What Is Improvisation Dance?

References from literature:

Improvisation dance can be defined as a spontaneous study of human movement possibilities. It is an important element in dance as a show, in dance ceremonies and in social, educational and therapeutic dance. In the Western world improvisation was not understood at all and was not appreciated in theatrical traditions. The use of improvisation has been more appreciated in Asia, India, Africa, the Middle East and Spain, where creative abilities were considered an important element in stage skill. In the West, creative abilities were often separated from show / stage skills. In the 1960s, interest in improvisation as a show increased. In fact only the dancer himself can know which parts of his work are improvised and which are pre-planned. If viewers are not told that the show is an improvisation show, the audience cannot know for sure. Improvisation can be around a constructed material and can also be completely free. There are various elements in dance such as timing, position, movement qualities, decision making, repetition or change, relationships between the dancers and between them and the audience and the atmosphere, interaction with music, text, costume and props. In an improvisation show the dancers are required to have skill and creativity within different patterns as well as to communicate within the group of dancers or to work from a common movement repertoire. (Cohen 1998).

Educators like Larson and Margaret H’Doubler, who worked with children and taught when dance entered the university, incorporated improvisation studies into their training programs. Expression and self-expression were reinforced by the use of music, image and content issues. Although improvisation was perceived by many as an amateur affair, in practice it formed the basis for improvisation performances created later on. At that time – in the 1930s in Europe – Mary Wigman and Rudolf Laban used a lot of improvisation in the work processes and the preparation of the materials for their creation. They were looking for new approaches to modern dance. Laban sometimes used built-in improvisation within a show and also included dancers who had not undergone a process of dance training. An approach to the process of training dancers through improvisation began to emerge, and a network of communication was created between dance artists in different countries who used the improvisation tool. This approach was used to create sensitivity in the dancer in relation to his natural impulses and also in the relationship between dancer and dancer. (Cohen, 1998).

In the 1950s Mars Cunningham in the conceptions of modern dance with the psychological and dramatic content themes and chose to remove from his works any narrative meaning or hint at the existence of a plot and characters. Cunningham as a choreographer worked with planned and pre-determined movement materials, revolutionarily connecting the elements of his work that he shared between different people only on the eve of the show itself on stage with no prior preparations. The painter who designed the stage, the musician who composed the music and the dancers who danced the choreography, all worked around a given theme but did not bring together the artwork until the moment of the show. This allowed dancers to choose options of order, time and space of placing the movement materials on stage. Cunningham avoided the solo dancers method, and in his performances all the dancers were equal on stage. The space itself was also without a “defined center”, and all the areas in it were equal in importance.

In disengaging from the built-in traditional choreography of modern dance, the dancers were given certain instructions that they must perform during the performance. The artistic control, formerly in the hands of the choreographer, now depended on the choices of the dancers during the performance. (Morgenroth, 1987).

Alwin Nikolais, who also created free-form works, trained his dancers to experiment with improvisation for several years and allowed them to improvise within a show where the structure was predetermined. Nicholas’ students in the 1970s created aesthetic, spiritual, and emotional improvisational experiences in the U.S. with an emphasis on social and personal change and a desire to experience the “self.” Young people asked questions and challenged social structures, political processes, lifestyles, and aesthetic conventions. In the eyes of many of them, improvisation in dance served as a model for a new form of behavior that gave expression to the “flow of life.” The body moves out of conscious listening and unconscious listening.The improvisers faced questions such as “How to flow with the passing moment? How to create any structures instantly? How do these structures stem from the unconscious in the dancer’s personality? ”(Morgenroth, 1987).

The creators of the improvisation in dance focused on the dancer as a means to the unconscious – not on the organization of lighting, directing and costumes. The significant turning point in the field of improvisation actually occurred as early as the 1960s, against the background of the revolution in all the arts, when emphasis was placed on spontaneity and the presentation of a process as an accepted part of a show. During this time, Anna Halprin, who studied with Dobler, was also responsible for spreading improvisation. She used improvisation in the workshops she taught and later also in the shows she created. She dealt extensively with group process, rituals, currents of consciousness and interaction with the environment. Some of Anna Halperin’s students (who later created the Judson Theater), such as Simone Forti and Trisha Brown, focused on working on improvisational structures with rules, tasks, and limitations. Steve Paxton, a dancer from Cunningham and one of the members of the Judson Theater, developed the art of contact improvisation, which is based primarily on a duet with a partner and focuses on creating trust. Members of the Judson Dance Theater created improvisation performances and influenced other artists who began to use improvisation both as part of structured choreography and as a performance in general. (Morgenroth, 1987).

