Day-Write #1

As part of the work on my senior "Guerrilla Dance" project, I am going to regularly be blogging about my day to day experiences within the project. These will be very casual, sort of free writes more than anything. Here's iteration one of that process.

January 22, 2010

The energy felt when another dancer is completely released from any sort of pre-conceived notion or pressure, it's completely contagious and inspiring. I've noticed that I tend to not have that reaction unless someone is not a technically trained dancer. Not always the case, but in the most extreme circumstances, it is for me. Infectious energy. What is that? Life? Something inherent in dance that needs to be unlocked by each individual in their own way, or simply an expression of some sentiment that just happens to come out nicely within dance?

Obviously whether a dancer is trained or not is not the catalyst. However, since I tend to notice it more often with untrained dancers, maybe it is an issue of control. Trained dancers are so aware of what they are doing, constantly evaluating movement, or at least being aware of how their movement fits into the "world" of dance and technique.
A thought could be that simply because we are so aware of the context within which we dance, it is difficult to let go. Letting go may then be the reason for this release of energy: an unpolished expression of one's self.
Yet this hypothesis doesn't account for the dancers you watch who have this type of energy, and are expertly trained. Have they found a way to consciously tap into this energy, is it simply inherent in them, or is it simply a skill that can - like many others - be practiced and perfected?