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sashics-blog · 8 years ago

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Capturing dance: the art of documentation (An exploration of distilling the body in motion) by Kasey J. Lack (2012), Available at: http://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&context=theses_hons (Accessed: 20.12.2017)

- A close examination of the linkage between dance and photography suggests a paradox; for all the dance world’s dependency on photography to represent its accomplishments, photography is inherently the least suited medium to do the dance justice. After all dance is the controlled passage of bodies through time and space. The essence of dance – and our comprehension of it – stems from the seamless interconnectedness of its movements and gestures. But photography fragments time; a single image is a vision of one moment torn from its context. And while photography fragments time, it fractures space. Its absolute universe is the frame, outside which nothing exists. What once happened in the fullness of space is now brutally cordoned off, and what we are allowed to see is imprisoned in two dimensions. (Ewing 1992)

Photography is inherently biased towards certain aspects of dance irrespective of their significance vis-à-vis the whole; a spectacular leap, for example is more photogenic than a more subtle movement which may in fact be more essential choreographically. And because dance is fleeting and photography enduring, imperfect moments which are overlooked or forgiven in the rapid flux of stage performance are felt to be unacceptable in what, is after all, a lasting document. (Ewing 1992)

Film and video appear to be the easiest forms of documenting dance. Due to advances in technology, equipment is easy to access, affordable and of a high quality, granting anyone the ability to be their own videographer, editor and producer. Dance has various relationships in its connection to film, for example recording full length dance works, visual media in live performance, commanding scenes in Hollywood musicals, motion capture, animation and as a choreographic tool in experimental film.

Dance as communication: How humans communicate through dance and perceive dance as communication by Samantha Rounds, Available at: https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/20365/Final%20Thesis-Rounds.pdf?sequence=1 (Accessed: 20.12.2017)

- “Dance is time dedicated to meaningful gesture stemming from the soul’s need to reach out and express itself in an energy force beyond words.”

Dance is much more than one of the celebrated performing arts. It is a significant means of communication—communication in which the soul expresses itself through meaningful gesture—ubiquitous and important.

Dance involves the entire body, and the body can be a powerful agent of communication. Copeland even maintains that dance is “the conversion of bodily energy into something more spiritual, something worthy of the soul”. The soul of the dancer is inevitably tied to the expression communicated through the dancer’s movement.

French painter, Edgar Degas who dedicated much of his career to drawing and painting dancers eloquently observes, “It is the movement of people and things which consoles us. If the leaves on the trees didn’t move, how sad the trees would be—and so should we.”

The soul is a powerful force. The soul sometimes has something really big to say—something that cannot be conveyed through the limitations of mere words alone. That is when dance steps in and allows the soul to speak through the body. Perhaps this is what is meant by the expression “Dance from the Heart.”

Why are humans able to communicate through dance? - Humans have a connection to music and rhythms that allow them to dance. Humans have an innate need to dance as a form of communication. The soul, the driving force behind the need to dance, is quite powerful. Also, there is an innate need in humans to communicate in order to work both independently and collectively. Collaboration allows humans to solve problems, to create, and to bond. Dance can play a role in the collaboration process.

The dancer is able to convey through movement the most intangible emotional experience.

When humans dance together in groups, they inevitably form bonds that foster a spirit of community. Individuals who take part in group dances find that they connect both to themselves as well as to others since the group is a synchronized entity.

Belonging to a group gives one a chance to also demonstrate caring and concern for others in the group. Dance is an outlet for human empathy and understanding, and it is even way to practice patience and trust.

Over the years, filmmakers have captured the notion that dance can be a way of fighting for what one believes is important.

Ahalya Hejmadi, PhD, is a psychology professor at the University of Maryland University College who studies the connection between dance and cognitive improvements. Hejmadi maintains that “a new wave of dance research...is helping scientists understand the way the brain coordinates movement” and this type of “dance research could even lead to new therapies for people with movement disorders” (qtd. in Dingfelder 1). Interestingly, some people who have Parkinson’s disease are actually able to keep time to music.

Dancing is an experience that stimulates many of the senses and satisfies a fundamental human need for emotional expression though rhythm and movement.

Dance can be used to protest social norms and rebel against prejudices. Dance often gives those who dance a conquering spirit and a sense of conquest through confidence, ability, and determination—empowering them to turn fear into victory.

Dance as communication springs from a deep, inner desire to connect with others.

Dancing as an art, we may be sure, cannot die out, but will always be undergoing a rebirth. Not merely as an art, but also as a social custom, it perpetually emerges afresh from the soul of the people.

Dance should not be diminished or ignored. Indeed, dance is a way of communicating needs and desires in order to thrive, in order to unleash the feelings of the heart, and most importantly, in order to truly live.

Zen Camera: Seeing and the Five Visual Elements of Photography - Adapted and excerpted from Zen Camera: Creative Awakening with a Daily Practice in Photography by David Ulrich, Available at: http://theslenderthread.org/zen-camera-seeing-five-visual-elements-photography/ (Accessed: 20.12.2017)

- Observation forms the crux of what is normally known as vision. Sight is the dominant human sense, yet most people take their vision for granted and do not realize its vast potential. Contemporary education does little to teach students how to see. By seeing, I am referring to the human capacity—beyond but including physical sight—to know and interpret the world through direct perception. Most people don’t know the uniqueness of their own vision, much less how to cultivate it. How does one learn to see? In what way is our capacity for keen observation challenged, cultivated, and nourished? A camera can help you regain the wonder of sight.

The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera. —Dorothea Lange, photographer

David Ulrich describes how important observing is. How we look but we don’t look at the same time. Many people take sight for granted are are not bothered to look closely to things, to actually observe things, think about the meaning behind what they see, notice the beauty, uniqueness of the particular moment.

