solutions and because of this the dance becomes more and more fluid, spontaneous, diverse and surprising. I feel I have begun this process and although I cannot say precisely where I  have got to, by now it's a positive experience and what I can do is to give more patience in letting it develop.

The first success was to overcome the “i like / I don't like” reflex and to find fascination in each class and in each teacher's method. The first failure was to put much too much tension in my center – and from here on to block a bit my thinking. The biggest success was to let go of the analytical process and let the body resolve its problems, absorb the information, answer to it and observe it while moving. I still haven't developed the choreographic memory, I have a lot of trouble remembering the ballet exercises for example, or the exercises in Ivan's class. Even with folk, although we have learned sequences and steps and I could do them in the class, it is hard to remember and do the same sequences on my own.

Regarding the contemporary dance classes individually I feel it is less clear to see the progress because they all had some specific approaches. Although they intertwine and all practices build into eachother. The partnering class evolved really nicely, and this is a class that needs the patience to strengthen the body and the trust…we had it at a moment when the group was not consolidated at all and there were a lot of doubtful interactions. In each of the two workshops I felt that I was improving by the end of the week and felt it's a pity that it is ending. It is a workshop that for beginners it needs maybe two weeks in a row.

In Kristof's workshop I could feel better the progress during a week as we worked only on the execution of the repertoire and it is a very much needed kind of work. The same I can say about Joe Allegado's workshop. Also with these two workshops, a week in a few months can be a very short time for the body to really create new necessary patterns. I feel like I began to learn many things but because it is hard to keep the practice of all in the individual work time, a lot gets lost. Maybe this is fine, I cannot say surely now if they get lost or where they go, I will have a clearer view about this at the end of the school year. The Contact Improvisation class develops naturally as it is, it's always an interesting experience for me, I enjoy it more and more and I love that it is a moment to pay attention to how I communicate to different people, to take the time to listen to them.

From a physical point of view I feel that my body gained more strength and elasticity. I feel how each however small movement is never isolated and it involves always all the body, all the body parts, the breath, the sight, the state of mind. In improvisation I show more patience in the movements, more flow and more creativity. I still have the “what now?” pauses that I want to overcome, but I can find much easier strategies to both accept it and work in resolving it.

In relation to the workplan I have proposed to myself in the beginning of september, I have managed to keep the objectives in view pretty well. I did develop a warmup routine – a larger set of exercises from which to chose related to what I need. I have naturally found a strategy of becoming aware of unbalances in the body and correcting them. I haven't at all managed to complete the school activity with others as pilates, I did read a lot, relaxed, and took time to rest.

Regarding the creative activity, I started to go into the themes of interest but I did feel the lack of a mentor or a professional support or feedback in this process and I hope that in the next semester I can get more support in the sense of understanding how to build a performance and how to develop my work considering also my strengths not only my weaknesses. How can I develop my style without focusing firstly on the entertainment of the large public.

All in all, it was an intense and interesting work period by now, I am grateful for absolutely all the chances and challenges and open to new ones.

TEACHERS' EVALUATIONS | 2017 Decemeber

Angelus Iván:

Dear Group A members!

In general I can tell you that you – the group as a unit – seem to have built up a good balance of keeping your individual development in the centre and the same time, learning how to know more abut each other and how to accept each other. Sometimes it will be good to be more independent and proactive to encourage each other a bit more to organize, accept and focus on open possibilities, potentials, obligations, time frames, deadlines, etc. If the group is more efficient, everybody's own efforts will be more efficient. (And vice-versa.)

Anyway the time  – four months or more – of assimilation, integration should have been finished. Once you know and understand the local processes, methods you should concentrate on the successful use of them in order to reach your own goals, why you joined BCDA. This process will be complete when you finish the first year, a full study cycle. 

Iván

Dear Alexandra!

I think these short months were really successful. You arrived to your limits. You know how to overcome them. You just have to listen your teachers, your mates and your body! Nobody else at the moment.

