Sunday, July 26, 2009

Last Free Group Dance (Friday afternoon)

Rob Dobson, Facilitator

Although I distinctly did not want to serve as a “presenter” at this Congress, I did agree to facilitate our final free group dance. In my thinking about it, I failed to remember that it would be preceded by our group evaluation of the Congress, so when it came time for my introductory comments, we had already been sitting on the floor of the smaller wooden-floored studio for at least a half hour, and I, for one, certainly felt the need to move. I suggested that we get up and close the curtains over the “Breaking News Gallery” taped to the mirrors and begin just moving and milling about while I talked a little bit. This is pretty much verbatim what I remember saying:

O.K. this is fine. Milling about. Milling’s good. I’m totally improv-ing this, so bear with me.
I’ve had the privilege of dancing with my colleague Jeff Pike at Harvard weekly for something like seven years now, and we’re always amazed that it doesn’t get boring! It’s always interesting, always fresh, always intriguing. And we keep growing in our sensitivity to each other and in our skill. I always wanted to believe this about this kind of dancing—that it could be constantly new and interesting—but now it has actually been proven to me. And I still think it’s an amazing thing.
Now you’re all standing around looking at me. This isn’t good. Keep moving!
I want to talk a little bit more about innovation. In one of the video interviews of Barbara Mettler late in her life—it might be Faces of Wisdom—someone asks her what she would like to be remembered for. She said, “Well, for many years I used to say ‘improvisation.’ But now lots of people are using improvisation in all kinds of ways. So now I think I would like to be remembered for innovation.” Yes, she said that.
I also like to think about the other use of the word improvise. What do we do in a pinch? We improvise. You’re cooking and you realize you’re out of some ingredient. So you’ll have to improvise. Say you don’t have a particular tool for some job you’re doing. Well, you’ll have to improvise. Today at noon it was raining when I needed to walk back from the dance building and I didn’t have my jacket or umbrella. I grabbed a big plastic bag and just draped it over my shoulders. It’s a frame of mind. It’s a way of life, right?
Barbara had to improvise many, many times in her life. She was forced to leave Mary Wigman because of the political situation in Germany with Hitler’s rapid and unexpected rise to power. She wasn’t ready to leave, but she had to. She landed in New York City in 1933 and had to dig in and start investigating the principles of movement all on her own. It was hard times, artistically and economically, just as it’s hard times now. But I remember that Barbara always said she felt that hard times were the best times for artists because that’s when you have to really go deep into the basics of your art and see if you can do without what you thought was essential.
What do you do when your huge, beautiful barn studio burns down almost immediately after completion, with your entire large collection of instruments? Well, you take a deep breath and head for the local hardware store and see what you can find to make some instruments out of. You thought you were going to have this fantastic indoor studio space to use, and you end up having to work outdoors for several years, and it changes your work entirely.
In fact, this approach to dance has always been about keeping it new. “Try standing up in some way you’ve never stood up before.” “See if you can move in some completely new ways.” It’s always been about exploring and keeping it fresh and interesting for ourselves.
O.K., so now it’s time for our last free group dance. It was a great opportunity for me this morning to observe that last dance facilitated by Yael on the theme of holding and letting go. The group really stuck with the theme! But it was a very tightly controlled theme. And it seems to me that what we need now is a totally free group dance. Do you agree? O.K.
As always, try to get the big picture, sensing it as a group dance. Keep your antennae way, way out.
And you know, this doesn’t have to be our best dance of the week. Or our biggest dance yet. It doesn’t have to go on forever and ever. It doesn’t have to be amazing and fabulous. It just has to be the right dance for right now. So let’s do it.

[This dance began out of individual movement in the smaller studio, growing into a very friendly feeling, smiling and bumping and laughing, evolving into a hysterically laughing group in the middle surrounded by a circumambulating finger-shaking ring of “Uh-oh!” and then eventually taking off into the larger studio, with two different camps arriving by different routes and reuniting, waving happily to each other. There were lots of other fairly energetic movement and sound themes that emerged, and the dance went on for perhaps 30 or 40 minutes altogether, ending with delicious total quiet as we all lay down together gradually and just listened to the quiet.]

Group Evaluation (Plusses and Deltas)

Instead of written evaluations, we chose to do a group evaluation, facilitated by Griff, at the beginning of the closing session Friday afternoon. First we called out and listed all of the Plusses (things we liked about this Congress). Then we called out and listed all of the Deltas (things we would like to see changed or done differently at future Congresses).

