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These were difficult exercises to become comfortable with as the movements are all similar and repeated. So, it's remembering which movement goes where within the motif and knowing what comes next. The most important part to remember in the exercises is that the contractions are coming from the core and not from the shoulders so there is no point just hunching the shoulders in because this would be called a fake contraction. Getting the right posture is key to getting the contraction right and releasing it from the core properly.

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This exercise begins with sitting in first and lifting the head whilst contracting. Arms need to be kept in a second position until they are brought up to fifth. Need to keep the core engaged within this exercise and keep focus by looking up to keep the posture controlled.

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This is the same as Exercise One but legs are in a wide second, Box split if it can be achieved. Arms are still in a second position and are again brought up to a fifth.

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This is all about the foot and the angles of the spine when spiralling. When twisting to the right the foot needs to be flexed but then when twisting to the left the foot needs to be pointed. The bottom has to remain on the floor at all times and hips need to be pulled down into the floor.

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Lift, Demi point, point, back to parallel. Point, flex, circle the foot both ways, point and bring the foot back in to parallel, to repeat on the other foot.
Keeping the foot pointed and flexed when it's supposed to is important as it stretches out the muscles in the legs and gives the correct result in terms of the technique. The feet should keep returning to parallel and the core should engage to keep the body central without swaying or moving.

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This consists of walking, walking with arms and then with arms and turning simultaneously. The first walking steps are similar to triplets with the motion of up, up, down. Then with the addition of arms and turning, it turns into a complete new step which travels through the space.

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There is no preparation for the leap sequence. The first leap is normal, then a stag leap, the next is a leap with the back leg bent but the front leg straight and the last is just a normal leap.

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I had difficulty getting the movements into my movement memory, but after drilling it, I finally got there. The best part was once I had it learnt the basic fundamentals of the exercise they followed through into the others.

In first:
I kept my muscles relaxed which enabled me to change my movements quickly, as well as direction. The most difficult part I found was using the core to bring myself back up. Strengthening my core can be done by regular exercises such as sit ups and crunches.

In second:
I found it much easier in first rather than second. This is because my legs and feet had to be kept in one position and I had to isolate my upper body. In saying this however, I thought my core strength was much better because my posture was much more upright and projected outwards, which allowed me to keep myself centered.

In fourth:
This is the exercise that I had the most difficulty with, it was the combination of changing between flexed and pointed. This happens simultaneously with twisting the spine whilst remaining fully balanced on the floor. Something I thought I did well at was pulling my hips into the floor and remaining balanced when seated. The improvement I need to make in preparation for the technique assessment is distinguishing the difference between flexed and pointed, but this will come in rehearsals and running the exercise more and more.

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I picked up this technique exercise quickly as it's only short and gets repeated on the other foot. My strength was getting it into my movement memory quickly, this allowed time to really focus on the technique and apply it accordingly. I did well at showing the difference between the pointed toes and making them relaxed. I also managed to keep well balanced within my core to maintain a stable stance. Something that needs work is remembering to keep on returning to parallel when bringing my feet back in. Without bringing it into the parallel position, it isn't demonstrating the correct technique.

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The steps in these exercises are similar to triplets in jazz but less sharp, they are more fluent with each other. I picked the steps up easily, yet the dynamics of them confused me slightly due to the difference between contemporary and jazz. Distinguishing them eventually, the dynamics went into my movement memory. The most important part was keeping a clear focus onto where I was travelling to ensure I was following the correct pathway.
Incorporating the arms changed it all completely for me and initially made it difficult at the beginning. After rehearsing it multiple times, the arms became more natural within the exercise. I still need to continue drilling it so it stays in my movement memory for future reference. The last section was the easiest part of the exercise as it was easier to travel across the space and reach the other side of the room.

