Day 5 and soon we share work with our colleagues, a humbling experience indeed. I’m still abuzz with all the technology crammed into a few days of learning and amazed that we all generated two products in so little time. I can’t say my projects are ready for prime time – I typically need time away from a project and return with fresh eyes – but the learning process was well worth it.
I was struck by a common reaction by myself and my colleagues when we saw the image of ourselves on screen or heard the sound of our voice. We flinched. I wanted to escape to another room, maybe doing something more appealing. Maybe read tax forms. Anything but see and hear myself. But herein lies its usefulness for dance classes.
There’s typically a gap between how students believe themselves to be moving and how one is actually moving. As in writing, there’s a gap between what writers believes is communicated and the actuality of the words. In dance, students often use a mirror, which cranes the head and distorts the movement, or they rely on another’s feedback. In using digital media,students can tape themselves moving and reflect on the discrepancy. They can explore a movement in isolation or an entire sequence. Dance is transient. An assignment capturing a transient moment for extended investigation and reflection could be beneficial.
My concern is still the time required by a digital project. It’s challenging enough to get students, especially those not majoring in dance, to get their bodies moving. How could I organize an assignment to keep focus on embodiment, their fleshy self, not a virtual one? Were this purely a writing class, the pathway between digital versus paper seems clear. My reflections on coming up with a suitable assignment with reasonable expectations continue.