You have very contradictory qualities. Some may help you a lot on your artistic path and some can really block you. I suggest you to immerse in the possibilities here. Forget your background, habitual reactions, but learn how to be a good student, how to learn, profit as much as you can. You have no reason to defend, to protect, fight back – nobody attacks you. 

Build up efficient learning strategies, organize your time, activities, practice a lot, get MUCH stronger in every meaning. You need a lot of practice to teach your body how to be precise in space and time and dynamics, how to connect it's different parts, how to control everything the same time and how to listen it's messages. Practice as much as you can BUT without risking your health. 

It will take time, but if you can enjoy that process, you can learn your efficient less time and energy consuming ways, methods in the next semester, and your last two years will be really much more efficient.

2017. december

Iván

Szegedy-Maszák Zsuzsanna:

Enthusiastic and curious group, lots of questions, comments and input. Some are very knowledgeable on art, others seem to have some difficulty relating to some of the subject matter (biblical, mythological and historical narratives). Class discussions are sometimes so lively that we run out of time and are unable to finish the material I wanted to cover during the given class period. The atmosphere is mostly upbeat, although I understand that sometimes after several hours of physical workout it is hard to suddenly sit down in a dark room and listen to a lecture. Overall I have the impression that most of the students would rather have more visits to exhibitions. 

She often has questions, suggested topics for discussion at the beginning of the semester. She seems overall eager to learn. 

Tijen Lawton:

Unity of the body as a whole, as a personality, that needs to be further investigated and nourished by finding strength though understanding that your body working on the floor and your body standing and moving in space are the same, organising your body as a surface, as a core and in it’s extremities .A lot of the work is in analysis of detail and risk taking.Continue work on connectivity throughout the body, using both the body as a whole as well as in extreme detail to be able to elaborate with further elements and dynamics.

The body sometimes looses its physical energy and dynamic when the mind takes over too much. Do not loose this thinking with the mind, but try and work together with the physical thinking and the trust you can find in the physical intelligence. Work on this connectivity through out the whole body through a form of body consciousness that allows for strength, abandon and control. Bring the floor support to standing work and find a more powerful core, by investigating further your upper/lower body connection. Work with the ground even when you are standing and moving in space to be able to elaborate further with detailed risk. Think about the space you create with your body. Risk the abandon further, find and understand the control through your core and extremities and then deviate. Really looking forward to continue this research together.

Mészáros Máté:

Work on your core and strength and be patient to paretic the correct pattern of movements.

Marco Torrice:

The group was generally really attentive and communicative, carrying on a light concentration and opening an honest and efficient space of questions and observations.

She was a really present and attentive student. To early to say something more specific. 

Szemessy Kinga:

In general I found you being a very intrigued group with trust and curiosity towards me and the class content. Keep these good energies and the curious listening to each others.

In my perception you have a wider knowledge of theorizing dance, and also a better command in English than most of your classmates. Apparently these characteristics might require patience from you. It seemed that in the begnning of the year you could hardly take the slower pace, but in the last month it has changed and now I see you finding elements of each classes that can feed your interest and intellect.

Lemesánszky Mónika:

We had a great group this past term, where everyone was motivated and listened to instructions well. I really hope you can keep this up next term as well.

Your figure and abilities are the best  in your group. With more concentration you could achieve a lot more next term. Try to find a logical way to remember the exercises and look for the structure. When you need some more time to work on an exercise, try to use your legs first, then add the arms.

Bakó Tamás:

You have a nice and self-conscious attitude towards the work filled with joy and ambition. You look excited about the practice. You take notes and you have many questions and observations. You are attentive and supportive with your partners. Improvisation is safe and interesting for you. You enjoy dancing.

I would encourage you to take your time. Find your ways of comprehending the principles to access the qualities and the physicality of the form. Gain strength. Work from/with the ideas of functionality, perception, mechanics, study.