--I’m used to observing and watching closely, but when I read articles like this one I realise that people might not be actually used to the same thing. Some people just look at things blankly and see them for what they are, or for what they think they are on the first sight or they don’t even look at all. They’re so absorbed in their own lives that they don’t really care enough to look closely to what’s happening around.--

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sashics-blog · 8 years ago

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Keď pohyb definuje priestor v tanci (When movement defines the space in dance) by Katarína Chilli (2017), Available at: http://tanecnascena.sk/chilli/1949/ked-pohyb-definuje-priestor-vv-tanci/ (Accessed: 23.11.2017)

- A Slovak freestyle dancer describing how movement defines space in dance. To form this article, she’s using the work of Rudolf Laban, a dance theorist, originally from Bratislava. Laban had a theory, that for an artist (painter, sculptor...) a challenge is to create a piece that represents movement and for a dancer a challenge is for his movement to have shape, to be readable, to remember space sequences, rhythm, quality of movement... Human has a certain anatomic and body structure, that defines his movement range. When moving, there are certain limits for mobility of joints and those define what directions of movement are possible, the range of movement and in fact, what is the “material” that we can “build” the shape of dance with. Laban, in coherence with the architecture of our body and the possible range of our joints, created a space theory of movement. In other words, he graphically described all the possible levels, directions and range of individual segments of the human body. He created a system of movement analysis allowing to observe and describe all the forms of human body movement based on four main components. - BODY, EFFORT, SHAPE, SPACE.

BODY - 1. which part of the body begins the movement 2. how the movement continues (parts of the body and their mutual sequence) 3. parts of the body that are participating in the movement and are affecting other parts

EFFORT - 1. flow, as a Factor is about continuity, ongoingness, progression, emotions, involvement 2. weight, as a Factor is about sensing, intention, feeling my own weight, ―”me” oriented (me, myself, my physicality), presence, relationship to earth/gravity (strong vs soft movement) 3. relationship with space, direct attention - one direction vs indirect - fixating attention on more directions

SHAPE - 1. shape change that is environmentally motivated, body is heading to one point 2. quality of shape - open shape, growing, reaching, closing, shrinking, bending, shapes in relationship with different levels

SPACE - 1. 3D, path, line 2. Kinesphere - The 3-Dimensional volume of space that I can access with my body without shifting my weight to change my stance - range of movement based on the mobility of joints 3. directing the movement

“In Laban’s analysis it’s all about the movement side. However, if we add the rhythm for the movement, impersonation of music as a very important component of dance, we can communicate extremely diversely. When you think about all the physical possibilities from mobility of joints, all the varieties of using the weight, changing of speed, direction in all levels and combining all different segments of the body, I get from it that I’m a complete beginner in dance and in the movement side of relationship with space. I’m using a minimum of the “dance paths”. Almost absolutely nothing.”

The shape of dance is related also to our “cover” (clothes, hair, the way we hold our body...) All these factors are a part of the “visual” of a dancer, either on spot or in movement. For example, “big, baggy” clothes can prolong movement and make it bigger, can also hide something and can bring a totally different essence either mentally for a dancer or physically just for the “eye”. Various types of clothing combined with moves bring a different experience from the dance. It’s almost a dance architecture that uses 3D space for a creative expression.

The shapes of dance and human movement is limited by our perception. We choose strong moments and can’t exactly describe what shapes the dancers form and how did the shapes change with time. More-less we see dance as one “unit”, complex, but at the same time not completely compact. We just remember certain moments from the space expression of dancers. The reason is, that by perceiving a dancer we care about more than just the space... we also care about the essence, emotions, musicality, technique and the inherent personality of a dancer.

Photography sources:

Little Shao, Available at: http://www.littleshao.com (Accessed: 23.11.2017)

- Mostly capturing moments from battles and dance competitions. Sometimes also staged photographs. You can see the feeling radiating from the dancers. That’s the beauty of Little Shao’s photographs. He captures the “in the moment” situation very well.

Daydreaming by Neels Castillon (on-going project), Available at: http://www.neelscastillon.com/portfolio/daydreaming (Accessed: 23.11.2017)

- Photographs showing two men in all types of different dance poses. Sometimes only focusing on some parts of their bodies. Seems like they’re in some kind of trance. Completely absorbed by the movement/by the stillness. They’re in their own world.

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sashics-blog · 8 years ago

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Dance, Photography and Kinesthetic Empathy by Dr Matthew Reason (2008), Available at: http://www.watchingdance.org/research/documents/MRPhotographypaperedit.pdf (Accessed: 16.11.2017)

- Outside of actual performances we most often ‘see’ dance in still photographs – on leaflets, posters, websites and other advertising materials, but also in archival materials, books and occasionally galleries. There is something slightly ironic about this, hence the quotation marks around ‘see’, for while the fundamental nature of dance is movement, still photography inevitably presents dance without motion. In what sense a photograph reproduces, represents or allows us to see dance has as a result been much discussed in the light of this essential and spectacularly obvious tension between stillness and movement.

Dance is the movement of bodies through space and time. Dance is fluidity and continuity. Dance connects, dance unfolds. Dance envelops us; it enters through the eye and ear. Photography imprisons in two dimensions. Photography flattens and shrinks. Photography tells the ear nothing. It fragments time and fractures space. Yet movement is the goal .... Elizabeth McCausland voiced the paradox when she called for ‘an image which thought it cannot move and never can hope to move, yet will seem about to move.’ (Ewing 1987, 27-28)

With dance photography, therefore, one of our recurring interests is in how the image captures and yet translates the movement of dance and also, perhaps, in the ability of the still photograph to communicate with us in a kinesthetic manner. Unsurprisingly, some commentators, such as the critic Edwin Denby, perceive a failure to achieve this goal, complaining ‘You don’t see the change in the movement, so you don’t see the rhythm, which makes dancing. The picture represent a dance, but it doesn’t give the emotion that dancing gives you as you watch it’ (Denby 1986, 89).

