Learning from the Northampton workshop

Improvisation task. 
Lead by Matthew Gough - Senior lecturer in Dance at Northampton University.

Partners in the space. (For clarity, label one, A and the other, B)

A closes eyes, begins to move/improvise/solo.
B observes A dancing - attempts to locate habits and a place in their body where movement is often initiated from.
B stops A from dancing - by limiting their movement from the place they commonly use (i.e. - A's legs are often used - B restrains A's legs, thus preventing movement)

My own experience and realisations:

It felt like a game... which is most likely because I found it so amusing that I had never really realised how much I used/relied on my pelvis and abdomen to begin moving. Within 10 seconds of me soloing with eyes shut (as A), my partner tackled my hips. Though I was pre-empting this moment, it still threw me - and I felt stunted for a second. I then began flinging my arms around to attempt to keep moving with the same quality as before, then my partner pinned those down too. It was only then, that I instinctively dropped to the floor to escape her grip - in which my legs were the initiators of my direction.

Now this had happened naturally - I wasn't consciously thinking 'go to the floor' or 'use your legs!', but it happened.

Two important points here:

1. This task forced me to realise and break habits, leading to seeking other possibilities in the situation on the spot. This develops fast, creative thinking, but more importantly, I didn't think - the movement was simply consequential and instinctive.
2. I had my eyes closed - preventing me from picking up any useful improvised material from peers also dancing in the space.

To summarise: 

Movement was natural/instinctive. Movement was original. Movement was stimulated through controlling habits I so often use to 'dance', such as my pelvis and eyesight.

Relativity to 'Reference Points'

Improvisation tasks in Reference Points will have a control factor: which will be the absence of the dancer's sight. The dancer's stimulus will be to explore places/objects through touch. One aim of this method is to find some original, instinctive movement for choreography. Matthew Gough's improvisation structure demonstrates an effective way of meeting these aims by forcing the improvising dancer to break habits and think outside the box due to physical restrictions - whilst maintaining this original element to their dancing - by having closed eyes, therefore not mimicking other dancers in the space.

More simply, I felt like this way of improvising inspired an idea that we need to step of our comfort zone to further our creativity. How would it feel to be somewhere unknown, completely blind and use that experience of moving, sightless and disorientated, to find new movement for choreography? Would it be productive? It would be interesting for sure...