Kaley Johnson

Since having this assignment, I have noticed that somatics plays a huge role in

everyday life. In other words, if people really understood the basic concepts such as the

different patterns of total body connectivity and the twelve principles of Bartenieff

fundamentals, their lives would be so much more meaningful and purposeful! I observed

on many different occasions one of the most basic, human behaviors—walking.  The

three distinctly different scenarios include observing people walk across campus, noticing

a telling kind of pattern while at a party/ social scene, and taking note of how being

pregnant has affected the walking patterns of my older sister. In all of these unique

situations, I will take note of the predominant and underlying patterns, tensions present,

and how the action could have been done more proficiently.

I must say that watching people walk across campus was one of the most

interesting and insightful things that I have ever done.  I came to realize that so much is

revealed about a person from simply observing the way they walk—from their current

mood to their personality. The particular day that I watched was a chilly one—so it was

intriguing to observe the different ways that people dealt with the weather. There was one

girl who was clearly underdressed in only a light cardigan. In efforts to keep warm, her

shoulders were shrugged so tightly with tension that they were practically in her ears. As

a result, her spine was hunched over as she walked very slowly, making her look shy and

timid. It was almost as if this girl had forgotten that both ends of her spine are in a live

and functioning relationship. This misaligned posture indicated to me that this was a

Head-Tail Connectivity issue in which she lacked a proper, dynamic alignment. I wanted

to tell this girl that correct alignment is a dynamic process—a relationship of stability and

mobility that is ongoing to create a through-line of energy in the vertical. In order to

release this tension in her shoulders and fix this alignment issue, she must first

understand that the whole spine needs to constantly be involved and moving—especially

as she walks. If this girl utilized more fully the changes in flexion-extension, lateral

flexion-extension and rotation in a three-dimensional manner to create spiraling

movement—she would experience this full range and use of her spine! Furthermore, once

her spine is spiraling, she can establish a cross-lateral usage of her arms and legs as

opposed to hugging them to her body. In order to effectively demonstrate good posture,

she would need to constantly make three-dimensional shifts—as her internal relationships

are shifting to maintain balance as she walks. With this correct posture, she could get

across campus more efficiently. This essential Head-Tail Connectivity would allow her to

sense herself as an individual, with both fluidity and solid support coming through her

core to give attention out to her world—rather than looking insecure and timid.

In direct contrast to this girl, there was a boy who demonstrated an excellent

understanding of the sense of his own head-tail relationship. He walked confidently—

appearing both stable and fluid as he walked across campus. Despite the cold weather

that seemed to inhibit the girl before, this boy walked at a steady pace that made him

appear completely at solid ease. In each step, he effectively yielded to push—gathering

support and pushing into the earth and then reached to pull—sustaining and progressing

his walk out to the world and toward his final destination. What the boy demonstrated to

me was a fully developed cross lateral phenomenon of walking. You could tell that his

walk began first with the initiation of his pelvis, supported with a push from the grounded

leg, through the core, letting the arm provide cross-lateral balance while simultaneously

reaching forward with the free leg to accept the weight. This particular boy made what

seemed like work to the girl before much more natural and fluid—showing his

confidence and surety of himself in his world.

My second experience would have to be my very favorite. I realized in this

observation how much of somatics interplays into real life situations and people. Last

Friday night, I decided to go to a dance party at a nearby apartment complex clubhouse

with one of my good friends. My feelings of excitement were soon overcome with

anxiety as I saw my ex boyfriend across the room. After getting past the initial

awkwardness, things were fine and I had a great time dancing with my friends. In fact,

the whole situation was great closure for me because I was able to see him in his true

character. The way that boy walked around the party spoke volumes—his inner attitude

and self-perception were manifest in his outward expression of the way he carried

himself as he walked. He almost waltzed around with this bobble in his step like he

owned the place—as if he was the life of the party. He held his head back and up high

and proud as he walked around to several girls—working his magic with several innocent

girls at the party. This indeed made him come off as superior—or so he thought. He is

someone that literally needs to yield to the earth—establishing a humble sense of

grounding.  Although he may always be the center of his own kinesphere, he certainly is

not the center of anyone else’s.  