When we find a photograph meaningful we are lending it a past and a future’. In the generality of photography this past or future might be all manner of things: such as narrative, or a change in emotion, the passing of time, or, of course, movement.

In other words photography cannot reproduce movement (impossible in the still image) but instead freezes a moment within movement. Yet if the communication of movement is the goal, the photographic image must seem about to move and it is this that many commentators have described as the central power of the most effective dance photography.

Some images are suggesting more - giving a full story, not just a moment of fact. As a result the viewer’s imagination takes over from the figures locked on the page and reads in emotion, meaning and movement.

I think when I’m watching dance it’s a trigger for your imagination. So your imagination is working in tandem with the performance and you’re filling in a lot of things. That’s what I see the photographs as doing as well, in that they are working in collaboration with people’s imaginations. (Chris Nash, Personal interview, London May 2004)

Nash’s current work frequently uses montage, the rotation of the frame, digital manipulation and other graphic interventions made on the computer to achieve particular ends. The ambition, therefore, is not to reproduce movement – which is impossible in the still image – but instead to communicate something of the dynamism, emotion and meaning of movement through the particularities of the photographic medium. If movement occurs, in other words, it takes place in the viewer’s imagination.

The same regions of the brain involved in processing the watching of actual movement are engaged when processing motion that is only implied in a still photograph.

Clearly the ability to perceive and process implied motion has benefits when interacting with our dynamic lived environment. Hagendoorn describes this as the reading of ‘apparent motion’, such when a car passes under a bridge, one dancer momentarily moves out of view behind another, or a football is obscured by a crowd of bodies. ‘In principle,’ writes Hagendoorn, ‘almost anything can happen while we are unable to see the object, but in practice most objects continue along their track and we are able to accurately predict where and when it will reappear’ (2004, 86). In other words in such scenarios we imaginatively construct the motion that we do not actually see. Something similar is clearly going on with dance photography – here almost anything could have happened after the shutter closed, but from the information contained within the image the viewer supplies an imagination of what probably or possibly happened.

Generally it was proposed that a successful dance photograph is one that communicates something of the movement and kinetic sensibility of dance.

The perception of movement that is being discussed in photography is not of actual movement – even though it may engage the same visual cortex – but of imagined movement. In which case, does it matter if our imagining of what happens next is real or fictional? The reading of a past and a future to the movement implied in the photograph is imagined and in terms of our responses (both neural and aesthetic) it matters little whether we imagine something like or unlike what actually happened. Indeed, what actually happened could be considered irrelevant, as instead the ‘truth’ of the movement or of the dance can be considered to reside in its perceived or lived experience.

-In a more recent conversation with Chris Nash I also asked him about his own understanding of kinesthetic empathy in terms of watching dance and photographing dance. He replied that: When I’m watching dance and when I’m thinking about making an image, at one level I realise that if you’re going to get a picture that successfully (whatever that means) portrays movement then you have to get a moment where your viewer is going to know, or think that they know, what’s about to happen or what’s just happened so that you continue the story past that moment. (Personal interview, London June 2008)

But actually when I’m watching dance I’m not wanting to move. I’m not thinking about the actual physical feeling of moving, what I’m thinking about is why are they moving? Why are they doing what they’re doing? What are they thinking? What are they feeling? What is the effect on the other people in the room? And it is those that to me are much more important.

So again my response is my emotional or intellectual response to what they are doing. And that is what I think about when I think about people looking at my pictures. What are going to be their emotional and intellectual responses to what that person is doing and why they’re doing what they’re doing. ... those are the things that are important to me. (Personal interview, London June 2008)-

It is not about just the movement but the connection, the emotion, about what it means and feels like to us. We can observe and interpret the kinesthetic, but that does not necessarily mean we have any deeper or more lasting imaginative connection to it.

The Ultimate Guide to Stunning Dance Photography by Cameron Knight (2011), Available at: https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/the-ultimate-guide-to-stunning-dance-photography--photo-687 (Accessed: 16.11.2017)

- The reason many people are drawn to photography is its ability to communicate an idea universally. Writing, speech, and even most music depends on language. Photography does not. A great photo in England is a usually a great photo in China. A great novel in English is a just of bunch of jumbled symbols to someone who doesn't know the language. There is another form of art that has almost the same universal appeal and even more universal acceptance: Dance.

“Photography is a still, frozen art while dance is an art of motion. Trying to capture and convey motion by not using any motion can be a real challenge.”

There are a couple of ways traditional artists create a feeling of movement in their work. The first is called anticipated movement. The test for this is if the photo or painting were to suddenly come to life, what would happen? Would the subject fall? Would their leg be broken? Basically if the pose of the subject is impossible for someone to stand on the ground and hold for a few moments, then you've achieved the effect. Someone can not just float in the air, so if we see a photo showing that, we know that the person was jumping.

The second technique goes by many names, but basically means a blurry outline. This can be achieved by slowing down your shutter speed. Sometimes you can pan with the subject so they are more in focus than the background, sometimes you allow their fuzzy motion to be offset against a static background.

The detail - Keep in mind that dance is a full body experience and a body is made up of many parts. Don't be afraid to focus on a specific hand motion or foot position while shooting.

“Remember, some of photography is knowledge, but a lot of it is also luck. But just like the lottery, you won't win if you don't play. So get out there and play. The more times you shoot challenging subjects, the more rewarding the results will be!”