Yvonne Rainer, a member of the Judson Theater Company (considered the pioneer of postmodern dance), used improvisation on stage without distinguishing between process and performance. She also gave the dancers freedom and spurred them to work through improvisation without a guide. Morgenroth (1995) argues that this move took Cunningham’s ‘democracy’ a step further by removing the choreographer. She formed a group called The Grand Union that operated for 6 years in the 1970s and put on improvisation shows. The personality and styles of the entire ensemble of dancers played an important role in the character of the group. There were no rehearsals for the movement material and it was not planned before the show. Some of the materials were transferred from one work to another and became motifs. The performers allowed themselves to react to each other in the full range of possibilities: to imitate, make changes, do something with another partner (in connection with him or in opposition to him) and ignore. They involved the audience in their work process and incorporated text into performances. This group was an arena in which the dancers could discover, process and refine their methods and styles of work. The big change was the recognition of the vitality and uniqueness of the improvisation show. In this work the main interest is in the process rather than the result. The live shows were the result of the living moment, a description of the Kikian moment where there is nothing concrete to hold on to when the show ends but there are unexpected moments in it that stem from the immediate nature of the work. (Morgenroth, 1987).

Other creators have made various and creative uses of improvisation as a way of building a show. Some of them involved the audience in the show in different ways. Currents in Japanese Bhutto dance that developed in the 1950s were called “poetic improvisation” by Kazuo Ono, who is considered the spiritual father of Bhutto. Bhutto’s philosophy revolves around the desire to return to the nature of movement and touch the mind through body movement. Other artists have worked with materials from different cultures through improvisation, such as Spanish Indian culture (flamenco) or African American (tap and breakdance). Improvisation was also very common among black musicians in the genre of jazz, rap and more. Even classical ballet artists have used improvisation to expand the nature and content of their works. The therapeutic properties of improvisation have also been exposed and developed into a treatment method called “Dance Therapy”. All of these currents have constant recurring components, such as structure, training, concentration, communication, relationships, risk, and play (Cohen, 1998).

Morgenroth (Morgenroth, 1987) wrote in her book on improvisational dance and describes how there was an accelerated development in the field in the 1970s. She says the development of improvisation in those years was evident in both dance and theater. The Judson Theater and other theaters have increasingly based their work on improvisation as a performance art. As early as the 1960s, known as a period of rebellion against many conventions, many laws and traditional patterns were violated and the accepted roles of choreographer and playwright were abandoned. The existing artistic and political situation was under attack. While modern dance broke the classical ballet patterns and began to sink into new patterns of its own, elsewhere in the US various artists began to develop improvisation as a revolutionary tool in dance. Instead of the choreographer’s absolute control, a new interest was created around the dancers’ immediate decisions and the audience’s ability to watch it and be an active participant in the spontaneous movement occurrence. Instead of asking his dancers to learn their opinion about the quality of the work, he taught them to understand patterns, forms, methods and materials within the work. : Ideas of expression, choreographic highs, technical skill, sequences of logical or dramatic nature, separation of the characters appearing from the audience and theatrical change (Morgenroth, 1987).

In 1962, members of the Judson Theater (named after the Jackson Church) staged a revolutionary performance at a church in New York. The show was devoid of traditional approaches and incorporated improvisation within the choreography and within the show. Some members of the Judson Theater are considered pioneers of postmodern dance. Dance researcher Sally Baines wrote that these and other artists have created dance, theater and ongoing research into the nature of dance (Trapsichora in Sneakers, 1980). The works created later by the members of “The Grand Union ” expressed through improvisation, individualism and creative processes on stage. Trisha Brown even incorporated movement instructions for dancers in front of the audience as an integral part of the show. Douglas Dunn chose to engage the audience as part of his work both verbally and physically. For all these and others, the significant change was that the focus was on the vitality and uniqueness of the work process rather than on the finished product. Unlike works of art that could be sold and bought for television and film, a live show was a phenomenon of the fleeting and temporary moment. There was nothing tangible to hold on to at the end of a show, and the creators in the field appreciated this immediacy. (Rothenberg, 2008).

