3B. Shape Alphabet

• I'm going to call out the letters of the alphabet, A through Z. As you hear each letter, you'll only have two or three seconds to form it with your body. As much as possible, exactly create the shape of the letter.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

• Now, take a partner. Again, I'm going to call out the letters of the alphabet, and with your partner, without talking, and especially without laughing, form the letters together. Both of your bodies should form one letter. Concentrate!

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Shape

How do we know our body? As an instrument to perform daily tasks, such as picking up things, moving from place to place, throwing, kick­ing and squeezing? As a tender or tough wrapper protecting what needs to be nourished, fed, covered up, rested, exercised and, on occasion, medicated or repaired? As a source of information, full of stories, mys­teries and ancient truths? Do we know our body as an instrument of communication? How aware are we of what it is saying? Do we know its capability for infinite design and meaning? Probably not.

Shape Alphabet encourages students to see themselves from the outside, externally. It helps them determine if their body shape reflects their intention (in this case, making each letter). Also, if the shape they pick relates to their environment—their partners shape. Watching oth­ers and themselves, through trial and error, trains the performer's inner eye. Students learn to make images that precisely fit their experience. The small turn of a finger, tilt of the head, inversion of the foot, or the glance of the eyes can completely alter the meaning of a shape. This kind of visual acuity, creating image, is a basic performance skill.

performer or not

quiet body leads to quiet mind

quiet mind leads to awareness

— unobstructed—

all things equal

3C. Shape/Shape/Reshape

• Get a new partner.

• A makes a shape, any shape. B makes a different shape and places it in relation to A's shape. Then A steps out of his/her shape and reshapes in relation to B's shape. Then B steps out and reshapes in relation to A's shape.

• Do this slowly and smoothly so that you step out of one shape and mold into the next shape without stopping, going into neutral, thinking, deciding, planning or creating. Don't touch each other. Don't put weight on each other, because then your partner won't be able to change shape.

• As you do this, I'm going to suggest directions, from time to time. Design your shapes accordingly.

Spacious Constricted, tight Angular, twisted, knotted Circular, round, arched Complex, detailed.

Inhabit your shapes. Fill them with feeling or attitude. Begin to speed up. Vary the qual­ity of your shapes-work within the same quality as your partner, or sometimes be dif­ferent. Vary your timing. Increase your speed until you are moving percussively from shape to shape, responding impulsively to each other's shapes and meanings.

We'll repeat a portion of this exercise w* one half of the group watching the other.

No Touching physical contact during the exercises. Touching, pushing, pulling, bending, re-arranging, lifting, leaning on, scratching, caressing, tickling, massaging each other are all actions that direct attention away from the toucher and onto the touched.

When improvising and feeling lost or stuck, grabbing somebody else seems like a life saving gesture, like grabbing a log while drowning. A student may clutch another in order to hold onto somebody or some­thing familiar, or resort to touch in order to project an unconscious inner experience onto another. For example, if a student feels pressured to do something, she might turn around and pass that pressure on to some­one else by literally pressing on them.

Later, once students can confidently express their moment to moment experience, the "No Touching" restriction is removed. As a result, touch takes on a different meaning. Emphasis is put on how the touch is exe­cuted and its inner aspects. It is in the detailed quality of the action, as well as the kind of action, that meaning is created, e.g., a push can be executed powerfully and percussively indicating aggression, or slowly and softly indicating love.