PLUS
Tradition/Innovation balance
Free laundry
Role of Pre-Congress in integration of elders/those with special needs
Free afternoon
Who came
Interns: the position, who they were,
Presenters: clarity, opportunities to present
Going outside the lines
Material
Breaking barriers
With all the experimentation we didn’t let go of our roots
New voices presenting
Discussion, writing, drawing
Open Space
Music
Facility: proximity of dining, living, dancing spaces
Whole sense of NEW
Opening Dance!
Emily Dickinson experience, the video taping at E.D.
Having own room
Gallery exhibit (Susan Dayall)
Integration of photography
More like a Congress—more of a peer group
Good food
We lived the innovation
Conception/organization
Welcome in rooms
Community locations stimulated interest
This evaluation process

From individuals (written evaluations from people who had to leave before Friday):
#1
Ditto on open space providing each member a non-threatening chance to contribute to the Congress
Loved the freedom within the structure
Loved that everybody came to DANCE fully, deeply & felt safe to take risks
Very satisfying from beginning to end.
Great loving supportive organization.
Proud to be a member. Grateful—very grateful.

#2
Thank you Griff, Helen, Rob—Superb.
Thank you BOD! Kudos.
Loved the dancing
Vocal patterns in free group dance
Loved teaching at the pre-Congress and NOT teaching at the Congress
Loved seeing Jean’s strength and clarity as presenter
Loved that open space process allowed everyone to lead, contribute

#3
The material covered in the Pre-Congress was excellent review for me.
First day of regular Congress constituted a very different experience from that of the Pre-Congress with less time spent on basic concepts of Mettler based material. Large group dance was a different experience from that of Pre-Congress and more challenging. In my first dance I quickly saw the difference in ability—I could see how through experience in Mettler-based work one really does (as musicians say) improve one’s chops. The was an encouraging revelation.
Every one of the sessions was helpful and interesting. Presenters managed to allay feelings of anxiety about whether I could do this stuff.
Food was great.
The annual meeting was very well run.

DELTA
Need tune-up before Open Space
And coming together after morning and afternoon sessions
More time to learn about Open Space in order to better transition and plan the timing
Some of Open Space brought into movement (out of verbal)
More shifting and negotiation in Open Space scheduling
Evening meeting
Surprise of co-ed bathrooms
Not enough awareness and introduction of assistive devices
Dirty, noisy dorms
Plastic mattresses, crappy blankets
Going out for a meal would have been nice
Helen wasn’t here
Members’ meeting needs to be give a more important role in Congress
More attention needs to be given to our gatherings as members
Time for honoring members in meetings [Side comment from Griff—not sure I captured the last three comments fully, so feel free to clarify of expand.]
Early departures of some participants
Coordinators’ jobs need to be opened up beyond board members [Side comment from Griff: I thought we had begun that, so I guess this means further opening up.]

From Individuals:

#1
We try to cram too much into the first day. Members’ meeting felt forced and too much talking from BOD, not enough from members. I like to get feedback from members about how we can change it.
Open Space structure needed time set aside for sharing and debriefing as a whole group (live and learn . . .)

#2
Could there be a way to buy snacks between meals?
Trouble with coed bathrooms
Include suggestion of reading lamp, extra bedding in “What to bring” letter

#3
Infusion of movement in Open Space set-up & process (not so much sitting)
Not bringing the group back together in Open Space at end of morning and afternoon sessions
Early departers not having the opportunity to say goodbye—lack of closure

Open Space Reflection and Integration

The following comments are culled from Rob’s and Deborah’s attempts to record the feedback in the circle at the end of Thursday morning.