The world of theater also underwent revolutionary changes during this period. As in the world of dance, there too there was a strong reaction against tradition and an urge to redefine what theater is. This is reflected in the break from the forms of linear narrative and the dependence on playwrights. In the early 1960s, Judith Malina and Julian Beck presented a live theater that revealed an improvisational work process of theatrical work that combines interaction with an audience. Live theater has moved away from engaging in the world of stage illusion and has approached theatrical theater with an emphasis on the happenings of everyday life. Two of the producers of the live theater established an “open theater” in the 1960s in which they committed to a process of creation in collaboration with their actors. An important part of their research was based on the study of improvisation. Through improvisation, the actors found images that were meaningful to them individually and as a team. In such a process, the actors took on part of the artistic idea. Through the actor the audience was met in the presence of a more live performance than in a standard theatrical performance of a character. The actors also broke the accepted physical and philosophical perception of distance between audience and actor. The theater tried to change the lives of the people who made it and watched it. He tried to change perceptions of people and social structures. The theater wanted to present life in its immediate and contemporary form instead of imitating the real thing. In the new and radical theater, words were perceived as an intellectual trap. Instead, movement was a way to get to the heart of emotions.

I chose to write about the Japanese butoh dance because of all the dances I have been exposed to during my life I have found in it spiritual and philosophical principles that are close to my personal perceptions. In my view, dance is not only a movement but also a way of life, a language and a tool for expressing reality and personal experiences. Behind it stand philosophical theories that deal with the awareness of the dancing person, and not just the technique of the dance or the contents. Butoh dance originated in 1950s Japan in response to World War II, and not out of a search for formal aesthetics.

I met Butoh in Israel when I was 19 at a time of internal search for answers to existential questions about life, its meaning, the essence of consciousness and the “I”. The language of dance allowed me to lead the search to new spaces and ponder these questions through movement. The Butoh allowed me to dive into myself and beyond myself and express myself from a deep and revealing place that brought with it answers to inner questions.

Butoh is a current postmodern dance that emerged, as mentioned, in post-World War II Japan and the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today Butoh is also considered a dance theater. Its founders were Higikata Tatzumi and Ohno Kazuo. Ono was initially a student of Hijikata, and later a traveling companion. Ono started dancing at the age of 43, after watching a flamenco performance that stirred him and danced almost until he reached the age of 100. He passed away at the age of 103 years. In his last performances he took the stage in a wheelchair.

 (www.Kazuoohnodancestudio.html).

At the time of the creation of the Butoh there was a theater in Japan called “New Theater” – “Shinky” theater which was a radical attempt to establish a Japanese theater that would be different from the traditional Japanese theater and would operate according to Western realistic theater patterns. The theater was politically inclined and sought the identity of freedom from any alliance. There was also Jero’s theater that carried an existentialist character and emphasized the use of the environment as a way of expressing opposition to modernization and urbanization. The avant-garde artists of the time engaged in theater and dance expressed an aversion to art. They tried to break down all existing structures into particles and make them meaningless (Cohen, 2010).

 There were painters who designed sets for theater and dance and created a style that emphasized the ugly and illogical in order to make the unfashionable acceptable. In these ways the artists expressed their opposition to the existing structures and themes of Western culture. They also opposed the Japanese tradition and used objects that represented it in a new and provocative context.

The Butoh people tried to overcome what they perceived as the harmful effects of the West and therefore reconsidered the local traditional dance as well. One way to overcome the various traditional and Western influences was a nostalgic return to the primitive roots of dance. The Butoh people believed that the expressive power of dance stemmed from the raw sexual energy inherent in the intimate relationship that primitive humanity had with nature. (Cohen, 2010).

Butoh artists in Japan have thus tried to create a contemporary Japanese dance, a new dance style that does not depend on external elements, a conception according to which the true artistic form stems solely from an internal need, and tradition or conventions can never be imposed on it. From this point of view, the artists could justify the use of any artistic means that could express their feelings. The movement began as a revolt. Its people set out to break the laws of Japanese society and American occupation, trying to suppress existing forms and shatter traditions. Breaking conventions was expressed in leaving hierarchical structures in favor of creating individual details, in abandoning the theater structure in favor of any space, in leaving the body covered with a mask, clothes and wig in the form of white and androgenic nudity. Due to the modern message, Bhutto was considered underground art in the early years. The first dances expressed excitement rather than message or form. The Butoh people did not want to speak through the body but to let their body speak for itself. By discovering the authenticity of the body, the dancers aspired to reveal what they perceived as truth, which contradicts the hypocrisy that exists in everyday life. (Kuniyoshi, 1986).