Dancers in Motion: The Art and Technique of Dance Photography by Susan Michal (2017), Available at: https://books.google.cz/books?id=8SR7DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT17&lpg=PT17&dq=how+does+dance+photography+communicate&source=bl&ots=mMtD_kU1-f&sig=Skc9hhldZEd-qwtVDqkhkyRYzQY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8np65ncPXAhULmBoKHT9YAT04ChDoAQgnMAA#v=onepage&q=how%20does%20dance%20photography%20communicate&f=false (Accessed: 16.11.2017)

- “There are not many subjects more interesting to photograph than dancers. There are a few artists more dedicated to their craft than dancers. Learning to capture the essence of a dancer is a gift that can be both rewarding and fulfilling. The work ethic of a dancer is unparalleled. The love for the art of dance starts at a very young age and continues long past the dancers prime. It has been said: “You do not choose dance - dance chooses you”.”

Susan Michal is a photographer and she is describing how to work with a dancer in order to get the best result possible. There are many factors the photographer needs to know about. First there is big importance in the technical side of things. You need to know how your camera works and how to set it properly, you need to be confident in it, otherwise it’s a waste of time and the results might not be good at all. It’s better to have a camera with the “sport option for example, therefore it reacts faster and you can work with the movement. Another important thing is to be aware of the fact that dancer can dance on 100% only for a period of time, therefore there shouldn’t be any issues with the photographer so the dancer doesn’t wait long, doesn’t get tired, or simply isn’t able to perform 100% anymore. Ideally you have everything prepared before the dancer arrives. Another thing is to realise that not all dancers have the same capabilities - as in for example there are a lot of dancers that are not flexible as much as other dancers or cannot do acrobatic stuff and so on. So it’s important to have realistic expectations of what the dancer can and can’t do.

“Many dance positions may not translate in the camera. This is okay. A photographer knows that not all things communicate through the lens the way you think they will, and ultimately, it will be up to you to make the call. Try not to waste your time on something you know does not look good. Take a few shots and move on. Simply say: “This is not translating the way I had hoped it would. Let’s change it up.” Dancers do not hear that as negative. Repositioning or rethinking something is a part of their everyday process.

“We are as much psychologists as we are photographers. Getting your subject to feel comfortable in front of the camera is as much an art as actually taking the image.”

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Possible thesis questions:

How does dance photography communicate?

How successful is photography when capturing emotions through movement?

What feelings can dance photography bring out?

How does one capture the emotion in movement and bring out an emotion in the observer too?

What do you feel when looking at dance photography?

Can you feel something when looking at dance photography?

Does dance photography bring out any feelings?

I’ve decided “dance/movement photography” will be my thesis topic. As I’m a dancer myself and I also love to take photographs and take them wherever I can, I believe that I understand dance photography more in depth as some people might. I can get into the position of the photographed - the dancer, the person that’s creating the movement and also the photographer - the person that’s capturing the movement. What I would like to focus on mostly, is capturing emotions through the movement. Every proper dancer should dance with soul, therefore should show some emotions through the movement, since there’s no other way to show them. I believe, that you’ve succeeded in taking a good and meaningful dance photography, when you see the emotions from the captured piece right away. That’s if taking the photography while the dancer is actually performing a dance piece. There are of course types of dance photography that are staged. Meaning, the dancer instead of actually performing a dance piece is just “performing” a dance move or a dance pose, usually not moving.

I would like to focus on both categories - capturing movement when performing but also capturing a staged movement/pose.

I would like to explore the photography from the dancer’s position, but also from the photographer’s position, because at least mostly by the staged dance photographs, the idea usually comes from the photographer.

Sources:

-- Dance Photography: 4 Photography tips (2015), Available at: https://www.tututix.com/dance-photography-4-tips/ (Accessed: 9. November 2017) --

Tips for taking good dance photos:

! Photographers need to understand movement and how to capture it ! (Otherwise it’s possible to end up with a bunch of blurry photos.. Dancers are moving!)

The important thing is to focus the camera well. Some photographers are using auto-focus. That can save time - you don’t need to focus manually and loose a lot of photos. It’s also good to consider having a monopod or a tripod.

Be prepared for the stage lighting. - It’s usually dark or has different light colors. At some performances flash is not allowed - be prepared to take pictures without it.

It’s important to move with the shot. Even if you’re at a performance and just on one side of the stage, changing angles and distance is crucial to have the photos overall more dynamic, interesting and different from each other.

-- Adrian Weinbrecht - Dance Photographer (no date), Available at: https://www.phaseone.com/apsis/AdrianWeinbrecht.pdf (Accessed: 9. November 2017) --

- Interview with a professional dance photographer from Australia, based in London. He says that with dance photography the lighting is the most important. Also it is very important to give the dancer a natural and unrestricted feeling. For example place the lights further or higher, so the dancer can move and jump without being limited because the lights are in the way. It is also very important to be careful about the light when putting a photograph taken in a studio into a different background setting. In this case, the dancer was jumping in the air (in a studio) and that photograph was put into a nature background. So the photographer had to be careful how to put the lights in the studio, so the lights and the shadows would be the same as if the sun was shining on the dancer. The photographer doesn’t direct the dancer immediately, he first waits what they come up with, then he takes over, because maybe what they do on their own will even be better than he imagined. Shooting single dancers can be challenging enough, is more interesting especially because of the lighting and timing. The light has to be broad in coverage and suitable for a range of different dance positions.

-- Lens on Ballett: A dance photographer’s journey by Rachel Hellwig (2016), http://www.artsbham.com/lens-on-ballet-a-dance-photographers-journey/ (Accessed: 9. November 2017) --

- Describing Melissa Dooley’s journey. She was a ballet dancer and during the breaks she was taking photos of resting dancers. In the end she ended up as a dance photographer. Her dance background helps a lot when taking dance photography. By staged photography the dancers can count on her opinion and trust her with the poses. She can say what works and what not, also think of some new poses that would work well. She describes that the lighting is the biggest challenge when taking photography of a performance. Usually the stage is dark and the dancers move fast, therefore the photography could be blurry. However, she generally knows what move is coming next or knows the movement in general, as she’s a dancer, so that’s making her life way easier.