WORKPLAN | 2018 January

– better understanding of my own leaning strategies;

– cultivate and improve the memory for sequences, finding the logic of the movements of any kind;

– write down ballet and folk sequences;

– rhythm work – create my own rhythm sequences (1/week);

– strenghten the core, the back, the ankles, the arms;

– write about the performances that i see;

– work on the weakpoints of my style, improve it, accept movement patterns before finding alternatives, avoid working having as a base the feeling of rejection or insatisfaction;

– swim.

SUMMARY | 2018 June

It's been with ups and downs. A main challenge was to integrate in a community with very different members and in the same time with edgy communication styles. My personality has never fitted very good any kind of fixed groups so being here for full nine months was definitely a lesson of acceptance and of finding my way in all the collective activities, methods and ways, with or without agreeing with them. People who know me would be very impressed of the progress made in this sense. Basically I found myself in many situations giving up my beliefs, which is always a great opportunity, alongside with giving up judgments and just try many new things. I did it sometimes successfully, other times I did not let myself convinced too easily.

Regarding my performance, how much I improved, on which levels, in which techniques, I can say that it is very difficult to give an opinion because I am aware of the relativity of these opinions and because I am still completely inside the process. I think there was a lot of progress in many ways, I always kept the honesty towards myself regarding if I block some things or if I am open, focused, free-minded… I do feel that there is always place for better, so maybe there is still this improvement obsession that being in a school implies. Generally in my attitude I think that many times I have been too harsh on myself, demanding too much, and lacking the patience for things to evolve naturally but in the end arrived at the humbleness of accepting and waiting because what else could I do? I fell in the trap of the ego-centered thinking and I am not very proud of that, this activity is filled with this kind of traps, comparing yourself to the others, wanting more of yourself etc. I am happy that whenever I fell in the ambition hole I felt something is really wrong and got myself together on a new track.

To finish with the psychological resume and passing to the physical and learning strategies chapter of my life in Goli, I can say that in each class I feel more at home. I feel it easier to understand the ballet exercises but still I cannot focus on the complexity of all. If I focus on feeling all the body in its correct alignment and in tune with the breath I miss the sequence…if I focus on the sequence my lower back can close, for example, or my shoulders get tensed. In folk classes it's the same, but in folk a few times I experience the letting go of any kind of focus and just dance it, and then I think even if there is a problem it does not really matter. In ballet I found this “spirit” very very rarely. The sequence-learning is still sometimes a problem for me, even if it is better than in the beginning of the year: see-and-do. Not only do I need slow motion showing and explanations but then also time alone practicing and getting it in my body. I guess that here it can be felt the lack of this kind of work in my past…i needed to develop now the strategies for it, it does not happen just through magic, but through work.

In Tamas' class I feel I had two different simultaneous evolutions, one where things got better and better and one where I don't feel very successful. In the floorwork and “animalic” movement patterns I feel very confident, whereas in the coordination work I am still a bit slow. In the floorwork I feel I have a good progress, mainly because my core got stronger. In the same time Tamas' use of spirals in the dynamics is something I can grasp as it is one of the main interests that movement has for me. The work I had with Alejandra helped me a lot for the awareness on the core and then followed by Joe Allegado's workshop I think I got the sensation of the “active core”. Also with the help of Alejandra I could root my movements much more, ground myself and find a better balance-in-motion and I am happy for this, it is a very important element. The work with Virva is extremely helpful for me to find the tools that make me be creative and structured in improvisation. I am happy for this connection with her, and for having this experience where a collaboration works wonders. I think that the project with Julija also helped me in the way I can play so differently with a given material. All these projects have helped me a lot for the contemporary dance techniques and also for the collaborative processes. I consider myself very lucky to have had the chance of working in this manner – being directly exposed to various working methods, understanding what can work in which situation and how deeply it really affects the process.

Eva's class for me was a very important point to understand my evolution, because it was mainly in somatics that I used to dance before coming to this school. In her class I finally felt the freedom I was looking for. I felt my body is much stronger, the sense of balance is really developed in different body organization, that I had a lot of courage to let go of the fears and just dive in the guided improvisations fluidly and without pauses of questioning, letting things unravel through.

