18B. Elastic Ensemble

• Form trios. You'll be doing a movemenf improvisation and your focus will be on space.

• Imagine that the entire surface of your body is connected by elastic bands to the entire surface of each of your partner's bodies. Every movement that any one of you makes, reverberates and causes reciprocal movement in the two partners. Each reciprocal movement corresponds in energy to the initial movement. If the distance between you is short, then the reciprocal movements would be of very similar energy; if the distance is great, then the reciprocal movements would diminish in energy relative to the distance.

And ...

18C. Five Feet Around

• Everybody, spread out on the floor. Make sure you have five feet of empty space around you on all sides.

• Here's the game. Two rules: 1) you want to get close to everybody else, right up next to them; 2) you can't allow anyone to get closer to you than five feet. It's contradictory, but don't analyze, just play.

And ...

18D. Levels

• In trios. Do a movement improvisation. The three of you are always in the same world. Your relationship is direct. One of you must always be occupying one of these three levels: lowest level (prone on the floor), mid-level (kneeling or sitting), highest level (upright). If one of you changes level the others must adapt. Remember each level must always be occupied.

These are stalking exercises. Both seem to require eyes in the back of your head and the alertness that's present in sports, or when one is in danger.

When improvising with partners, you don't want to miss a trick, not a single gesture, word or expression. Even a subtle change of presence could indicate a shift in the scene, a challenge or a threat.

We exist in a center of space. Everyone occupies their own center. There's space all around each and every one ol us. Too often, we only relate to the space in front of us. True, we can't see what's behind us, but we can develop the ability to sense what's going on back there by listening with our ears and our bodies. We can sense someone close behind us, or when we're being looked at, or when someone enters the room. Much, much more is possible.

As with Pusher/Comeback in Day Ten, assertiveness and receptivity are key factors in both of these games. One player catapults themselves toward another and dislocates them, makes them move away. Feelings of aggression, passivity, empowerment and disempowerment may surface. The bullies rise to the occasion and so do the meek. Memories and opinions relative to athletics may return for another haunt. These exercises provide a fresh look at old stories. Hopefully, students are ready to discard identifications packed onto these actions, leaving the actions bare to be moving energies, free for everyone's use; free for alls.

This is the eighteenth day of the training and, yet, we seem to be exploring very basic material. We could explore basic material on the eighteen-thousandth day of the training. Even then, it would be possible to take a fresh look at moments of experience. We, the perceivers, are organisms in flux, always changing. How we approach a ceremony, read a book, respond to a question is unknown. At this point of the training, students approach these tasks supported by accumulating wisdom. They would relate to these games veiy differently if they were presented during the first week.

The following exercise, in its simplicity, demands patience, control, keen observation, and musical orientation. Students are now prepared.