DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Research and Writing

 

            I plan for this component to integrate the work I am currently doing at Naropa with the work I plan to do in the future as an aerial performer and circus artist. The research will be focused on integration and support of somatics and Body Mind Centering in aerial arts. Aerial arts, (henceforth referred to as aerial), is a very strict art form requiring great strength, agility, composure, and awareness, much as gymnastics, acrobatics, or extreme sports.

           Aerial has grown over the past century, as a feat of extreme athleticism and physical prowess, a thing to be awed at from afar as a performer risks their life for the joy of the audience. It formerly revolved around an insular culture, i.e. circus families, with little outside access to training, and even fewer avenues of teaching and methods of performance. This has began to change with the growth of recreational circus (much like the growth of yoga as an exercise activity in the last twenty years.) This leads to the need for research to happen to expound this art from the professionally trained, e.g. former gymnasts, to a wide held universal understanding.

            Aerial, as it is now, is mostly based in the muscles and to some extent the skeletal system as a method of movement, but the possibilities for the other systems to underlie and support the movement are endless. From using the systems to support already established muscle paths to new systems being the primary movers, (the idea of the bladder as a balloon to help invert the pelvis above the head is one such idea I would like to research.)

            I have already begun this integration and understanding in my own study of aerial and used basic concepts to further my understanding of the art, but believe many other avenues and connections exist waiting to be discovered and furthered. I plan on doing this first through my own work and understanding with work both in the air and in studio somatic research. I then hope to further this by working with both aerialists and somatic or BMC practitioners (cohort members or alumni). Ideally, I would hold two to three workshops with two to three members of each community (six individuals), in which I would instruct the aerialists in somatic work and the other practitioners in aerial. There would be one workshop, solely focused on basic somatic vocabulary and understanding, the other two workshops would have a thorough somatic warm up followed by a short aerial intro. I would then receive feedback from both parties to further the research. This will double as a research tool and an assessment.  My final goal with the paper is to present the research and paper at ATHE, if not this year then next, as well as other theatre and circus educator organizations.  I would do this research with outside advisors (Nancy Smith of Frequent Flyers Productions and her staff, Sonia Smith has also expressed a willingness to help.) as well as the support of Naropa MFA faculty, especially Erika Berland and her somatic teachings. These two separate entities will be guiding bodies as well as help with assessment of the process and integration. The product of this will be somewhere between a research academic paper and a practitioner’s report. The goal is to present the material in an academic setting, as well as to create a vocabulary that is capable of bridging between the two worlds of study and useful as a teaching tool, much as the words of Body Mind Centering, and Grotowski have melted into other teachings.  

Timeline

           I have already begun to recruit people for the research process and aim to have this solidified by the end of the year. I will also have the basic exploration ideas and processes established by the end of the year.

 

    • January-February. I will have the first somatic introduction and exploration in                         either late January or late February.
    • Late February- March. The first workshop and exploration with aerial equipment                         will be either after the Thesis productions in February or in early March.
    • April. The last workshop and solidification of the research will happen in April.

These are rough outlines, and if I cannot book the aerial studio for exploration I will work with the aerialists in the somatic workshops and open-gyms at the aerial studio.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.