Thinking of all the classes and techniques I realize that the core element is the same, how much you enjoy a dance will determine how open you are to absorb the information and how willing you are to try again and again without adding any bit of stress to the learning process. When the stress sneaks in, the process is compromised, the result can have positive or negative aspects but will never be a sparkle. How we can get ourselves to this enjoying availability is a question of personal strategy.

TEACHERS' EVALUATIONS | 2018 June

Angelus Iván:
General notes to the group: Group A's cohesion, general level of demand, work intensity is far from an efficient state. Low levels are very low, higher levels are not very high. Differences are big and do not converge. Tasks mostly remain asks: both on individual and on group level are almost never completely fulfilled. The acceptance of mediocrity is a danger. The often tired and depressed atmosphere + the lack of successful initiatives, playfulness, joy doesn't help successful learning.
Talent is still present, strong motivation is there on the level of words, but persistence, diligence, high energy, stability, concentration, health, self demand are missing from daily practice in general.
I have added a short categorization: Excellent, good, weak, failed. All refer to your actual state as a prospective contemporary dance performing artist from my point of view as your teacher. Do not accept, improve.
Personal notes: The depth, an length of Your concentration has developed, you are a bit less exposed to your emotional ups and downs. You are still superficial, your attention is fragmented in time and in focus as well. (Can concentrate on the front – not to the back, yes to the arms – not to the legs, yes to the beginning – not to the end, etc.) But you didn't give up and you are better than you were. You should push back your ego, and push front your body. Let your ego learn from your body and not the other way round. Learning is basically and anatomy process that is why you need MUCH more practice. Until your brain wants more than your body can do there is no equal dialog among them. Practice and wait. Minimum one year of quiet practicing, to start … If you are on the good way you will feel it earlier.

Bakó Tamás: 
You were working good in the classes. The material of the class got less unfamiliar to you as we went along. By now there is more understanding of the relationships and arranging of the body parts according to each other and space. Movements are better understood and formed. Functionality, clarity and coordination has improved. Nevertheless these areas has to be further investigated. Establishing practice. Set down technical foundations. Practice. Good work!

Szemessy Kinga: 
This class in the 1st year was supposed to be an introduction, thus designed for those who haven't yet learnt much about dance history and theory. If you don't fit to this category, make it clear and request finding a solution. You had previously made a decision that you are done with all this, which might be true, but then instead of complaining and being grumpy about, you could have come up with ideas of how to make you intrigued and the others become enriched by your former learnings. Or if you don't see any chance for this, try transferring your former credits…

Tijen Lawton: 
Focus on connectivity and awareness…a mindful training of the brain and body.Challenge the physical intelligence, strength and movement capacity.
This is an intense a difficult way of working, it takes time, and the results are rewarding and can create a versatile dancer or performer. Therefore patience ant persistence are essential. Work is needed to continue to find the centre and grounded force through connecting the extremities of the body through the centre and using the floor work to establish a base of strength and support. So using the transfer of weight in the floor work and searching for all possible points of support and resistance…combining fluidity and strength and then incorporate it into standing work and moving in space.