-- Gareth Brown: Acro Dance - Photographer Spotlight by Gemma Schaefer (2016), https://wonderfulmachine.com/blog/gareth-brown-acro-dance (Accessed: 9. November 2017) --

- Source used just for the pictures. The article is talking about the reason why the pictures were taken and the connection between the photographer and the performers.

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ideology and dancing

I think that the first thing I should start with, when talking about ideology, is my family and the ideologies in my country in general. I think that most of the people in Slovakia have this rough future plan in their head, a bit different but yet the same for women and men: women - graduate, get a degree, work a bit, find a husband, start a family, take care of the family and make a happy household, men: graduate, get a degree, work, find a wife, start a family, work work work work to take care of the family. The key to happy life is to have a lot of money. I think that because of this ideology, many people don’t like what they’re doing, doesn’t really matter if talking about studying or working, they just want to hurry into something to get a good degree, a one they could find good employment with and really a good employment doesn’t necessarily mean to be happy in it, but to earn a lot of money. I think, that if you are from a family, that goes by this ideology, it is very hard to break through it and do something different, have a different life plan. Luckily my family was never really for this conventional way of living. My dad used to work in a bank and having said that, he also made a lot of money at the time. However, there was always someone who was above him and who wouldn’t allow him to do the things that needed to be done, or was taking credit for his work, or was simply bossing him around because he had the power and authority to do so. That’s why he left and started making business on his own. I know that from what he’s telling me and from what I see, it’s way harder to make business on your own rather than just work somewhere. You need to put so much more effort into it, more money, you need to have guts to be able to do all of it. Also the money is an issue, for sure he’s not getting as much as he used to. However, he’s still happier and I can’t imagine him going back to a bank or any other regular work. But even though my parents are not for the conventional type of working, they still have their limits. I found that out when I wanted to persuade my “hobby” (I really don’t like that term) dancing and actually go to a dance school or some dance programme and try to make it in that industry. That’s were the limits came and our opinions didn’t really match anymore. I know it’s hard to make it in dancing, but I really wanted/want to try. But they were against it. Said that I won’t be able to make it as a career, it won’t be well payed, it’s not a real work and so on. That it’s useless to go on a school like that. So at that point, I knew I had to find something besides dancing because I did want to go to university. It was really hard, because I didn’t really like anything besides dancing. You know people always ask you when you’re in school like what is your favourite subject and so on. Well I was on a gymnasium so we had all kinds of subjects but I didn’t really like any of them, maybe just English because I was good in it, but that was it. Nothing I would want to study and do in my life. So then I started thinking of graphic design because I always liked art, also I thought it’s something I could connect with dancing at least a bit and also that I could work as a freelancer, so not be at one place and actually be able to travel and dance even while working. My parents actually really liked this option so I started to work to get in. Another problem that we had and was similar to this, was when I didn’t really feel like I want to continue in studying last semester and I again wanted to go on a dance school or on video production. I didn’t really have any motivation to continue with this school and I didn’t really like it at the time to be honest. That’s when my mom told me a sentence that really shocked and didn’t make any sense to me. “I didn’t like what I was studying, 99% of people don’t like what they’re studying.” To me, maybe it makes a little sense that she didn’t like it, because at the time a lot was different and they didn’t have that many options. But now? I mean, why couldn’t I change school? I think I’m pretty young and I don’t have that much to lose if I try different things. It doesn’t have to be that I chose once and now I have to stick with it. But apparently for my parents it is that way. Actually, I’m glad I stayed, because I started to like it this semester and I made a deal with myself that I’m gonna finish it and find a way to enjoy it, which is actually working pretty well right now. But anyways I really don’t like how people say that dancing is not a sport, it’s just a hobby, you can’t make a living out of it, you’re just spending money to go on workshops but you don’t get anything back, so it’s just taking your money and time without any point.

There are dancers that made it in that industry. They’re travelling all over the world teaching dance workshops. I’m sure it’s hard, sometimes you feel alone, but in the end, you’re doing what you love and as a bonus you get to travel all over the world and share your love for it with people worldwide. I’ve talked to some dancers from LA who are in that industry for quite long already. They told me they had the same problem with school. One went on a university but didn’t even finish the first year because he just knew it’s not for him. And he also had huge fight about it with his parents, but in the end it all worked out. Another dancer told me that he was telling his parents for 2 years that he’s going to university, when really he wasn’t and he was dancing instead. Which is a bit extreme, I wouldn’t want to lie to my parents this way. But still, it all worked out for him even without a university, where he’d study something he doesn’t like just to have a degree in a field he’s never going to work in.

This picture was taken on WHES Dance Convention in 2016. It’s a picture of Mecnun Giasar. A dancer from Germany and one of the most “out-of-the-box” dancers I know. He’s been dancing since he was a child and has always been different from other dancers. Some people like his movement and some don’t. I always found him incredibly beautiful, because of the way he moves. He is travelling around the world right now, teaching workshops in a lot of countries in Europe, but also in Asia, USA, all over the world really. He judges competitions, does showcases... I know him personally and he has met so many people throughout his life, however he still stays a good person and is always happy to see our dance group. He was the first dancer to completely get our dance style I think and he always loves seeing us perform. Right now, he’s working on an hour and half theatre piece with over 30 dancers. I think to make a whole theatre piece is one of his dreams. He isn’t even making it in Germany, his home country, but in Barcelona, Spain, where it’s gonna have a premiere in December and then he’s wishing to go on a world tour with it as well. This is a picture taken after his class and after a small showcase he did for the students at the end of his class. All the students are forming a circle, cheering for him, clapping, shouting, sharing the emotions... He’s standing in the middle, happy, blessed, feeling the huge support and love from all the people around him.