One can find commonalities to Butoh dance (which stem mainly from opposition to sustainability): Bhutto dance does not rely on realistic reality (like a plot story or music). Through the Butoh dance, the dancers make contact with repressed impulses in the subconscious. Butoh does not have predefined aesthetic artistic rules, although there is an emphasis in dance on the contrast between stress and release (release of energy physically and release of consciousness from prejudices about body movement) and movement characteristics, such as complete freezing of the face and body in certain movement over time (Beshimi Kata) and release , Or distorted movements that create an atmosphere of restlessness and grotesque. (Kuniyoshi, 1986).

The two ancestors of Butoh, Ono and Hijikata, represented different streams of Butoh. The jikata, nicknamed the “Bhutu Architect”, used the Bhutu dance as an expression of political protest against World War II and its horrors. In his dances he broke all the accepted rules of aesthetics and created a rough, unprocessed and erotic dance that was a journey into the dark and animalistic sides of man. Hijikata worked with men separately from women. He argued that man is earthly and his body is a prisoner of the world of logic, whereas woman is born with the ability to experience the irrational side of dance. Hijikata claimed that Butoh helps the dancer to make contact with the parts of the mind with which he has no contact. He thought that most older people are restrained by their anxieties and that through the bhutto dance the dancer can share his anxieties with other people and thus resist his sources of fear. According to his approach, contact with anxiety is a necessary step in learning the Butoh dance: “I despise a world directed from the cradle to the grave and prefer darkness over dazzling light. Darkness is the best symbol of light. There is no way one can understand the nature of light if one has never experienced real darkness. Bhutto requires a deep understanding of these two natural states, darkness and light ”(Viala, Masson, 1988, 188).

According to Hijikata, one of the ways to discover the dancer’s inner life is to cross the boundaries that man has set for himself and enter areas that have not yet been discovered.

Ono, unlike Hijikata, was a devout religious Christian, and was also more optimistic in his approach, believing in the potential of every person to be a Butoh dancer and to stay in the upper world that exists in each of us. Ono sought new ways of expressing the universe in its purer and more abstract form. Like a tree and its roots, dance should penetrate the depths of everyday existence. Ono in his youth was an athletics teacher and studied modern dance through a Japanese student of Mary Wigman. Ono looked for ways to express himself and collaborated with Hijikata. Ono’s worldview, which spearheaded the improvisational butoh stream, is that improvisation is the main technique through which the dancer’s inner world can be revealed. According to him, the body should not be controlled, but the soul should be allowed to flow life into the body. Ono chose topics for improvisation such as: the dead body which is an image that helps the dancer separate himself from his physical and social identity known to him in the first place and break the rigidity and patterns the body has acquired over the years. Ono aspired to the freedom embodied in the renunciation of concepts by which man perceives himself and a return to the initial memory of the body itself, in order to discover the soul. Ono dealt extensively with the subject of metamorphosis, which takes place in the transition from character to character, from man to woman, from man to animal, food to old age and more. Ono taught his students how to be aware of breaking patterns that also exist in their daily lives outside the studio, for self-respect, respect for others, and understanding of nature.

Ono: “Before trying to develop a technique one must consider concepts like mind, spirit and life. If you dress the dance in the technique somewhere in the process, you lose its most important part. From my experience I have learned that as you use the different techniques they push aside the main thing. To manage my life after my death. I try to avoid techniques and structures and concentrate on the spiritual things. This is what I strive to achieve through dance. “When your oyster falls apart, the truth is revealed in all its power” (Viala, Masson, 1988 32).