Joe Alegado és Csasznyi Blanka: 
General notes to the group: We would like to make a general comment concerning the students. We feel that, even though each of them are individuals with different needs and capabilities, as a group, we find them to be very inspiring and supportive of each other. Whenever one person is missing from class or is experiencing a difficult time in life, the others step in to create a support system by helping with movements from class or with words of encouragement. This communal approach is a very positive step in the direction of resolving issues arising from misunderstandings in movement concepts and principles, or life situations. As mentioned before, each student has individual needs and capabilities. In the Alegado Movement Language, there are very basic principles which, when discovered, can determine the quality and focus of every individual’s source of movement. One very basic principle is the acceptance of gravity and its effect on the quality of the movement. The dropping of the head in its forward descent to the basic curve, is one of the principles we have chosen to focus on. As a group, we have seen progress in the students as they have begun to embrace the idea of surrendering their weight to gravity. This action has accomplished several things: 1) the conquering of fear 2) the effect on each student’s plie 3) the student’s ability to use that plie in shifting the pelvis 4) the application of a strong and active core and how all of these elements are applied to translate into a musical and physical expression of the body through movement. This has been a focus in class because, in doing so, it will help resolve the difficulties a dancer has when trying to access their deepest, most organic connection to the earth. When this release of the body’s unnecessary tensions happens and their weight begins to fall without fear, the student’s ability to risk grows, their awareness is heightened, their musicality is awakened and their confidence in moving through space becomes a natural force of energy. We will now continue by using these class objectives as the basis for all comments.
Personal notes: The Alegado Movement Language poses many problems and difficulties for the trained dancer. For the dancer who doesn’t have as much experience, it can be even more problematic. In spite of this, Alexandra has exhibited moments of understanding for the theory behind the work yet, it important to have a consistency and awareness of the principles running through the body in order to try and make sense of it all. Regardless of whose class process it is, but especially the Alegado Movement Language’s difficulty of coordination, musicality and conceptual structure, it is important that there exists a high level of patience in order for the search to go deeply into the body’s inner secret world.
In the beginning stages of this series of classes, Alexandra showed wonderful presence and an actively engaged mind, desperately trying to bring mind and body together. We were pleased to see and feel this from her. Toward the later stages, for whatever reason, the search for mind and body connection ran into a wall. This happens to all of us. It is important, though, to find ways to break down these walls in order to continue going forward. Because when she does, there will be beautiful dancing on the other side. We have already seen glimpses of this.

Lemesánszky Mónika: 
You have a great figure, abilities and musculature for dance, and your movements are better coordinated. You understand a lot more now. If something Is new or more complicated, your first reactions is to give up. If you cannot change this attitude, I have doubts about you succeeding as a dancer.

WORKPLAN | 2018 September

The main focus i have set for this work period (september – january) is on the awareness of the processes i am going through in my development. I need to have patience to understand what each step takes to be fulfilled.

TECHNIQUE:
– Enrich the warm-up routine
– Daily ballet practice in IW
– Deep aware work of PLIES and JUMPS
– Daily improvisation on the subject of my creative project
– Focus on BREATH and WEIGHT SHIFTING

LEARNING SKILL:
– take time to clean perfectly the dance of given choreographies from classes.

– improve my learning skill, by two directions: one by working on the "copy" ability. for this, i will learn as many choreos as possible visually: either from the other students, and also from internet videos. The second direction will be to write down different strategies that i use during learning a dance and find which is efficient and which is not.

For all this, the 1 and a half hour of Individual Work is not enough for me, so i will take three times/week an extra hour in the studio (can i book it as personal development or individual work?).

EXTRA Activities:

– go swim once a week
– study anatomy, read different books on body practices
– write Reflections on Dance

SUMMARY | 2018 December

The period of september – december 2018 was a complex and interesting working period for me. I started developing a clear sense of what i am looking for in my dance and envision precise directions for this. I have also started experiencing with choreographing for other dancers and discover who i am in this practice as well.

Creating a solo for Hannah in the creative garden was a key moment in this because externalizing my ideas on another body makes it more obvious what are the characteristics of my style. What i see in a dancer when he is improvising, what elements i choose to develop, how can i introduce my own movements in someone else's dance and make a unitary dance out of them. I was lucky to have a fruitful working relation with Hannah, we were both inspired by each other and i saw how this situation can turn into a nice result.

Afterwards, the experience of choreographing Till was different. The situation was complicated because the creative plan i had – composing a duo – was changed due to my injury. However it was a very interesting process to wake up qualities that are emerging just now. I did not find a super-shortcut, but i feel i was successful for the short period i had. I am happy about the fact that we found a good working relation, we both found our enthusiasm in the project. Maybe i did not identify the perfect way of shaping the direction of our work together that would fit the situation better than my own view on the project, i am not sure. However i felt that i should try to bring the little that we had (which was not so little) the closest to its ripe state as possible.