With all this, I’m trying to say that however hard it is, it is possible to make it in your desired industry. Even though you would have to break the initial ideology of your origins, in the end I think what matters is, if you are happy with the life you’re living. What more is there than a happy life.

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sashics-blog · 8 years ago

Text

my influences | my inspirations

-- family --

When talking about what influences me or what inspires me in my work, my progress and in my life in general I feel the first thing I should start talking about is my childhood. I had a really happy childhood. I might not remember all of it of course, but now when I’m looking back at the old photos I always feel incredibly happy.

When I was 2 years old my younger sister was born. Therefore I can say, that I was raised in a way that I’m not the only person in the world, for example I was taught to share everything with my sister, we also shared a room when growing up. Also I was taught to take care of her and look after her no matter what. I was taught that my sister is the most important and the closest person I have and I will ever have. Our parents did and do everything in their power to make us happy and love us unconditionally.

When I was 9, my other younger sister was born. As I was already older and actually understood what’s happening, I was extremely happy. The moment she became a part of our family changed my life completely. I loved her from the first second I saw her, from the first second I knew about her. I can’t even describe how much I love both of my sisters. I am connected to both of them, however I feel I’m more connected to the younger one. The middle sister is a bit different from both of us, has different hobbies, way of looking at life I guess. However, my youngest sister and me, we’re completely alike. She looks the same as I looked when I was small and we’re really similar now as well. Her birthday is 4 days before mine, we have the same zodiac sign. She’s also a dancer, like I am. She dresses up the same as me, in fact she’s taking my clothes even though they’re way too big for her, just because she loves oversized things like I do. When she was 9, she asked my parents if she could switch to an english speaking school so she could learn english like me and my other sister. So she speaks fluently english now, as a 10 year old, she started learning spanish, she plays the piano and the ukulele, she also sings. Honestly she can do everything she wants to and sets her mind to. She’s incredibly smart and I can see on her that she always evaluates things she does, she thinks about them as if she were an adult already. I’m so so proud of her and everything she does. I love how her soul is completely pure. She makes people presents, she shares her things rather than keep them all to herself. I can see how much I influence her and how much she takes after me. That’s why it’s also a big responsibility to be her role model. I try to be back home as often as I can, so I can at least spend some time with her, help her with things she does, share our interests. I don’t know if I influence her more of if she influences me more. She’s a huge inspiration for me and the most important thing I have in life. It’s just when I can see how much love she can give me and my whole family with her pure heart, it seems like nothing else matters.

In general, I come from a big family and since I was a little child, I always felt love from every side. If talking about my uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents...I have a good relationship with all of them and I couldn’t be happier about that. My parents always encourage me in things I want to do, if they’re somehow reasonable of course. I feel huge support from them, which I’m incredibly thankful for, even though I don’t sometimes show it, but I’m working on it. Honestly, the fact that I have such good people around me and knowing that I can count on them no matter what, makes it way easier for me to do anything in life. I know I’m not throwing myself at something and that I will be completely alone if it doesn’t or does work out, but they will be always with me. They’re my biggest influence, support, my source of energy, my inspiration. Just knowing I have them.

-- dancing -- M.A.G. --

I would definitely say dancing is my other huge influence. I’ve been dancing my whole life but everything changed when my friend asked me if I want to join a group she’s in, M.A.G. This was in 2011, so I was 13 years old at the time. That’s when the “worst” age, at least for girls, starts to come, I think. You start to go through puberty, your opinions change from day to day, you care about boys, your priorities change or keep constantly changing, you start to have a worse relationship with your parents, always arguing and so on. And this goes on until you’re 16-17 I guess. Through all this time my guidance was dancing. At first it was just an activity I did and I didn’t take it that seriously, sometimes I didn’t go on trainings, or before trainings I really felt like I don’t want to go because I was lazy or something. However after some time it started changing. Dance started to be something I could turn to. Something different from everyday school and home life. I discovered how I can express my feelings by dancing and that it’s even much easier sometimes. That’s how I found out that there’s a different way to express feelings than just saying them. Don’t get me wrong, I love languages, I love words, I love how people can describe or express some things. However I think that describing those things in a different way, which is for some harder, for some easier, has much more to it. The ability to say something without really saying it is one of the most beautiful things. That’s what art is all about I think. This was the first time I came really close to art and felt really connected to it at the same time. With my group M.A.G. we created an incredible bond together. We are expressing feelings, which mean always something different to each one of us, but yet the same. In the process of growing, we became one. And that is unbreakable. Thanks to dancing we got to travel a lot. To different competitions, workshops, dance camps. I had the chance to meet so many wonderful dancers from all around the world. I had the chance to witness, in fact, strangers, expressing their feelings, showing their personality in a way a non-dancer doesn’t. The beauty about dancing is that even if you don’t know the people, the movement, the soul you all put into dancing connects you and you feel like you know them thanks to their pieces. In other sports it’s way more competitive, individuals or groups don’t really support each other because it’s a competition, a match. With dancing it’s completely different. Dancers dance just for the love and joy from it. For example when there’s a dance camp, or some dance workshops. There’s a lot of people, some you know, some you’ve never seen before. But the classes connect you so much to them and to the dance teacher that you don’t feel like they’re strangers. When you walk into the room, you feel the same vibe from all the people, all the people are as one. Doing a thing all of them love. When you see someone dancing you laugh, you cry, you shout, you jump, feelings are bursting through your body. It’s an incredible feeling. Both to dance and to watch people dance. Dancing is never just dancing, those are never just meaningless moves. Dancing has a background, your movement is the way it is because of something. MUSIC. Music is an incredible thing and the closest thing to dancers. Dancers are music. They’re showing the music. Feeling the music. One dancer once said, that dance is the closest you can get to music, it’s like making love to music, there’s no way to get closer to it. Thanks to dancing I learned to do something just because I love it, just because I want to. Doing it without any hidden agenda. Doing it just because it brings be such a pure and mesmerising feeling at the same time. Thanks to dancing I learned how not to judge people by one look and how not to judge them in general, how to work with people I maybe wouldn’t under different circumstances. I learned how to work in a team, how to trust people, how to share a same emotion in different ways. I learned how to be myself, how to show my true self and not be afraid of it. Dancing is such a huge inspiration to me. It made me the person I am right now. I will dance until I will be physically able to and even if at some point I won’t be anymore, I will find another way to dance.