1.2.2 Improvisation In the contact improvisation genre:

Contact-improvisation is a current that developed in the 1970s and 1980s as part of postmodern dance, and was an alternative social and political statement. The founder of the official stream is Steve Paxton Steve in New York, USA. Paxton was a member of the Judson Theater and also a member of the “Great Union” who at that time explored the boundaries of dance as it was perceived and prepared the ground for the stream of contact dance. Pallant, 2006) This dance is characterized by questioning previous traditional dance forms and re-examining and re-examining the body and movement and dance as a performance art and as a social and community event. The negation of the existing and the pursuit of the unknown is nothing new, and has characterized the great creators and pioneers of dance since the days of Isadora Duncan, through Rudolf Laban, Mary Wigman, Mars Cunningham and others. Laban observed and studied motion as an object of research per se, and as a way to enable large masses of non-professional dancers to participate in mass dance events. From us, and turned the creative process into an array of puzzles and challenges designed to disrupt the creator’s common patterns and allow for new approaches to creating movement (Burstein, 2008). Cunningham made his studio available for composition workshops from which many of the postmodern dance experiments emerged. (Morgenroth 1987)

Contact improvisation was also created under the influence of democratic and collaborative approaches that metaphorically symbolize freedom, spontaneity, gender equality, trust, security, reciprocity, sharing, decisiveness, coincidence, self-expression and the unconscious.

The dancers were functional and in everyday attire and danced without musical accompaniment in a simple room, which again emphasized the search for the nature of dance and its boundaries.

In some of the dances, the effects of non-Western movement bikes were expressed through Buddhism, Tai Chi Chuan, Aikido, Indian mythology, kung fu and more. They reflected the impact of the Vietnam War and the change in outlook on African and Far Eastern countries. Conflicts have arisen between Eastern values ​​and essential Western values ​​such as perceptions of time and body. The influence of the East was a new inspiration and began a phase of analytical analysis of problems through dance. Movement quotes, repetition and verbal communication allowed questions to be raised within the dances themselves. Questions were also asked about the effects of culture and nature on dance. Geometric shapes, repeating themes, comparison and contrast were studied through deep observation of motion. We will examine unconventional use of the male identity figure, something that was not accepted until then through touch improvisation. According to him, the strong, dynamic and controlling male figure (as in traditional ballet) presents extremes in social perception and aesthetic ideals.

In Paxton’s work, it was important for him not to emphasize any differences in the behavior or roles of the man compared to those of the woman, and even emphasized the antithesis of the male character. (Novack, 1990).

The people of contact-improvisation studied the natural movement that obeys the laws of nature and the biomechanics of the moving body. They took the dance from the performance halls to alternative spaces and also spread it among non-professional dancers. Contact Improvisation has deliberately moved away from any institutional context and raised many questions about its boundaries as a dance, as a performance art, as a sport, as a framework for processes of personal movement and emotion or as a social and community dance. In dance traditions, contact-improvisation teaching is considered marginal compared to the main currents in contemporary dance, and at the same time it belongs to a tradition that invites the dancer to deepen his awareness, understanding and presence in the moving body. (Baines, 2010).

Of “self” and “my body.” In this culture we sometimes see ourselves alienated as “using” our own body as an object rather than as present in the body as a holistic experience of the whole person. The body has become the subject of dance and not just a metaphorical operation.

The practice of contact-improvisation as a dance art, unlike different dance approaches in the West, emphasizes the observation and deepening of a holistic movement, the natural legitimacy that operates in it and the possibilities inherent in it.

 The investigation of the movement took place on various levels:

Awareness of the physical qualities of the body itself: anatomical investigation through movement experiences, study of movement theory from a kinesiological point of view, in terms of motor development or from the qualities of various bodily systems such as skeleton, fluids, internal organs and more.

Awareness of the qualities of movement: acquaintance with the infinite possibilities of the backrest, mutual weight transfer, momentum, momentum and rotational motion, spiral paths, softening falls and incarnations. The conceptualization of the various qualities and the conscious and deliberate practice of them sharpen and deepen the understanding of the movement. (Novack 1990).

The personal “technique” of a contact-improvisation dancer includes strength, flexibility, softening of joints that allows a soft encounter with the floor, movement efficiency and savings by organizing the skeleton in motion, clarity of holding the spine and clear connection between head and feet, understanding movement from the center of the body And clear leadership of the center of gravity, skill in spiral movement while lengthening the ends of the body, and above all the ability to listen and relate to the partner’s body while moving. In addition, contact-improvisation dancers develop for themselves a repertoire of falls, incarnations, forms of support, giving and receiving support, weight transfers and various levels known as “aviation”.