Regarding my physical development, my body got stronger and also more relaxed, the core is stronger and sustaining a much larger range of movement. There are also a lot of new coordinations that got familiar to the body. I still struggle in ballet, i realize that i still mainly use the big muscles in this technique rather than the internal ones. Otherwise, i think the body has no problem. I was pleasantly surprised to see how fast it recovered the fracture, 3 weeks recovery was a very good result. I have corrected a posture problem with aware work on the muscles and exercise routine.

For the ballet chapter i have the worst feedback. My mind is working against my body in this class. If the barre work is going better and better, once i get to the center, i have a strong mistrust of my body's abilities. It is actually the only class where i feel far from my body, and out of control. It was a good build up during Attilla's classes. In Tibor's class i understand that i am unsteady in holding the center and i still remember too rarely to reach up with my upper body. I may be stressing too much about doing the technique rather than playing with the technique. One success in this class is that i feel that i got more the logic of classical dance so it is much easier to remember the exercises and the sequences. Now with Kristof's approach i feel i'm on a good way, his method is very useful in understanding the simplicity in ballet and bring it closer to my body.

In the folk classes i feel i am doing better and better. I can catch better the steps, i enjoy the spirit of it and i start understanding basic physical principles of weight distribution.
Considering the contemporary classes, i felt good in most of them. I had moments where i felt that the dance is naturally coming from within the body. i have had also moments when it was clear for me that i am faking it, but it is nice to see when it is happening naturally or when i am trying to do it. Technically i still need a lot – of work from my side. Repeating, pushing the boundaries. I don't fight enough for small precise goals. or at least not for all of them.

The individual work has had strong and weak points. During the time i was injured it was the most efficient IW. Because the movement possibilities were limited, it was easy to structure the exercises and the training. And because i could not dance too much in classes i had a special thirst to improvise with what the body could do so it was exciting to discover new things.
For me the planning task was helpful, but it came down to one sacrifice. Writing down all that i want to do to improve made me forget about the free-dance part. A lot of exercises, of repetition, hard work indeed, but not so creative. But i accept that as it is.

Comparing the evolution with the september work plan i may have 50-50 yes and no. I did have those focuses on my mind, to some of them i was faithful, of some others i have forgotten.

What i did: enriching and elaborating the warm-up routine, starting the work on plies and jumps (not enough), focusing on the breath and weight shifting, clean the choreographies (but not 100%), working on the copy ability, i studied a bit of anatomy.

What i didn't do: daily ballet practice (i did it only until the autumn break), extra 3 IW per week, swimming, daily improvisation on the research subject, writing reflections on dance.
 

TEACHERS' EVALUATIONS | 2018 December

Bakó Tamás:

You were working hard in the classes and made lot of improvement. I perceived more stability and trust in the organization of the movements and posture. There is a lot more efficiency and fulfillment in general. Relationships of the body parts according to the whole, directions of the movements and their spatial relationships are better formed and related. I see more support and awareness towards structure and alignment. However these are the territories that will take you further. Carry on!

Angelus Iván:
General notes to the group: 
In this semester I had the chance to meet all of you in the three main territories of our school: 1. sharing new information, 2. developing your creativity, 3. developing your social skills. I feel myself and you successful in point one and two, and I have hard time at point 3. with all of you. This is because of the social environment surrounding us. Solving this difficulty is the task itself. The level of cooperation and sincereness is that makes difference in the common success.

My short evaluations will be strict and related to your development related to school requirements:
I will tick Excellent box at who are developing well, basically in harmony with school guidelines, hopefully will reach their goal to become a professional contemporary dancer.
I will sign Satisfactory/Good at those who could make (much) more in their own sake.
I will sign Failed at those who do not live with their possibilities and should change their attitude in order to become more successful or to those who are on the right way to find their own direction that may be out of the school's profile. It can be considered a success too. Failed may mean you have to work on your trajectory out of school or it may mean to stay in school but work on a higher level.