-- travelling --

I have to say, we’ve been travelling quite a lot with my family. Since I can remember really. We were going a lot into the nature, to the mountains, on summer vacations, winter vacations... It all started for me when I was a little kid, but I don’t think I took it anyhow special. Oh well that’s a lie actually, I just remembered that I used to love when they woke 5year old me and my little sister up in the middle of the night and told us we’re going on a plane and flying on a vacation. It was so thrilling. Such an adventure. But of course I didn’t take as much from the travels as I take from them now. They were mostly holidays, where we chilled on a beach, not so much of exploring. I guess the first biggest adventure for me and my whole family was when we moved to Moscow. I was 9 at the time, my other sister 7 and our smallest one was 4 months old. My dad had to go there because of his work and we went with him. We lived in a “village” which was just for the foreigners like we were. It wasn’t just any village, it was extremely beautiful, with guards, so also you felt really safe there. There was a British International school inside the area, playgrounds, parks, sport centre with swimming pools, gym, tennis courts, restaurant... Everything perfectly taken care of. I can’t really imagine living there now, I would feel really isolated and like in a “cage” perhaps, because without a car you couldn’t really go anywhere. However for a child it was the perfect place to be. I don’t think I ever felt safer anywhere. When I came there I didn’t speak English at all. As in, I knew one word - toilet, haha. I met a girl from Poland, who didn’t speak English either. For the first 6 months we were there, we were talking in Slovak-Polish. Until the point when it became easier for us to speak in English. This place...Rosinka (the village) was the first place where I got to meet foreign people in my age. People that where in a same situation as I was, they came there without knowing anyone, just because of their parents, mostly dads that came because of work. I can genuinely say, that I had the perfect childhood there and I’m really happy we went there. When I came back to Slovakia, I was so surprised that for example most of my peers didn’t speak English at all. It was so weird for me to talk in Slovak again. Also it was so weird to be back in general. I really didn’t want to. I didn’t like the Slovak school system at all. Compared to the British one it’s really bad, in my opinion at least. Definitely not for me. Afterwards, as I already mentioned before, I got to travel thanks to dancing, so those were the first times I went somewhere without my parents and just with my friends. Then another breaking point came. A charity organisation - LIONS. It’s a 100year old organisation working all around the world having many different charity activities. One of them, working with spreading the message of peace and unity around the world, is a youth exchange program. There is a list of countries you can choose from, in each country you stay for some period of time in a host family and then in a camp with people around your age from all over the world. I’ve been travelling with them for 3 years already. I’ve been to Canada for a month, to Estonia for 3 weeks and to Italy for 3 weeks as well. Thanks to this I got to know so many people from around the world and since the first summer I went, everything changed. Travelling became a part of my life way more than it has ever been before. I also learned how to travel alone. As I have friends almost everywhere, I usually have free accommodation, also I can go to places alone but to be there with them, to visit them. I became really good friends with some of them, so when I’m planning something I call them to come with me. Also the Polish girl I mentioned earlier, the one I met in Russia... this year it’s 10 years we’ve known each other and during that time she’s been several times in Slovakia, I’ve been several times in Poland and we also travelled and seen a couple of countries together. I believe the connection we have will last for a very very long time. Whenever I have time off from school, I plan a trip to go somewhere. I can’t really bear the thought of having a week off, for example, and just being home for that one week. I have to plan something immediately, otherwise I see it as a chance I didn’t take and time I’ve wasted. I’ve learned so much thanks to travelling this much. I’ve met so many new people, so many new cultures, so many different opinions, different backgrounds. I learned how to respect people more. I started caring way more about nature, in fact now mostly what I want to see is nature. I started doing charity, helping with organising the youth exchanges as well. Honestly my point of view completely changed. This has moved me a lot. I can see it in my behaviour, in my opinions, in the way I act. I’m also always trying to get out of my comfort zone when travelling. For example, until this summer I was afraid of heights. Well, when I was in Paris in June I overcame that fear and I climbed with my friend on rooftops and on cranes. It was amazing. I realised I need adrenaline in my life. At least in small doses. I love flying with a plane, because that brings me the adrenaline, I want to climb and go to heights because that’s also giving me that feeling I need. I want to start slacklining as well, which is usually done in huge heights. I want to jump out of the plane once for sure. Nature. I love nature. Honestly. If I could, I would just camp all year somewhere in the mountains and in the woods. Stars. I think the best feeling throughout all the travels this summer was when we were driving in the car in the middle of the night through a forest. Nobody was there and it was completely dark, just trees around us. I popped my head out of the window, felt the smell of trees and was looking at the incredible stars. It’s such a freeing feeling. All this travelling brought me to photography as well. I take pictures of the cities, but most of all I love taking landscape photography and photos of the stars. I’m incredibly happy when I capture the stars well. I want to start making travel videos too. I began to love street art too. I take photos of every street art I see, I began to recognise local street artists in certain countries, I’m always trying to understand the meaning behind their pieces... Honestly all of this brought me so much to my life. It’s such an inspiration, just the world around us. It completely effected the way of my every day life and I can’t even imagine now that I wouldn’t have these experiences.

