EXCHANGE – Kirstyn's Blog

Celebrations and Choreography

30th Mar 201931st Mar 2019 by kirstynlouise

Hey!!

A couple of weeks ago it was birthday, I’m no longer a teenager! I thought that would probably be the hardest day to be away from home but it wasn’t. I was spoiled with messages and gifts from my family and friends back home. Then the my dance girls here absolutely spoiled me, with cake, presents and celebrations. It was one of my favourite days out here. I couldn’t be more grateful not just for the presents but for the effort they put it in to make my birthday special. Tusen Takk!

We have also begun work on our performance project, which we will be performing in the start of May. The overriding theme of our show is to target the issues and opportunities young people face about fitting in or standing out, make our own choices or going where/doing what their told. So my piece explores the idea that we spend our lives chasing after one specific idea, ideal or goal, that we miss what’s in front of us in today. Its always about getting through the next set of exams or applications. We’re so focussed on what we need to do to get through secondary/high school, to graduate from uni or get a job so that we can do what makes us happy, and find our own version of freedom. That we miss out on the opportunities and the possibilities that are right in front of us in the moment. If we miss the relationships, the opportunities and the pockets of freedom in the every day then are we even really living or are we just surviving. Are we missing the point?

So far its going really well, at first I was struggling to get my ideas to make sense in my head let alone make them a reality. Its clear in my head now so that’s one hurdle down, now I’ve just got to keep working with my dancers to make it a reality. I’m really excited to be able to share the final piece.

It’s been a new experience as the work needs to be about 9 minutes long and I’ve never choreographed anything like this alone as just a choreographer. I’ve learnt how much I like choreography throughout this process, but its been easier because I have a phenomenal group of dancers to choreograph on, and some of the ownership of the piece has to go back to them for their work in the process.

I’m gonna be sharing more pictures when I can but if you use Instagram, follow our performance page @dgb_forestilling where we will be sharing pictures and videos throughout the next few weeks.

Marie has now become my official Norwegian tutor

In composition we were given the task to create a dance for a famous pop song specifically a song by the Beatles. So we decided to go for one we could have some fun with.

On the 21st it was Rokkesokk Day, so we all wore odd socks in support of Downs syndrome

Improv

1 MONTH!!

6th Feb 201910th Feb 2019 by kirstynlouise

Hi, I’ve officially survived the first month! I cant believe its already been a month since I got here and nearly a month since I started class. It’s gone so fast, it’s strange in the sense of it feels like I’ve been here for longer than a handful of weeks yet also it feels like no times passed at all. Still, so far so good, apart from the language I wouldn’t realise I’m so far from home. I can already feel and see my technique getting stronger, so I know I can grow so much as a dancer over the next 5 months.

I wouldn’t say I’ve really struggled settling in out here with anything in particular it’s different so it took getting used to but there’s not been anything I’ve hated and so I was able to find my feet pretty quickly. That’s just me I guess I’ve always been able to adapt quickly. The hardest thing I found was getting used to living in the flat out here, I’ve grown so used to living in Lincoln, Maria and Lucy have become a constant for me at university. We hang out a lot together in the house even if we are all just on our phones ignoring each other, it’s a completely different vibe to my flat here where whilst everyone is lovely we all pretty much keep to ourselves in our rooms unless we’re cooking. So it’s a lot quieter than me and the girls blaring out Queen whilst we’re cooking. It doesn’t bother me as such it’s just different and it’s the thing that took the most getting used to. But I still have Skype calls to keep me sane and I’m grateful for the girls on my course who’ve found a way for us to get together each weekend so I don’t notice the quietness of the flat.

We’ve had a fair amount of snow here so far and there’s more to come as the temperatures drop more but whilst it’s still kind of a novelty for me I can see why many people are ready for spring and summer to arrive. The cold hasn’t been too bad but I’m starting to feel it, I’m just grateful that the heating in my flat here is far far better than my house last semester. We had our first fire alarm of the semester last week (things I didn’t miss about student flats) it was -13 degrees and nobody was impressed, although I can say we were able to get back inside a lot quicker than when we had drills in courts.

I’m slowly learning some Norwegian, Marie has made her mission to teach me a new word every day starting with the body and directions, so when our teachers, speak in Norwegian I can find it easier to understand rather than relying only on visual cues. Shes evening made me revision aids, i love that everyones as enthuastic about teaching me as i am about learning as it makes it so much eassier. It’s getting there I can recognise a couple of words now during class so I’m excited to see just how much I can learn before I leave.

Here’s my brothers latest piece of advice for me whilst i’m in Norway. 😂
Also, Sunniva suggested I try and get hold of some of our English sweets and snacks that they can’t get in Norway for them to try, whilst they introduce me to some of their Norwegian ones, so if anyone has any suggestions let me know!

Tusen Takk!! Many Thanks!!

Technique Technique Technique

26th Jan 201926th Jan 2019 by kirstynlouise

So far in my time here we have been looking at Graham technique, Contact improvisation, ballet and Jazz technique. I’ve looked at the first three previously. My experience with Jazz however is next to none.

In recent years I haven’t particularly been a ballet lover asides from teaching it to the little kids and I think that’s mainly because I let my focus shift into contemporary but straying from it almost completely means I lost a foundation area of my training which could have instead been continuing to grow stronger. Taking ballet twice a week reminded me how beneficial ballet can be alongside the contemporary training, it’s something I’m going to keep in mind in the future. As already I can feel a difference in my dancing, I can only hope the extra ballet training continues to build my strength and flexibility. Aside from that I’ve remembered why I loved ballet as a kid, why from that first class I decided that I wanted to be a dancer.

Graham is one of the core contemporary techniques and admittedly again it’s one I didn’t particularly love in first year, however I have changed my opinion, whilst I stand by that it’ll probably never be my favourite area of technique I do find myself more able to enjoy it now. When we studied Graham in first year it was mainly the floor work I disliked I found it always left me with masses of tension in my back no matter how much I tried to breathe into the movements or find space, I finished that semester with a shoulder injury as a result of a mass build up of tension in my upper back. Whilst I don’t blame my injury completely on Graham I pretty sure it was a major contributor. My hips also hated having to sit in second for extended periods of time. So yeah I wasn’t a fan in first year, but going into it now both stronger and with a greater somatic awareness, I don’t experience the same masses of tension and where I do find tension I understand more how to breathe through it and find the space to avoid it. As a result I’m able to pay more attention to improving my technique and enjoying it.

So then there’s contact, I thought this would be harder this semester to begin with at least because I was going into work with a new group of people that I didn’t know at all , but beneficial for that same reason. As it happens they were so quick to bring me into being a part of the group it didn’t feel like I was working with strangers. Regardless of that it is interesting to work with a fresh group of dancers with new ways of moving. By having contact two semesters in a row, I feel like I’ve now been given more time to develop and play with those skills I learnt last semester. It’s also a chance to continue working on becoming more comfortable with lifting other people, I’d much rather be lifted than lift another. Already I’m getting better in that way so I’m hoping that by the end of the semester I’ll be over that fear completely, therefore becoming more free to experiment and play within the realms of contact improvisation.

Now Jazz, after the first week I was already saying, yep now I remember why I don’t do jazz but maybe I was being a bit premature. It’s unlikely to be an area in which I pursue a performance career but I’m not as a bad at it as I first believed. At the end of last week something felt like it clicked and I made it through the choreography without completely screwing up. So I’m slowly getting there, but I’m determined to be semi comfortable and confident in jazz by the end of this.