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This exercise incorporates jumps shown in different directions. The technique needed is elevation. Height is needed to be able to show the shapes being made in the air. The shapes are similar to that of the stance of somebody running with arms and legs elevate

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Something I need to work on within the exercise is getting my posture and alignment correct. I can correct this by creating the stances on the floor without having them elevated. Then when I feel they are correctly aligned with the right posture, I can progressively work towards getting them into the air. Something I worked well on was gaining a lot of height when elevating myself off the floor. This shows that I can use my own weight and allow myself to gain a lot of height when needed.

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Learning the sequence had its challenges, one of them being inverting the moves so that they were the right way because I was mirroring the choreography. It was difficult at first but then I overcame it because it's repeated but on the other side, so I needed to learn it anyway. So I overcame this barrier by accepting I had learnt something that I didn't need, but I needed it for future reference.

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My strength within this exercise was keeping a continuous flow. This helped me to lead one movement into the next and allow fluency in the movements. I also thought my contractions were controlled and came from the core, not the shoulders. I need to work on working through the floor and this will come naturally in the rehearsal process. It involves ''melting'' into the floor, rather than rolling out of it. This will help in other areas of dance as well as this technique exercise. Taking part in more floor exercises will help with the development of my floor work skills.

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For this exercise, focus needs to be maintained throughout as it needs to be kept in the same direction. There needs to be a level of elevation to show the leaps. It features a standard leap; a stag leap; a reversed stag and another standard leap.
It was easy enough to pick up as it is all steps and movements I have done before. However, there was no preparation for the leaps which made it more difficult to gain a credible amount of height needed to fully extend the legs. I need to keep rehearsing to ensure that the extension is going into my movement memory so I can get height without preparation. Something I did well at was keeping a continuous flow throughout to ensure it didn't stop within the exercise. Once I had done the first standard leap it was easier to gain height on the other three as there was more momentum.

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-Arm placement
A strength I had today was the placement of my arms. Having them in the correct place allowed me to focus on the contractions and it also allowed me to move easier within the exercise.
-Core and upper body strength
In comparison to when first learning the exercise, My core strength has improved and this is due to taking part in core strengthening exercises. This helped me to move quicker and in darting motions without struggling.
**My posture was a weakness of mine today and it is something that needs to be worked on before the technique assessment. With a bad posture, I am not hitting any of the technique criteria that Martha Graham brought into the world. To improve on this, I need to sit upright and pull all the way up as though somebody has a string attached to me and is pulling me up to the ceiling. Using scenario's like this helps to remember to keep a good posture in a fun way.

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-Parallel
My parallel was much better this time and it was returned each time I brought the foot back in underneath the hips. To improve on this from last time I had rehearsed the exercise in the mirror to ensure that I am returning properly, using the mirror helped me to see what I was doing.
-Core strength
Similar to the contraction exercises, my core strength was helpful in this exercise too. It allowed me stability when standing with my foot going out and returning.
**Something that hindered me today was my movement memory. I seemed to forget one step each time I rehearsed the exercise and this affected the rest of the exercise due to it not flowing properly. To help with this, I went back to watch the video to work out which movement I was missing each time. After working out what it was, I applied it back to the exercise.

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-Movement memory
Today, the movements came more naturally including the arms and the turns. This was helpful as I could focus on the technique more than the movements themselves and trying to remember them.
-Arm placement
My arm placement was linked in with the movement memory and coming more naturally. I didn't really have to think about where
my arms were because they landed there naturally.
**Something I struggled with today was distinguishing the change in levels. I need to elevate more so there is a clear differentiation between the high and low levels. I can work on this by doing basic triplet steps to get the foundations of the step back into my memory.

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-Alignment
My alignment of arms and legs was much more improved today. However it came with the consequence of losing some height on the jump. Having less height meant I could focus on the placement of arms and legs more and make sure they were at the right angle. Now I know they are correct, I can add the elevation back into the exercise to make it look more visually appealing and matching the dancers on the technique exercise.

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-Transitioning
A strength I had today was my ability to transition smoothly from move to move. This also spoke for the movements going into the floor. They were much more soft and allowed me to move in and out of the floor with ease. This was made possible by drilling the exercise to ensure that movement memory was there.

