Selma: so up to here we have processes that
could not be programmed into a computer. That is, the initial or original
creative processes could not be programmed because they emerge in the
consciousness of the moment. Once the choreography has emerged, it
could then be programmed in its existing form but that would be rigid
and could not incorporate a creative process in any way.
REH: Selma, thanks for your thoughtful
answer. I think if you look at the Proximics work of Edward T.
Hall as well as the Books by W.A. Gregory on Theater Directing you would
find that there are many more things that are in the gesture catagory that
seem chance or without program but on closer look are. Even the
chance work of Cage and the Soho groups still operated within a known
movement context once the chance movement had been given.
I remember working with Elaine on a dance titled One, on One, on One, on One
which had the instructions to repeat no movements. I toyed
with the idea and then thought about that River that is never the same and
just did what I wanted and satisfied me. She said that I
hadn't followed the instructions. Well, I was a singer
learning dance and I did not have the movement vocabulary to use to
repeat. The only problem with the computer is its binary
quality which I assume will change.
Back to the book:
For Dunn's assignment to use a chance mechanism to choose body
parts, Summers remembers using a spinning ball to solve the problem. 105
Selma: The computer could be used here to
advantage. Do you agree that a spinning ball is a machine-type agent that
would work in ways similar to those of a computer?
REH: Sure,
The book:
Later, Paxton developed the use of the ball by writing movement choices
on it and stopping the diagrammed ball with his index finger or flattening
it with a piece of glass to determine the order of the options. 106 Summers
remembers that the discussion following the body parts assignment centered
on "how difficult it is to break away from body patterns that go together,
your own particular clichés or dance clichés in general."
107
Selma: This process (above)
clearly could not be programmed.
REH: We do something similar in Acting with
language and the seven layers of meaning for each word.
The book:
Movement, too, it was thought, could tune the mind-body to an
"authentic" and intensified consciousness of energy flow and varying
physical states. For instance, the techniques of "kinetic awareness" that
Elaine Summers would eventually develop as a full-blown system of physical/
spiritual therapy -- using anatomical studies and the verbal expression of
emotional and physical states to heal the whole person and liberate his or
her movement potential -- had its roots in her Dance for Carola (dedicated
to one of Summers's kinesiology teachers).
Selma:
AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH ( I don't know if that expresses my extreme pleasure at
seeing the above paragraph)
This, I believe, is where we can see the
way everything is integrated: the physical, the emotional, the intellectual,
the spiritual, the psychological, and, I believe, the cultural and
sociological because all of the other elements exist in a cultural and
sociological context.
For me, integrating the spiritual with all
of the other elements of human existence is the bottom line and I don't see
how we can ever talk about anything-economics, government policies,
education, medicine, family, work, infrastructure, technology, the media,
sports, etc. etc. without being conscious of the spiritual component and the
way everything is connected.
REH: I like that you
associate the "connectedness" and synergy of reality with
spirituality. That is accurate for me.
The book:
In this solo dance (performed in silence)
Summers changed from a standing posture to crouching and then back to
standing again, all in sustained slow motion. The single task took eight to
ten minutes. For Summers, the dance was a result of discovering a new energy
pattern and body image that was authentically hers, one that savored time
and extended sensory impressions. Again, the ideal of expanded consciousness
seemed to serve as the route to a utopian vision.
Selma:
YES!!!!
REH: That was my
experience. I used to look forward every week to those three
hour sessions of "utopian vision."
The book:
On the one hand, then, there was an urge toward
sincerity, natural impulse, and harmonious union with the cosmos, achieved
through the expansion of the bodily senses. On the other hand, any inklings
that a unified, direct, and original experience of the world was indeed
possible were countered by the Cagean affirmation of chaos.
(Banes 244)
I am not clear about what is referred
to by "the Cagean affirmation of Chaos".
REH: I don't think he
was speaking of "Chaos Theory" but more metaphorically. Chaos is
simply the complexity of all reality. Acceptence and the
joy of that is self affirming.
What comes to my mind at first is John
Cage's 14 minutes of silence as a piece of music, but I don't think that is
what is being referred to here.
I also do not understand why the
unified feelings should be 'countered' by this 'Cagean affirmation
of chaos'. My very primitive understanding of chaos theory is that
what one finds when studying chaos is order and, for me, spirituality
and creativity incorporate and are manifestations of the highest form of
order.( a reference to the Einstein quote I used earlier would be
appropriate here) I have a feeling that I'm missing a very big
piece here because of my ignorance of what is being referred to. I hope
someone can enlighten me. (gently, please)
Selma
REH: I spoke to
Elaine today and she said that this was before the chaos publications and so
it was just plain old chaos and you may as well accept it because anything
you can think of wouldn't be big enough to encase its immensity.
Best to you,
Ray Evans Harrell