So. This is me. I can’t say which of these three factors that I was talking about influenced me the most, I guess all of them the same amount, in different ways perhaps. I just know that without all of these things, I wouldn’t be me. And maybe I’m not there completely, but I think I’m coming to a state of mind when I’m actually really happy just because of the life itself. And that is my life’s goal. Just to be happy.

I’m going to finish this blog entry with two quotes I love. The first one is from a book by Joh Krakauer - “Into the Wild” but it’s quoted there from another book by Leo Tolstoy - “Family Happiness”, the other quote is a one I just found somewhere. I think both of them describe me perfectly.

I wanted movement and not a calm course of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to sacrifice myself for my love.

I like the smell of earth, the touch of waves, the taste of mountains, the sight of trees, the sound of laughter, and the feeling of being fully alive.

-- SASHI --

🌀

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sashics-blog · 8 years ago

Photo

picture taken by: Paula Malinowska

Denotation: Dance group M.A.G., 9 female dancers, with their medals after winning 1st places with 2 choreographies in an international competition. They have the same style of make-up, same clothing. Picture taken in front of a pretty ugly building, however when initially taking the picture the background wasn’t important at all.

Connotation: There are two types of people when it comes to dancing. One type is the people that are in it for winning, for the fame, trying to prove something to someone. The others are the ones that are in it because they simply love to dance and it’s their way of expressing their feelings. Being in something just for the win isn’t completely bad, however I think the process is much more important. I can say from my personal experience, that whenever we’re getting ready for a competition it’s one of my favourite times. Of course at one point it’s a lot of pressure when we have to train long hours, we’re all tired, or physically hurt, because or bodies can’t anymore and that shows somewhere, somehow. But all that is completely worth it. The process of creating with my second family (sounds cliche, but it really is like that) is something else. Something I completely love. We’re working together, trying to figure things out, what will look the best, helping each other, supporting each other. We’re all extremely tired always but that is nothing compared to the rewarding feeling of just doing something you love with people you love. When we go on competitions we aren’t usually completely sure about it, especially when we go out with the choreography for the first time. We’re all scared, not knowing how it will go. However then we just tell each other that thanks to the connection and strength we have, it’s going to be good. And it actually always is. The style we dance is officially classified as hiphop, but it’s new style - “new style of hiphop” - not old school hiphop. And we’re also very different from other groups. Which is awesome in my opinion, however not everybody thinks so, not everybody likes it. Which is ok, the more people the more opinions. However that’s why when we were on a lot of competitions in Slovakia, we usually didn’t even get any place because it was simply too different and the subjective opinion of the judges was that they don’t like it and that it’s not hiphop. On other competitions, on the other hand, like in Czechoslovak ones or completely international like ones in Germany or Netherlands for example, people and judges like what we do and that’s why we also have higher achievements there. It has never been important for us to win or to prove something to someone, we’re in it for the pure love of it. But in the end, after all the hard work we’ve put into it, our time, our strength, our bodies, our souls, our feelings, it is a quite nice and rewarding feeling to win some place. That’s what this picture shows. The happiness but also the proudness of ourselves.

Iconic sign: Having the medals instead of our body parts.

Indexical sign: The medals, because they were achieved based on an act before the picture was taken.

Symbolic sign: You should be proud of yourself sometimes.

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sashics-blog · 8 years ago

Photo

Picture taken by: Paula Malinowska

(link attached to the picture: M.A.G., World of Dance Netherlands 2016)

Denotation: 9 female dancers on a dance stage in the middle of a choreography. All of them are synchronised, doing the same move at the same time, just in different variations. Real dancers and their shadows. Picture is playing with different types of blue color.

Connotation: When dancing a choreography with a group, whether it’s a competition or a performance of some sort, the most important thing is to be connected to the music and to the other dancers dancing on the stage with you. If you’re not connected to at least one of those two things, it won’t work. You need to be connected to the music in order to be like the music, in order to dance the right way, the way music wants you to. The connection with your dance group needs to be even stronger than that. When you’re dancing, even when you’re with a group, you’re still dancing on your own in a way, meaning that if, for example, you dance faster than you’re supposed to to the music or if you forget a move, do a move wrong, you’re the one that did it, not the whole group, even though when there’s more mistakes it usually goes to the whole group. However even though you’re a bit alone this way, when dancing the most important thing is to feel the dancers around you, you know where they are, even though you don’t see them. You feel them, you know what they’re going to do, you know you can count on them. You have to be so connected, that even when the music would stop, or wouldn’t play, you would all be still dancing together, more-less synchronised as if you would hear the music. But you know the choreography so well, and you’re on one wave with your dance group, that you just know what to do. This connection is the thing that keeps you going when dancing. At least for me. I’m always afraid before we go on a stage and dance. But the feeling that we’re in it together and that we have such a huge connection is always bigger than the fear. The moment of dancing is the most important one. Not what happens after, who liked it, who didn’t like it, if you win or if you don’t win. The moment of dancing, the 3 or 4 or 6 minutes of the choreography, are the ones that are the most important. It often happens to me that after we dance, I don’t even remember it, I remember just a few parts, little flashes, because I’ve been in such a strong trans, so much in the music, in the movement, in the overall feeling that I don’t remember almost anything. I just remember the feeling and I usually feel like crying after dancing a choreography with my group, because the feelings are so strong and intense, because of the unbreakable connection we have, which always shows on the stage. That’s when we and others can feel it the most. This picture perfectly depicts that. The dancers there are completely focused on what they’re doing, but not the way that they’re focusing too hard they’re just in the trans of the whole thing, which makes it so interesting and beautiful to look at. Looking at them individually they’re all alone, but there’s no denial that they’re extremely connected and feeling each other, being one.

Iconic sign: Everyone in the same movement.

Indexical sign: The image itself. The feeling afterwards.

Symbolic sign: Connection.

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