DCDanceBlog

i want to respond to rob’s post, but first i think i will write quickly about my good choreography experience yesterday. i was hoping to create a phrase for a friend, but didn’t have a ton of time and wasn’t quite sure how it would come out. so i decided to essentially take lotta’s approach from last december–to just put together movements, add one to the next without seriously trying to edit or consider composition. i did think about which step might best follow its previous one, but not very seriously–this was really just an exercise to create something. and what i found was that stringing together movements was surprisingly easy, and satisfying! and to be honest, i like what i did. it’s not amazing, and there are probably so many ways it could be better, but i still like the choreography and the clarity i see in it.

which leads me to think that i really should do that more often. about 10 years ago, i had a practice of writing a poem every day. i never edited the poems–this was simply an exercise to practice writing, to get used to trying to capture the moment. sort of like improv. and i really feel that it made me a better writer, a better poet. so spending time just putting together movement w/o overthinking it, w/o giving into the perfectionist instinct, would probably be a great thing for me.

i still am trying to figure out my creative process. because although i like what i created yesterday, i didn’t walk in w/ an intention. what would the process be like if i was actively aiming for a certain idea or tone? i think it’d be a lot harder. when i improvise, in contrast, it’s very easy to work with a certain concept or color, but much harder to be clear, to keep track of what i’m doing, and to consciously make changes. it’s almost like working with different sides of my brain.

i’d like to know more about others’ creative processes.