Today I was inspired to think differently about my body parts in motion.
Having to move from a very particular part of the body  I initially thought was a odd and impossible task. I convinced myself that I was moving from parts of my body that are physically impossible – like when being touched on the nose, I came to believe that the initial movement I made would come from there and I even got the sensation of my nose extending when in fact the movement was originating from my neck. I understand now that the point of this exercise is not a matter of the movement made but rather it is more mental training. It is a tool to get to know your body better and gain control over how you move.
Another way I was inspired was during the group-leader following exercise. When having to lead the group around the floor it felt like my body was just making the moves without my brain thoroughly processing the move first. I remember surprising myself with a certain drops, direction and angles I made. Jonathon Burrows writes that talking is only one way of collaborating. The leader shift moment was an example of this. Ondrej explicitly told us not to verbally communicate about whom were to take leadership. When observing the two other groups I noticed how the organic movement of the group would be interrupted at certain points of leadership change because they would stop up and look in each other in the eyes to try to find out who is the new leader. However, as an observer it was more clear to see who were now to take on the role based on the formation and position of the group as well as the body language of the former leader.

Having to pick costumes in Trajal’s class was another dose of inspiration. I started to think about the importance of look in performance and how costumes can be used to portray certain things.
Having been given the role to dress up as “Medea in the morning mourning ready to slay” I thought about how I could reflect my interpretation of this. I found a red dress suitable because this color is an emotionally intense color and is associated with violence and anger but also with love. Costumes can provide visual support and help set context and mood of the performance to the audience, but also, I think it can help the performer get into their character.

After having read about research I found it particularly interesting to hear Ondrej’s perspective on research. Hearing that Trajal encourages his dancers to do research themselves was interesting.
Hearing about the time where they left the confines of the studio in order to let experiences inspire them was an interesting take the process of doing research.
It raised the question of cultural appropriation, butbecause Trajal is not trying to imitate or be mimetic he can lay claim to the work that they produce because he creates something new from it. Traveling in India gave them influences which they also credit – and that makes a vital difference.
But how can you have an encounter with otherness, an ethical encounter with a given culture and bring the elements into your own culture without appropriating, and is there such a thing as “harmless” cultural appropriation? One thing is for sure, it is impossible to stop in this increasingly globalized world. But it’s also not a new phenomenon. Humans have always looked for inspiration and sometimes even out of ignorance thought that they were being original when in fact they probably were not – culture has always been an exchange. Without cultural appropriation we would not even hav
Is cultural appropriation such a hot topic now because we more offended today?
I think Bunny’s point about scale is of great importance, who is taking from who?
Cultural appropriation matters because it raises the issues of power dynamics and historical context. Cultural appreciation should be distinguished from appropriation. The question is, when does it cross the line? Perhaps there should be a completely different term for when it clearly doesn’t, but who decides when that is?
I leave this mind-boggling topic pondering about my own travels and times when I’ve encountered cultural appropriation issues. I must remind myself that admiration for things in other cultures does not have to translate to the need of making it my own.