During the morning class I was challenged to break the “rules” of my own mind. In the second-chance exercise we were asked to move along the floor by making the move we would make secondly after not making the move we would initially make. This required a certain self-awareness that I could feel conflicting with the rules of my nature; I was forced to think twice rather than to submit to my instinct, that being making the movement that felt most natural to me. The results of this were quite surprising to me. I was amazed by the movements I made moving along the floor and found myself with a smile when being able to resist the immediate temptation of my body to give in to the first obvious and convenient movement.
My mind and body were challenged in a similar way when having to synchronize my breath with the movements of my body in the “rolling star” exercise. Laying down flat on the floor we were first asked to feel the weight of all body parts. The silence in the room at this time allowed me to become more inwardly focused, and I directed my attention on each body part separately. But only for a moment before I found myself lost in thought. The pulsating I had felt throughout my chest and in my arms vanished with loosing focus and hence the sensitivity of the mind I had cultivated for a brief moment. We were instructed to slide our arms and legs into a ball like form while synchronizing these movements with breath.
I had to consciously manipulate my inhalations and exhalations to match the movements. The awareness of breath helped me resume focus to my body and I again felt sensations such as a heaviness moving arms and legs in this fashion. However, picking up speed with Ondrej’s instructions, these movements quickly transformed into a pleasurable experience.
Opening up and then again closing in a repetitive manner I entered a flow-like mode, moving without any effort.

In Trajal’s class we watched Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A. If having watched this just a few days ago, prior to the knowledge I’ve gained in this class (mostly through moving myself) I would have not been intrigued by watching this dance in the same way. I would have been frustrated by the anticipation for a build-up and a climax. Knowing the concepts of pedestrianism and minimalism I come to a newfound appreciation. Thinking about how postmodernism tries to break all the conventional “rules” of dancing and creating something so simple is quite complex, having to remove phrasing ,theatricality and virtuosity.This became particularly evident when Trajal later asked us to modify our own choreographies to fit the post-modernist style. It was particularly difficult not knowing where to fix my gaze and pretending like the audience was not there. Dancing does not have to engage the audience which I thought was a kind of rule in dancing. I have a lot to learn.

Rules of dance performance and dramaturgy has also been questioned when learning that the play “Medea” will be performed by Trajal Hall’s dance company. How can such raw emotions that the play contains be expressed and represented through dance?Translating the text into movements made me also think of meaning and intersubjectivity. Especially learning about post dramatic theater and the new agency of dancers. The change that dancers could now contribute to the creative process with their opinions and unique perspective to create meaning together differs from the stereotypical view that performers are disciplined to submit to instructions.