Exploring different skeletons and the way in which they move.

INVESTIGATING SKELETONS

Today's movement session involve us looking through stages of evolution, analysing the different postures and movement styles that would be appropriate for each stage. We also took a trip the museum within the week before the session, in small groups, to look at the skeletons of different animals. Within the lesson we had to pick one skeleton that we were particularly interested in and spend time developing a moment style we thought appropriate for this skeleton. My group chose to look at the skeleton of a T-Rex, as it was large in size and had a vast array of bones and joints to interpret. Seeing this skeleton at the museum allowed us to appreciate the scale and power of the real thing and gain more insight into this extinct species. I took time to consider how each part of its body would twist and shift as it moved along. They had long tails connected to the end of the spine which would have helped them to balance as they moved on only two legs. From what I have seen of T-Rex's in documentaries for example, I have noticed that they keep their heads held high, surveying the area around them. To support that ginormous head they would have to engage their spine and core when moving. This is something that I tried to incorporate within my portrayal of a T-Rex. They also have large feet which I tried to emulate by moving across the room with heavy steps, pausing very briefly as they made contact with the ground in order to steady myself. I pushed my bum out behind me, swaying it from side to side as I moved, to showcase the length and width of the tail. Evidence has shown that T-Rex's were about 12 metres long with a 6 metre tail. To showcase this I lent forward and stretched my neck out in order to appear longer. They had very strong thighs which worked alongside its tail to maintain its balance. This was essential due to have only two legs to support a long body, as the small 'arms' at the front we little use in aiding this. I had my arms bent and close to my body, letting my hands flop at the end of the wrist joints. Within the lesson we experimented with how we thought they would both walk and run, showcasing our findings whilst we walked from one end of the space to the other. I opened and shut my mouth as I moved to highlight the power of the jaw that resides in their 1.5 metre long skull. My head dipped on occasion in order to showcase the weight on this skull. This was a very enjoyable exercise as we were able to transform our knowledge of the T-Rex's skeleton into a visual representation, by analysing in depth the way in which this skeleton would have moved within the T-Rex's giant body.    
We then looked at the stages of evolution. We were given a sheet which looked like this-


 Image- http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/2009/11/04/the-march-of-progress-the/

We were asked in groups to choose one of these skeletons and create our own representation of how it would move and the rest of the class would have to guess which skeleton it was. My group and I chose the Orangutan as we particularly liked the positioning of their feet and hands. Also we were all quite tall so we thought that we would attempt to emulate the smallest skeleton. We did this by hunching our backs and sticking our chests out because when you look at the Orangutan's skeleton you can see that its chest is very upright and positioned right under its chin. We let our arms hang down low to symbolise the shear length of its arms which appear to be nearly touching its feet. We also curled our four fingers over alongside each other and let the thumb stick out as it does on the skeleton above. You will also notice that the Orangutan's toes stick up with one toe separate from the others. We tried to reproduce this as best we could by walking on our heels and spreading our toes. However the make up of feet meant that we were not able to isolate one toe on its own, highlighting a large difference between our skeleton and that of the Orangutan. When it was time for us to perform we put all of what we had practiced (the elements described above) and moved across the space as we thought the Orangutan would in relation to its skeleton shape. It was hard to tell the difference between some of the primates, however the man skeleton we easily recognised as of course that is our natural movement type. Each of the primates had larger skulls than the man and some groups, ours included, attempted to showcase this by letting their head hang slightly, working to suggest the weight of the skull. Apart from the man skeleton the Gorilla was the one that most people interpreted the movement to be, even sometimes guessing Gorilla when it wasn't. I think this was due to a large amount of the group using a wide and hunched posture within their interpretations, something that is stereotypical of a Gorilla.  
I really enjoyed today's lesson as it opened our eyes to the importance of the skeleton in relation to how a being moves. I know it seems obvious but we don't have X-ray vision and never will, but exploring skeletons in this way allows you to gain more insight in to there purpose and how they shape a person or animal. I look at my limbs and think oh its a leg but in reality its filled with lots of bones that work together so that I can walk and there design influences the individual style in which I walk. Doing these exercises has made me analyse the way I walk in everyday life. All skeletons are different and that is so interesting! Movement has been an excellent way to explore that further. Instead of just being given a picture like the one above we really analysed each of the skeletons and developed our own visual representation of it.

Not just imagining, being.