Personal notes:
Dear Alexandra! I do appreciate your struggle to get closer to dance and to yourself. I think you made a lot for both.
However I do not think you are on the right way to become a dancer in the complex physical approach this school offers. Also I do not see that your efforts would touch your personality totally yet. I see you switching from past to future, future to past and you are rarely in your present.
I still think you reached a lot. In order to spend efficiently your time here, I suggest you to keep your work simple, very physical, concentrate on your body, try to listen the messages of your body. That will help you in anything you will do – very close or not so close to the world of contemporary dance stage. It means concentrate less on productions, cooperations and more on your self development through very strict daily work. I sincerely wish you much success on that way. Iván

Kováts Tibor:

Alapvetően meg vagyok elégedve a munkáddal. Vannak napok, amikor kimondottan szépen teljesítesz és vannak napok amikor, szinte eltűnsz a csoportban. Próbálj meg minden nap haladni egy kicsit előre! Kis lépések is nagyon fontosak. pl: ha valamire azt mondom, hogy jó, akkor azt jegyezd meg és gyakorold, hogy rögzüljön! Köszönöm a munkádat!

Várnagy Kristóf:
General notes to the group: 
It is my general note, not only to group A-B, or C but for the whole of the students, that it is a heartwarming how you grew into a good and functioning community. It is great to see you supporting each other.

Personal notes:
Don`t let your doubts or self frustrations stop you in your practice. Be late, but carry on. Master yourself. Quitting cannot be a practice.

Urvi Vora:
General notes to the group: 
After my brief, intensive interaction with everyone, I have very much enjoyed reading the diverse essays from all of you – very different approaches, levels and processes. My feedback is focussed on your essay and I hope it helps you think of how to push it forward from here as there is always much more to do.
Good luck with all your future plans and upcoming work in the school! It was wonderful to see all your thoughts turn into something on paper!

Personal notes:
Good engagement with the texts read in the class and other sources which make your points. Your references are very well-placed to make your argument more clear. Although slighly disconnected, you have three strong sections in your paper.

The essay is very clear from the beginning but it needs to connect to the second section better. I understand the connection you want to make between thinking and writing but it needs to be made explicit in your argument. Why is it important for me to read about neuroscience when the argument is about writing? How do I move from one to the other? I see that this is your connection – “Writing is the result of a thinking process. Thinking is a result of a motor process.” But how does the reader understand it better?

Further, do follow some basic conventions of as essay – full name on top, bibliography (especially since you gave many references), use ‘them’ or ‘him/her’ instead of ‘him’.

I would have loved to read more about the sources you talk about, the arguments you agreed with. Lastly, it would be good to think about the fact that Nancy and Monnier don’t really write about what is ‘useful’ about dance writing, but about ‘what it means’ – where do you place your own essay?
 

MENTOR'S SUMMARY | 2018 December

 

WORKPLAN | 2019 January

My development work plan for the next long semester covers two main lines:

– Develop the movement technique
– Experiment choreographic composition options
Regarding the movement technique I will focus on the following strategies:
– Repeat the technical difficulties from classes beyond the point where I just have them, experiment with them : have two or three particular movements that I work on in IW, do it slowly, improvise with it, do it in pieces, do it fast.
– The same strategy I want to apply for longer movement materials, like entire dance phrases.
– Understand which style of technique and which parts of those techniques attract me the most and improvise with connecting them – apply the principles in dance improvisations.
– Work on the pirouettes
– Find own technical routines of preparatory dance practice with a clear logic and build-up

For the choreographic composition I have the following objectives:
– Main objective: do not get stuck in one style of composing choreographies
– Invent as many composition games and play with them.
– Understand the different composition principles the teachers work with and experiment with that, apply those principles on movements composed by me
– Try to identify composition practices in the performances I see, write about it, extract what I like

For the Individual Work practice I will try the best to keep in focus the suggested 4 parts. In order to work on the objectives of this work plan, I will take a minimum of two extra afternoon Individual Work sessions.