Contact-improvisation teaching includes, covertly or overtly, reference to a rich and wide range of significant life skills (Nachmanovitch, 1990) such as openness and closeness, daring and fear, control and giving up, honesty or wearing masks, intimacy and reluctance, tolerance for uncertainty or Need to know and understand, brotherhood and closeness versus alienation and rejection, cooperation versus domineering or manipulative, tolerance of language or demand for uniformity, personal responsibility or dependence on another, belief in personal power or cancellation and self-reduction. Above all, contact-improvisation accustoms the dancer to encounter reality in a sensory and experiential way from a full presence in the body and in this moment, here and now (Pallant, 2006).

Contact-improvisation (similar to engaging in dance and other art forms) exposes the dancer to latent emotional and value challenges in addition to the movement challenges he or she is openly facing. Like other complex value and emotional systems, dance learning can be seen as the underlying ambivalence between love and fear. Acceptance and understanding of fears and anxieties, as well as the avoidances involved in learning, may create a relatively relaxed space that allows the student to take risks and try to love the dance and himself or herself in the dance. Contact-improvisation teaching brings learners together with their ability and difficulties to be fully present in their bodies and to be present sensually and experientially at the moment of the dance.

When I came to write about the guidelines for creating an improvisation show, I chose to address three main aspects: a physical-movement aspect, a personal-expressive aspect, and a structural-compositional aspect. In this subchapter I will address the issue of the conscious and sophisticated physical body.

In order to develop physical awareness in the dancers and allow them to use the body with maximum efficiency and minimal effort (especially among people with no previous experience in movement or dance), it is necessary to have a basic acquaintance with the anatomy of the body and re-encounter the instinctive behavior lost during life. Dancers need to learn how to use their bodies and increase awareness and understanding about their bodies. By reviewing the body and mentioning its various organs in a state of relaxation or movement, one can pay attention to the different parts of the body and make conscious contact with them. It is important to treat all parts of the body and maintain the connection between them while developing a sense of the flow of movement between them.

Through awareness of the body areas and experience in the possibilities of movement, a deep acquaintance takes place with the various bones and muscles, the structure of the spine, the posture of standing, walking, sitting and within various body guides. The ability to pay attention to the different shapes and angles that are created between different organs of the body, to the breath as initiating and active in movement is important. Breathing is also a natural internal rhythm that supports the full use of the movement potential.

As part of work on creating physical awareness in the dancer, one must also work on changing movement habits. For many people it is difficult to separate from the familiar and the known and create change. By raising the dancer’s level of awareness and suggesting alternatives for him, one can help him break physical habits. For example, from a person who always moves only to the right and left, we will be asked to move up and down or in other directions. The ability to get rid of habits is related to the development of observation and the subtle distinction of curiosity and constant search. A changing focus on body areas also allows the dancer to separate the elementary components of movement: time, way and power that brings awareness to each of them and especially to the connections and dependence between them (Naharin, 2000).

2.2 Stimulate listening and the “inner creator”

In this chapter, I chose to write about the expressive aspect of improvisation relating to the stimulation of different types of intelligences, which encourages students to search for personal content and choose content topics for movement work (emotions, images, motifs, limitations, character / character characteristics, statement, ideas, feelings, meaning) .

Next, after the students choose topics, work is done around the ability to express and communicate the content through movement and here I brought a reference from the literature to the qualities required of dancers in individual and group work in improvisation: openness, trust, judgmental neutralization, reference to, respect, release of fear, presence, sincerity, Decision making, observation.

I also referred to the use of costume, objects, scenery, lighting, video projection and dialogue with live music that are also stimuli that evoke the inner creator and allow him to express himself to others.

This stage in the process of constructing the improvisation performance appears after the dancers have formed a basic understanding and initial experience in becoming acquainted with their body and the possibilities of movement in space, or it is acquired alongside the development of physical awareness. This stage invites the dancers to open up to the world of their personal imagination and begin to explore the possibilities of translating the imagination, feelings, emotions and experiences in the various planes of being into the language of movement. A bit like a pantomime, this is a wonderful opportunity to play and look for non-verbal expressions of everything we want to say. When working in a group, one must find the balance between attention to self and attention to the environment. In improvisation it is important to learn to listen in and out of myself and out of the environment without losing touch with myself. Also, this stage invites the dancer to relate to the other dancers as well. The contact with the other gives each creator a deeper reflection and self-understanding and an opportunity for a fruitful creative cycle of stimulation and response. Questions arise such as: Who initiates? Who gives up? Am I comparing myself to another? Am I influenced by others? How do I influence others? (Naharin, 2000).