Yael: Just having Open Space at this Congress is innovative. I loved how people who led sessions did it on the spot, just like a dance. It was very difficult to choose from among all the offerings.
Betsey: It took me back to many other years and memories of experiences.
Emily: I liked all the diverse things, reconnecting through our differences.
Mary: “What can we all do…?” This was the literal sense of trying to figure it out.
Susie: Previous Congress presenters had prior experience; it’s so delightful to see new people leading sessions. It fulfills the theme.
Kyla: It makes me realize I have more questions about this work. My session didn’t happen, but I’d still like to have the conversation [about how to continue to do Mettler-based dance and continue to find my own way] [This conversation did finally happen late Thursday evening at the 2nd floor lounge of the dorm, where it was standing room only.]
Felice: My session didn’t happen, either—how we apply Mettler-based principles in our lives. [Felice attended Kyla’s Thursday evening session and afterwards said that it had actually addressed some of what she was interested in talking about.]
Harda: This is what I wanted to know, too.
Donna: I really loved the richness. Too many choices. Maybe have each person offer only one?
Nancy: It brought out the richness that is here already. Oh, that dive toward the center at the beginning of Open Space! It was like an explosion of enthusiasm—out there and eager!
Yael: I would like 15 minutes for the whole group at the end of each session to find out what happened and what was the feel of the individual sessions.
Mary Ann: I agree that to have that in the structure would be good. I think this was just what the Congress needed at this time in our development. It’s a good shift. I hope we can continue to use it. How can we adapt it? I also think it would be good to come together as a whole group for the first tune-up.
Susie: And at the end of the day.
Donna: I was torn between the opportunities to talk and to move. Maybe we could consider having the moving sessions during the day and the talking sessions at night.
Felice: It was frustrating to have conflicts and have to decide.
Yael: I feel the Open Space is answering the question of the theme.
Lynne: To me the wonderful thing was the inclusiveness and the courage of people to offer things. Use the blog! The conversation doesn’t have to end.
Griff: Freedom—Awareness—Control. The Congresses have historically been very controlled. I wanted us to get free again. And I feel that happened. Now we can spiral up.
Mary: The structure allowed people to jump in. It opened the door to greater freedom.
Sue: Thanks for the encouragement to newcomers to try leading a session. Some of us had been holding back, thinking, “What could we offer to all of these experts?”
Mary Ann: It’s an easier give-and-take to offer things spontaneously, not all planned out.
[?]: [Something about dipping into the purity of Mettler work and coming back out—what can be learned there?]
Rob: It actually took us months to formulate the theme. At first we wanted to say something like, How can we explore spontaneity and freshness and still stay true to the principles of Mettler-based work? It finally dawned on us that the very core of Barbara’s work is innovation and creativity.
Hannah: I found it really great to have smaller groups and see how in touch I am with my creativity this week. It’s nice to notice that I’m in the creative mode—nice to have lots of outlets for it and experience it and play with it.
Juanita: The sessions fed into each other. The Tree Dances led into the Spatial/ Sculptural session.
Lynne: Things from the small session made my large group experience so much richer.
[?]: Thank you, everyone!
Mary Ann: I also liked having assigned presenters. I wouldn’t want all Open Space.
Susie: And I liked having a first day and a last day of the week be in our usual presenter format.
Felice: I would like to have known more about Open Space in advance. I think I froze up.
Mary: It was a leveling experience to have Open Space be new for all of us.
Carol: I loved getting back to basics.
Jean: I was concerned about the choppiness, but I thought it worked. It allowed us to experience more themes. Lots of variety was exciting.
Griff: It puts more responsibility on each person. I also loved the flexibility of having permission to take a nap or go for a walk if that’s what I needed to do for myself.
Susie: The physical space clearly supported this experiment in Open Space. This campus provides us with superb facilities. How can we think about Open Space in Tucson?
Rob: That was a concern of mine, too. But this week I’ve seen once again what a creative group we are, and I bet we can find ways to make it work. Obviously the main studio, the small studio, possibly an early morning session outdoors. And does the Nature Conservancy have spaces we can use?

One-word summations:
Enriching. Flexible. Encouraging. Inclusive. Nurtured. New openings. Opening possibilities. Validation. Uniqueness and interest. Invitation. Permission. Creativity & harmony. Mutual responsibility. Deepening freedom. Curiosity plunge. Fresh choice. Validation. Respect. Intention. Direction. Breath of fresh air. Challenge. Support. Interactive. Fluidity. Spicy. Inside out. Appreciation. Knowledge. Colleagues. Respect. Communion. Privilege [Deborah]. Risk. Richness.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Presenters

In addition to the Open Space sessions, of course, we had wonderful regular sessions led by IACD members who volunteered to serve as presenters on topics of their choosing. The schedule for the whole week looked like this: (presenters, if I've got any of your session titles wrong, let me know so I can correct them; I never had an "official" list). Rob

Pre-Congress (Friday evening, Saturday morning and afternoon, and Sunday morning) (18 attendees)
Teacher: Doug Victor

Congress (29 attendees)
Monday
Morning: Lynne McNett (The Give and Take of Group Dance Improvisation)
Afternoon: Lynn Gallo (Instrumental Work, Integrating the Body Parts)
Tuesday
Morning: Open Space (facilitated by organizational behavior consultant Deborah Langstaff)
Afternoon: Jean Tobias (Organic Form)
Wednesday
Morning: Open Space
Afternoon: OFF
Thursday
Morning: Open Space
Afternoon: Griff Goehring (planned with Helen Horigan) (Moving with the Sounds of the Poetry of Emily Dickinson) on the grounds of the Emily Dickinson Homestead
Friday
Morning: Mary Andersen (Integrating the Three Elements of Force, Time and Space Two at a Time)
Yael Schweitzer (Holding and Letting Go)
Afternoon: Final Free Group Dance facilitated by Rob Dobson