SUMMARY | 2019 June

First of all I want to congratulate myself for keeping the balance in hard and discouraging circumstances. I am happy I could keep my focus and that the love and passion for dance keeps growing. I am proud for staying true to myself and for not losing my integrity racing for benefits. I have found my place in the community, I adjusted to it and could sense better when to open and when to close.
The experiences lived during this academic year were very complex so I cannot give a general view over it. One of the most interesting things was how the limitations of an injury can bring up so many opportunities of discovery and development, where I would not go if everything would be ok all the time. In the first semester, with my project Q I have found a very efficient working method for movement research for myself that worked out also in the case of working with another dancer. I have tried to apply a very similar method in my next project, The Fool, and try to overlap a theatrical layer that did not really succeed. I think that if I would have been allowed to offer a specific time for finding this second layer, the method would have developed into something interesting. In reality I could not find the efficient time management as perfectly as to work thoroughly on all levels. I thus sacrificed the theatrical part of the research. I have worked a lot on the movement research per se, i stayed mostly every day for rehearsals and followed the director’s demand to double my work time. It was difficult to stay focused on certain tasks, but I felt the benefits of the work. However, many times I forced it too much. Unfortunately, I could not find interesting connections with the people from a professional point of view, the collaboration with Till was an interesting process that had many challenges but also many rewards and we found a good and dedicated interest to the common research. I was curious about many other collaborations and very naïve for believing in different plans of collaboration. The second period of the second semester was quite passive concerning creative work. After a month of break I went back to my kung fu and tai chi training and my focus went more into that direction for the rest of the semester. I am happy for the dedication I found in myself towards this and for the understanding the fact that a quality work of a certain technique requires a lot of patience, a lot of work and also a lot of time, a lot of repetition. The results become truly visible after passing quite a few endurance and motivation “tests”. Although I would have liked to have the same attitude, dedication and passion for ballet, I really didn’t manage to find it, neither to build it. I tried to change many times the approach in my attitude for this practice so that I become more dedicated outside the class, somehow nothing worked for me. I wrote so many times in my work plan to work on ballet and I almost never did it, never felt the drive at all to do it. It was a different experience with the folk. I realized only in the second semester that I need to give more of my IW time but most importantly of the free time to practice it and it started to come more naturally to me. Considering that I started folk dance once I arrived in this school, I feel I have made good steps by now and I am sure that I want to keep studying folk dance. Thanks to Batyu’s approach of the class I have gained a particular attention to rhythm, which I see as a very important tool in my practice. I need to keep going deeper by giving a lot of my time to this essential aspect of dance making, be it by practicing local folk dance or other folk dances of the world.
The contemporary dance practice has become deeper in some directions and stagnated in some others. The directions it has improved in are the grounding, the interconnection of body parts expressed through coordination, a more precise articulation of the spine and integration of the head in the global body movement, a better work of the center. Technique-wise I have not found a clear and strong attachment to a certain style, i advise myself to keep searching and look for a balance between keeping some principles and changing habits that are not constructive or useful and for teachers who inspire me to be free in all that the creative process implies. I think I have stagnated in the quest of the source for spontaneity and creativity, for connecting my movement to my ideas, feelings and to stories. I have barely progressed in assuming and performing a clear attitude while dancing – fixed or improvised material, bringing my soul into it. I feel a bit flat in my performance and I wish to find the way to spice up.
Concerning all the things that have been taught during the contemporary dance classes, I do not know what would be an ideal way of learning. Some principles of some classes have naturally integrated in my practice, especially those that I really liked but also those who repeated over time. Those classes/workshops that were unique occasions, like 1 week – in the best case, or 2 classes, were lived like a nice experience but I did not keep particular principles to take in my own practice and keep investigating and improvising with them. One example is Tijen’s class, or even Sandor, that I liked a lot as approaches, but kept repeating maybe one movement as a reference of the principles. If I would have organized better the integration of the principles, I would have benefited more from what she and they had to give. However, the information is there and is available to dwell into in the future.
I am happy to leave the school light-hearted and enthusiastic for continuing exploring movement in its pure form as well as in its artistic form.