# data[].attributes.body
In our composition class, Athina asked us to go and see the Cult of beauty exhibition and then create a piece inspired by something from it. In the initial conversations that we had about our piece, we were really struggling to find something from the exhibition to work with. Eventually we decided on using a photo of a person with tattooed eyes. The photo brought up ideas of how you only really perceive beauty through vision and how we would only usually say that something looks beautiful instead discussing how it feels. For our piece, we decided that we wanted to create an immersive experience that would introduce the idea of beauty being more than just perceiving visually. The plan was to create a connection between us and the audience through the other senses to portray this idea.

When creating our phrase, we decided to start by questioning the concept of what is beauty when you can’t see it. We liked the idea of creating a space that would invite the audience to be able to explore discovering beauty with the other senses. To enable this, we asked the audience to stand behind a thin curtain which deprived them of most of their vision. During the phrase we asked the audience to place their hand out against the curtain if they were comfortable with touch and we went along the line of people holding each hand with our own. We found the act of embracing or simply holding someone's hand to be a useful way of getting the audience to think about the sensation of touch. After we had held hands with everyone, the three of us started improvising around the space using the idea of beautiful movements, whilst the audience stayed standing behind the curtain. The thinness of the curtain meant that when we stood near the window, they were able to see just our silhouettes. This was effective because it meant that you weren’t able to see any of our features, only bodies moving, which I thought was a very beautiful display. For me, I found that moving in a way that made me feel good in that moment was a beautiful experience. Dancing with no expectations felt freeing and left me feeling a childish sort of happiness.

# data[].attributes.body
At the start of our piece, we had the audience standing behind the curtain facing the mirror. We had printed out these pieces of paper and stuck them on each mirror so that everyone would be able to read it. On it had some questions that we invited the partakers to think about.

What role does vision play in the action of paying attention to beauty?

Can beauty be recognised without vision?

What does beauty feel like?

We had spent some time discussing what these questions meant to us before presenting our piece. I found that thinking and talking about what society deems as beautiful to be a very eye-opening experience. Societal beauty standards are something that I don't really think about often even though I always subconsciously feel the pressure of them.

When the audience were standing behind the curtain facing the mirror, we had them stand there for what felt like quite a long time. Even though it was only a couple of minutes, standing with that amount of proximity to your own reflection whilst being asked to question what beauty is, is quite an uncomfortable experience for a lot of people. When we were testing out what it would be like for the audience, I found this part made me feel quite uneasy. Even though it was uncomfortable, we thought it important for getting people to take time to think about the questions we were asking.

Our performance/phrase was a very emotional journey for me and the people I was working with. I think that having a curtain separating us from the audience allowed me to feel completely authentic in my improvisation, and I didn’t feel the need to do any movements that would ‘impress’ the audience. I found holding hands with people that I couldn’t see was interesting because everyone responded in different ways, so it felt like I was connecting with people and sharing the beauty of touch without knowing who I was holding hands with.

# data[].attributes.body
During our form and structure classes we had one class on spatial duets and scores. I have found since taking part in this class that it has changed the way that approach improvisation.

A problem that I face a lot when I improvise is moving too quickly. I often end up getting carried away because of the music that is playing, for example trying to fill every single beat with a different movement. I also find that I feel like I can't move slowly or have pauses because it feels like I’m not doing anything. This is a mindset that I have been aware of for some time, but it is something that I have been struggling to change. Something that has helped is the idea of developing one idea. Instead of thinking about one move and then onto the next, I find it helpful to take one movement and then stick with it. This allows the movement to develop or evolve into something else naturally instead of just jumping to a different idea straight away.

The spatial duets class helped with this idea because Eva would keep telling us to stick with what we were doing whilst we were dancing. At first, I couldn’t quite understand what she meant because I couldn’t see the switches between where we lost the flow of one idea and where we were sticking to one for longer periods of time. However, after watching back the videos from that class, I could see the difference very clearly.

# data[].attributes.body
I like to improvise a lot in my spare time, and I have found that since being introduced to the idea of sticking with a movement I have been trying it out a lot. I decided to record myself trying to improvise for as long as possible thinking about letting one idea continue until it changes into another one.

# data[].attributes.body
I really enjoy looking back on the changes that my improvisations have undergone. I feel like it has become more coherent over the last couple of terms, and I think that escaping my bad habit of rushing through movements has left me with more room to use my creativity to explore new ideas.

# data[].attributes.headline
Form and Structure - Self directed choreography

# data[].attributes.subject
Form and Structure - Self directed choreography

# data[].attributes.body
Moving towards the end of our form and structure classes, Eva assigned us the task of choreographing a piece choosing one out of a series of adjectives to use as a starting point. My group chose to use the word gradual, therefore the first thing we decided to do was select a piece of music that we felt had a very gradual build up. After picking the music, we talked and brainstormed ideas about stage design and lighting, concluding that we wanted to have a very simplistic set up allowing more room for the choreography. The set up consisted of three lines across the floor dividing the space into three parts. We had six lamps, three on either side of the stage, sitting one in front of the other in every section.

# data[].attributes.body
I found the process of decision making and coming up with our design elements to be enjoyable and even fun, as the three of us work together very well and share a lot of the same opinions. Similarly, coming up with the movement materials for the dance component proved to be a seamless process. One difficulty we came across was sticking to our idea of gradually getting bigger as we moved through each section. Initially, we were supposed to just use our upper bodies in the first section, then as we moved forward into the second and third sections, gradually use more body parts allowing the movements to become larger and more impactful. However, we ended up getting carried away when choreographing, and let the movements become bigger quicker than intended. Although not as gradual as initially intended, we decided that what we had created effectively conveyed our theme regardless, and so we decided to keep it in, finding other ways to emphasise the idea of ‘gradual’ such as travelling through space.