FREE ESSAY ON FREE PLAY

FREE PLAY

FREE PLAY
The title of the second section in the book Free Play appropriately called The Work. The
word work has several meanings, for most it is some act of labor or some skill they
perform for money. To others work could be an artistic term, a final product of
creativity. Not only could a work be a painting or a sketch but it could also be a score
or in this case a dance, choreographed or not.
In everyday life one always hears "practice makes perfect." Lately in Improvisational
Structures class we have been "practicing" improvs for Winterdance. However in this case
we are just getting used to structures and we are also still growing closer as a group.
According to Free Play, "Competence that loses a sense of its roots in the playful spirit
becomes ensconced in rigid forms of professionalism." There have been several improvs
when the group became too serious or too focused on making the improv look good. Usually
as a group we feel different after those improvs and realize that we need to let our
playful side show through again. Even though there are structures for the improvs, the
structures changes every time and are not dead set. That is the beauty of improvisations
there is no dead set path that one must follow. "Structures ignites spontaneity." If
someone is feeling flowing and soft, not everyone has to feel that way. 
The next chapter of the book " The Power of Limits" explains how there are different
types of limits, personal limits, limits from your body, limits from the group. "As in
the case of the body, many rules and limits are God-given in that they are inherent not
in styles or social conventions but in the art medium itself: the physics of sound, of
color, of gravity and movement." Limits can grow and expand as one pushes them. For
instance my body's limit has increased tremendously from the beginning of the semester.
Another way my limit has grown is at the beginning of the semester I would have never
felt comfortable doing a duet, let alone a solo. Now I enjoy duets and am even starting
to think maybe about attempting a solo. 
In this class there has been a lot of risk taking and pushing limits. We engage in
improvs several times throughout the class period. It always seems that we are "playing
together" and not dancing for others. I think that is an important part of improv, you
have please yourself, not do what you think others want to see. You also have to commit
to what you are doing. Eventually others will notice, just because you are the only one
doing that type of movement doesn't mean you are wrong, it is just your way of expressing
through movement. Improvisation is a part of our everyday lives, it is a beautiful art
form that expresses what one feels without that person even knowing that is how they
felt.