18E. Deconstruct Movement, Sound, Language

• In partners. Partner A, assign to partner B a simple, repeatable movement or gesture. Partner B, practice this movement several times until it is familiar and you understand how it is organized, the parts that make it up.

• As partner A watches, partner B deconstructs the movement: she breaks down the whole movement into smaller parts without changing the form. The bones of the movement stay the same. She does one part at a time, and, then, re-orders the parts, switching back and forth among them, increasingly incremental, increasingly smaller bits of action. Play with the timing inside of each action. Notice the minute details of the action and play with each one of those details. New ones will continually appear. Don't limit yourself.

• B, connect to every moment, be each action, feel it. You may slow actions down or speed them up. But be careful not to change the original form. A, if you notice B changing the form, the skeleton, call that to his attention so he can return to the original form and continue on.

• Each action is a tiny shift. Just as you created an inner logic in Four Forms, do the same here. These abrupt little movements are a living experience for you. You're feeling engaged, moment-to-moment.

• Switch roles.

• Now, partner A gives partner B a sound and movement action, where the sound and movement are linked. This time, B will deconstruct both the sound and the movement, either simultaneously or separately. You can even reorder things. The sound and the movement may no longer be linked as they were in the original form, but may be recombined in different ways.

• Switch roles.

• Next, partner A gives partner B a language phrase and gesture. B, deconstruct the phrase as you have fust done with sound and movement. Take apart the words and movements, divide them up into pieces. Re-order those pieces. Sometimes the pieces are minute, sometimes large. Surprise yourself. Don't plan. Listen and let what you hear lead you on to your next action, to your next feeling.

• Switch roles.

Deconstruction

Each one of these exercises asks for deconstruction, and then, reconstruction of the deconstructed material. Students break apart action, dissect simple behavior that slips by unnoticed. They come up with bits and fragments of abstract experience which they have to make into a new sense.

Everything, all that we do, say, see and hear, whirs past us. It's as if we're always squinting, seeing our world diminished, in outline. If we stalk, slow down, empty out all ideas about content, then we notice worlds among worlds of phenomena, details upon details. Even moving your hand is a complex choreography, some of which isn't visible, but only felt.

• Begin to wave ijourhand. Only begin. The very, very beginning. Just a bit of tension fills the arm, preparing to lift it.

Wave your arm. Where are you waving from? Your wrist, or your shoulder, or both? Probably some of both? Do your fingers bend at the joints or stay fixed? Is your torso moving sympathetically. Your head? Eyes?

If you're waving your right hand from side to side, does your thumb move towards and away from the other fingers on each direction?

Deconstructing a hand wave, you can see how many aspects there'd be, yet we've hardly begun our research. The in-between places, the beginnings of things, the parts that are thrown away, the minor players, the fillers, transitions, mistakes, cuts, slips of the tongue, everything that we devalue or overlook has treasures for the brave and patient.

We're not simply unearthing, analyzing and reconstructing phenomena. We re feeling our way through, connecting to each moment of discovery with feeling and passion, dancing and voicing with engaged awareness: finding ourselves and becoming what we find.