Improvisation is like a flight into the unknown, and it allows the creator to use existing mirrors in his memory to create new mirrors. In this process, the creator tries to achieve integration and uniformity. Improvisation gives rise to a new awareness of the expressive nature of the movement and its wholeness about its improvised nature. The improvisation evokes in the dancer the feeling that he is succeeding in transcending the limits of his ability.

Improvisation is a type of creative action, it can be used in the context of learning movement patterns or as a preparation for creating a composition. The process of improvisation is extremely important because it ignites the imagination, and the imagination is of course a necessary component in any creative action. Since this type of experience encourages a new movement response, it also encourages the development of creativity. (Hawkins, 1988).

What does a movement theme express ?, what do we feel?

 Barbara Mettler, was one of the first improvisation teachers and one of the founders of improvisation in the American education world. She also researched improvisation as a performing art through a dance group she founded back in the 1950s in the U.S. In the 1960s she established a creative dance center where she researched movement as a laboratory and looked for sources of expressive movement that could be accessible to anyone. Students in the US and Europe and Anna Halperin was one of her students. (IACD, 2012). Every movement of the human body, in its particular character (in the way it is done), expresses a certain feeling. The feeling may be a particular emotion that can be called by names such as: fear, pain, anger and more, but in most dances, the feeling is a rich and general emotional tone that is identified with some abstract movement trait. For example, slow motion may express a feeling of slowness. This feeling is an inner experience identified with the outer form.

Mettler writes that abstract movement traits are fundamental cornerstones of creative dance because the emotions inherent in them can be understood by all human beings, though each person derives these feelings from different actual experiences. (Mettler, 1975).

Using images allows dancers to create new movements outside of the movement to which they are accustomed. The variety of image options that can be used is vast or even endless. There are images that trace natural phenomena, another, human emotions and moods, another depiction of picturesque situations, another animal behavior and more.

Moods and Character Traits- In our daily lives we use terms like: “this is a stressful subject”, or “it has a weak character” to describe moods and character traits. In dance, these features and states are revealed by the movement of the body. In improvisation and dance art in general, dancers learn to express character traits through movement as a means of expression.

Themes and Variations- One of the basic ways to encourage creative movement is by using a specific specific topic and improvising movement around it in various forms. Variations on a chosen theme can look very different from the original, and can also create only a slight change in movement. In the process of creating variation, there is the benefit of maintaining the relationship between the original subject and a new material that contributes to the development of improvisation (Morgenroth, 1995).

Images that can create mental stimulation for movement can be realistic images like different ways of moving the shoulders; Images from the world of imagination like to move like a giant; Images from the world of emotion, such as how your body feels when you are cold / hot? (Schneer, 1994).

Stimulating intelligences of various kinds – every person has creative potential. The psychologist Gardner listed seven different intelligences: verbal, mathematical, spatial, physical-movement, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal. The work in motion combines all the intelligences. It can draw stimulation and inspiration from any of them, and the creator himself draws many ideas from observing himself. Each person responds with different intensity to different stimuli, depending on the types of intelligence that are more developed in him. The teacher can help develop new and different ways of thinking in the student. Sometimes, in order to reach a particular student, one has to directly address a trait in his personality and encourage him to push a boundary to stimulate creativity. The teacher should also address the structure of the process woven throughout the lessons in order to encourage creativity, flow and connect to the previous lesson and those before it, and make a connection between the things (Naharin, 2000).

To stimulate the imagination and creativity one can create visual, sensory, emotional stimuli, as well as various limitations. One can also use different objects to develop ideas and themes that shape rhythm and new shapes in space according to personal choice. Many images can be used in relation to shapes, qualities of materials, associations and emotions. You can develop characters, work with a text or song, painting or diverse music (Ne’eman, Bartel, 1979). You can also refer to the weather, the seasons, animals, different images from nature, current affairs, culture, holidays and of course significant stories and personal experiences.

Margaret Doubler, too, has been a pioneer in education known for dance and improvisation in the United States since the mid-1920s.

