Woodhull’s Centre of gravity sourcebook reading, looked at several meanings which gravity has to dancers. The reading asked us to place or centre of balance amongst oblong shapes. This allowed us to visualise the body in different positions, whilst finding our centre of gravity. The image of a see-saw came into play within the reading stating that if one person was heavier the lighter person would sit on the end in order to create a stable balance within the see-saw. This image I found helpful when thinking about giving weight to my partner and in finding my centre of gravity whilst performing improvisation. The reading left me asking questions such as;

How high can I move my centre of gravity, will my partner be able to support me?

Before the workshop, I felt rather curios of what was to come. Last week’s workshop and jam had given me the courage to try more advaced lifts with people I haven’t necessarily worked with before. The ability to roll fluidly around people came into play last week and I felt I gave my weight more and allowed efficient rolling. The workshop started with a warm up, giving people weight, and coming up and down from the ground, whilst connected. During the lesson we experimented with more advanced lifts and I felt rather surprised when I found myself trusting people to take my full weight and those around me allowing me to take theirs.

The first lift which came into focus, was the pelvic tilt lift. The lift required a plié at the knees so that the over dancer could counterbalance their back on yours whilst lifting them in the air. Lifting the pelvis higher than the under dancers pelvis was key during this lift. Me and my partner found a real fluidity within the movement, I felt at ease and trusting as I was giving my full weight. It was beneficial that me and my partner are of similar heights , as I would have found it rather difficult to experiment with a taller or smaller dancer as it would have requires me lowering or heightening my pelvis for my partner to be able to perform the movement correctly. Two similar lifts which we tried required us to either lift our partner with the back of the leg and waist whilst jumping, and placing out hands just on their back whilst our partners perform the jump. I found the first lift easier to grasp. The specific grip allowed me and my partner to perform the lift with significant height, However, I felt restricted of any height when trying the two hands on back grip. If I were to try this lift again, I would perhaps try other grips to see which was more beneficial for me.

A specific lift which I found worked well to understand the placement of our pelvis during improvisation, was the baby lift. The lift instructed the over dancer was to be lifted like a baby on their backs. However, this time the over dancer was to pull their outer hips towards their partner creating a straight line. This technique took weight off the under dancer and worked more fluidly as we spun out of it. I felt comfortable lifting, and being lifted. I found I worked as a great support experimenting whether I can take several peoples weight After this we looked at a jump from the floor The under dancer is to spin the under dancer on the floor, reach for their hands to pull them up from the floor, legs behind the over dancer waist. Momentum was crucial when performing this lift as it created great height bringing more risks to the task. Awareness was very important we had to look at each other in order to initiate the jump and catch motion. Executing the lift made me wonder, whether the over dancer could be caught in several positions in order to create more of a risk.

I found the lifts very beneficial during the jam. And after feedback week I found myself rolling along other people rather than climbing. The initiation of the lifts I found difficult, due to only learning them a few days before the jam. Nevertheless, when I came to perform lifts I felt I was relaxed, allowing my partner to take my full weight. I tried to incorporate as many lifts as I could allowing gravity to take control. I enjoyed the jam session, and came out of it feeling more confident and more intrigued about contact improvisation.