Force of Nature by Katrina McPherson- Movement screening.

'Over the course of five years, award-winning director Katrina McPherson filmed improvising dance artist Kirstie Simson performing and teaching across Europe, culminating in a one-off performance with Michael Schumacher, Kenzo Kasuda, and Dai Jian at the Universal Hall in Findhorn, Scotland. Force of Nature combines specially filmed performance, documentary footage, and in-depth interviews with Kirstie, in which she talks about her life-long practice and her passionate belief in the power of dance to transform lives. Simson’s eternal subject is freedom, as she dares to go beyond the boundaries of form and structure to create movement out of the rhythm of life itself.'

Quote from:- http://www.contactquarterly.com/contact-editions/book/force-of-nature-dvd.php


Today we watched a screening called Force of Nature by Katrina Mcpherson, a performance documentary with Kirstie Simson.  The lady involved within the film, Kirstie Simson, spoke about her interest in going through the experience/ performance with the audience. The piece she performed included a lot of atmospheric sound which worked to support the earthy green coloured costume, creating an environment that was free flowing and almost magical. She desired that the audience be as much a part of it as the performers are. This was aided by the intimate performance space used as the breath of the performers could be heard and we could see that they were visibly exhausted. There was a lot of pair work used throughout the piece and the performers were often seen transferring their weight on to one another and performing various lifts. One particular aspect of performance that really struck me was the way in which the power of silence was harnessed. I have never really seen such performances before that are done in silence and without music. It was interesting to watch as I often found outside noises contributed to and effected the performance, such as the cough of an audience member for example. Further sounds I noticed included the clicks and slaps that the performers bodies made. The performers were able to use them within performance and allow them to influence their movement. 
                                 
                                      Picture from:- http://vimeo.com/34894689

She said that she likes to relax within the performance so that she doesn't project ideas upon the audience and they are able to gather their own interpretation, whilst working to relax the audience also.
Another section that was interesting involved also pair work. One partner could be seen moving the body parts of another. This to me worked to suggest an aspect of unity between the performers, whilst removing control from one performer in particular. By removing this control it implied a level of trust between performers which made the performance more engaging and concentrated. There was four performers who were able to command the entire space, whilst being aware of one another at all times and incorporating moments of closeness between groups of performers. There was 1 woman and 3 men however all appeared equal within the space and the interactions remained the same. The camera woman was visible in the space, working to remind the audience that this performance was live and happening in the here and now. The performance space was plain and contained only a wooden tree object at the back.
When they began creating this piece they used improvisation, in order to allow them to find their own voice and become the creator in the movement by letting loose. She finds that people learn through example by showing what is possible with the body. She believes that in a sense one is always teaching and tries not to conform to training but go out and learn. She is working with the human condition, looking at the human in the space and creating dialogue within dance. Ones body can often become tuned to the space, inside and out. She tries to practice integrity and sincerity and asks questions such as why can't art be called healing without being therapy?.
Overall I found this screening influential and interesting as it opened my eyes to a different type of performance, one which uses movement/dance to create a dialogue between spectator, performer and performance space.