In rough generalization, it can be said that Western culture emphasizes the memories of the past and the promises and hopes for the future. Life in the present sometimes has a negative moral charge, and they are given a derogatory nickname such as ‘life of the moment’. In the Far East, on the other hand, life at every moment is re-perceived as of great value, being the key to inner development and the growth of the mind and insight. In improvisation, we enter a state of being in the present, in the eastern sense of the word, of a constant experience that renews itself in every moment (‘to be’, ‘to be’). Improvisation has great value if it involves a person listening to himself. Those who practice dance therapy strive to reach this kind of improvisation, which summons a person’s intimate connection with himself. The present experience allows barriers and reveals hidden adversities, and therefore constitutes a key to the therapeutic process. However, the role of art is not limited to dealing with one’s distress. Compared to the orderly construction process of the composition, in improvisation the experience of ‘being’ is emphasized without paying attention to where I am at any given moment and without blocking criticism. In dance this experience can be particularly extreme and total, since there is no separation between the creator and the material of the work. This is why many students find that they do not remember anything from their improvised movement, as they have been completely swept into an ecstatic state. (Naharin, 2000).

When jazz musicians are asked if the total experience is contrary to the ability to choose, they answer unequivocally that even when they enter music with all their heart and soul they maintain the overall structure, the scale and the connection to the melodic theme. Even in improvisation in dance, the ability for totality without loss of control is quite possible. Moreover, a separation between total presence and awareness of what is happening may lead to a loss of materials and insights or a state of spiritual transcendence that is expressed only in poor movement. However, it sometimes happens that a poor movement occurrence is valuable, as it brings the dancer to a dance without a defined purpose out of an inner awakening, the fruits of which will be seen only later.

It is not easy to carry out the desire to combine a total experience with awareness. Through repetitive improvisation the dancer’s ability to be attentive and connected to himself and the environment can be developed: to be, to perform and to observe at the same time. Movement memory of parts of the improvisation and of feelings that gave birth is a valuable tool for the choreographer (Naharin, 2000).

Improvisation reveals a structure through which one can look into the body and mind of the improvised dancer. Every organ and joint in his body reveals its story, and through it one can learn about the energy of the moving body. Thus, improvisation serves as a barometer of the state of the body. The communication between the improvisers takes place first of all through the breath, through which one can connect to the mind and thinking of the dance partners. Breathing is a point to focus on, and while concentrating on it it allows the dancer to train the nature of his thinking and control it. Concentration in the breath allows the dancer to be simply present, without necessarily having to achieve any goals. In a particular show, breathing can serve as a touchstone for the dancer to learn his concentration, alertness and awareness.

In conclusion, dance is actually poetry of body movements in space. The meaning of the movements is not always dramatic but in combination with the music, the awareness, the focus chosen by the dancer creates the emotional effect. The dancer’s ability to identify which image, emotion or subject interests him to engage in movement at a given moment stems from his ability to listen first and foremost. Listen to himself and listen to his complex and changing environment (objects, lighting, music, other dancers and more).

Also, dividing attention inward to self and outward after or to the viewer is a skill that invites the dancer to meet the challenge of exposure and maintaining the authenticity of personal expression side by side. Complex listening gives birth to many contents that can be developed while being poured into the language of improvisation in motion.

Focus- It is said that the eyes are a window to the soul. People react to another person’s gaze and stare, especially if he is aiming at them. Dancers in a show can create dramatic and emotional situations even by using focus only. Yvonne Reiner of the Judson Theater considered the element of focus as a show skill. Although a live show takes place in a particular space, the perception and understanding of the space by the audience takes place outside the verbal arena in which the show takes place. The imaginary or abstract space is defined at least in part by the dancers’ use of focus. The effect of near and far focus is explored on the different meanings and feelings they produce to the dancers and the viewers.

There are different types of focus, and the use of focus improvisation is built on the ability to pay attention to a given situation. There is a visual focus, based on the encounter between the dancers who see each other. In this sense, the use of focus is functional, and improvisation contact dancers describe it as “perceived focus without perception.” In our interpersonal interactions, we tend to perceive people’s focus as an indication of their mood, interest and attention, boredom, penetrating intensity, distraction and more. The emotional response of the audience watching improvisational dancers is no different from its focus on interpersonal interactions. The focus of the dancer can reflect or encourage movement. Officially, the focus can clarify the direction and attention of the movement. At the expressive level, reluctance or nostalgia are not expressed in the movement gesture. A focus of inward-looking personal generosity and generosity and a transmitted openness towards the audience. Focus is an important theatrical element for the expression of emotions and character images. (Morgenroth, 1995).