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Something I worked hard on was elevating the leaps without preparation. This worked well today and I gained more height on the first leap which is something I found difficulty in before. Managing to get a good height on the first leap allowed me to have the momentum to lead into the next leaps.
Something I need to work on now is using my arms and this will help with elevation as well as developing the correct technique within the exercise.

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Something I found today was that the exercise is made easier by relaxing my head and upper body into the movements. Because there is a lot of 'snappy' movements it was easier to stay completely relaxed. However, in relaxing my upper body, I still kept my core engaged to keep an upright posture and stay correctly aligned. Even though my core was engaged, my contractions were not as good as I hoped. Incidentally, I contracted more from my shoulders rather than my core which harmed my technique progression over the weeks and demonstrated bad technique.

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In contrast to the 1st exercise, my contractions came from the core rather than the shoulders, (correct technique). I found it more comfortable when in second as there was more freedom to move and it allowed me to place my arms correctly within the exercise. My upper body and core allowed me to keep a stable balance on the floor and keep my hips pulled down to the ground.

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A strength I had today was knowing how much of a twist to have in the spine and not overstretching which would cause an injury. It allowed me to reach to the points that I needed to reach whilst being able to snatch it back in the opposite direction. It also enabled the use of my arms freely. I thought my arm placement could have been better during the technique assessment. They could have been more rounded instead of being at sharp angles as it would have showed better technique.

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During the technique assessment, I thought I did well within this exercise. I showed good control within my core that helped me to maintain a stable position when partaking in the exercise. Keeping a steady balance enabled me to keep good control over my feet. My ability to bring my feet back into parallel was good today and it was kept continuous throughout. I also thought that my differentiation between flexed and pointed was well distinguished.

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In comparison to before the technique assessment, my level change was much more improved. I could easily see the difference in levels when leading onto each development of the exercise. As I went through the motions of each exercise, I became more confident. So, by the time it got to the turns with arms I felt really confident with my ability in the execution of movements.

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My alignment of arms helped me to gain the correct stance whilst elevating my jumps. When landing on the floor, I tried to work through my feet and the floor to achieve a soft landing within the exercise. I thought I was quite successful with this and working through the floor allowed a spring into the next jump. After one jump, it gives the momentum to the next jump and allowed me to have a continuous flow within the exercise. I could have allowed a better angle in my legs to gain extra height.

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My ability to produce contractions from my core was good within the exercise. From this, it helped me to go into the next movement with fluency and keep momentum throughout. The links between the floor movements and the standing movements were well transitioned and I remembered to turn back on myself before rolling. Something I need to work on in the future is adding softer dynamics to the movements. I would do this by breaking down the movements, one by one.

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I was happy with the progression I have made in this exercise and I think it showed during the assessment. In light of previous lessons, I added arms to my leaps and this helped me to gain height on my leaps along with the extension of my legs. Keeping my head up helped me to project outwards and make all of my movements bigger that enabled me to travel in and across the space.

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(Contractions
Spiral
release)
All relate to inhaling and exhaling. They were and still are largely used by Martha Graham and her company. They are all controlled from the core and this is what Graham worked on in her lifetime.

Contractions:
During the exercise, you sit at a low level to emphasise the contrast in contracting and not contracting. The movement has to be sharp, percussive and fierce to ensure it is stylised to Graham. The movement concept consists of creating a better length in the spine as it's being stretched.

Release:
The release is an exhaling method and releases the air from the body. This is more relaxed than a contraction and has much softer dynamics. It consists of relaxing the spine and allowing the body to regenerate itself. It unwinds the spine allowing relaxation.

Spiral:
The spiral incorporates the contraction and the release together. It allows the shifting of the hips and twisting of the spine which lengthens it, similar to contractions. The movements are gentle and flowing which follow more circular pathways and changing the direction of focus.