There was a noticeable difference between my ex and most of the other guys at

the party, who walked around with a firm grounded-ness and confidence that was not

overbearing or snobbish.  It was interesting for me to observe my ex’s older brother walk

around the party in direct contrast to him—and he ought to learn from his brother how

walk more humbly. This brother, who is shorter and smaller in stature, walked with a true

sense of establishment and grounding. It was amazing to the see the difference with

someone who was actually centered—being fully aware of his power source, which

includes those key seven inches of the lower body. Being in touch with this center of

weight and its relationship with the earth literally made him look more grounded. One

could really sense the use of his core purpose as he walked with real intent in efforts to

get somewhere as opposed to just flouncing around the party for fun and attention.

My third experience was observing my older sister who is nearly eight months

pregnant. When I first asked her to walk for me, she replied, “I don’t walk—I waddle!”

Embarrassed and bashful, she compared her walk to that of a penguin. As I observed her,

I noticed a lot of tension particularly in her pelvic girdle. It was almost as if her limbs

were moving independently from her core which seemed to stop the transfer of alive

energy. This tension from the pelvic area—almost as if she was trying to hold her body

still as she walked—then transferred to holding her upper body rigid as well.  This made

her spine seem very rigid as her arms and legs swung from their proximal joints—lacking

both energy and sense of diagonal connection through the core.

In order to help my sister walk more proficiently, I would encourage the sensation

of connection along a diagonal pathway through the body’s core between the body’s

cross quadrants. When this energy is properly transferred diagonally through the core,

subtle spiraling through the torso can take place—making the whole body more active

and alive. Down and up, anterior posterior, as well as side and side are connected.

Walking, when done properly, is an exciting experience for the entire body. It stimulates

nerve plexus in both the lower and upper, and engages kinetic chains of muscles all the

way from the foot through the pelvic floor, through the spine, scapula to arms and

fingertips, and lastly through the head. In effectively implementing these principles, my

sister will be able to eliminate these tensions and disconnections and be able to turn

walking from a pain to a healthy and beneficial exercise at this point in her pregnancy.

In conclusion, I am grateful for the experience I had to really observe walking in

three different scenarios. I learned that walking can reveal major characteristics about a

person. Many people, however, are not walking in the most beneficial way—which can

be improved upon by applying such elements as the ones found in Upper-Lower and

Cross-Lateral principles. A correct application of these fundamentals can make walking a

beneficial, healthy, exciting experience just as it is intended to be.

My second observation has been a journey filled with many enlightening

moments and realizations. The opportunity to observe and apply my somatics knowledge

has been greatly helpful to my personal learning and growth in my dance experience. In

this analysis, I will discuss the progression from a “391 level dancer,” through the upper

levels of the Theatre Ballet, to a professional ballerina. Choosing illuminating moments

from each observation, I will focus on the Bartinieff fundamentals used as well as which

ones could have been used to better serve the dancer’s virtuosity, efficiency and artistry

of their personal material.

I began this journey with observing one of Shayla Bott’s 391 technique classes. I

learned quickly that choosing her class to observe was a very intelligent decision. From

the way she gave corrections and explained concepts, you could tell that she has a

prevalent and deeply rooted knowledge in somatics. One of the biggest themes that

Shayla mentioned was the proper coordination of the upper and lower body. She kept

saying during their plies at barre, “Make sure your arms and legs arrive at the same time,”

and “Watch the coordination of the arms and legs,” which immediately made me think of

the Upper-Lower body connection.  Because the core is not adequately developed in

these dancers, there seemed to be an Upper-Lower split with this “no man’s land” in the

center of the body. This problem, which was first evident in plies, definitely transferred

as there was a loss of coordination and confidence in their abilities in their later

movement sequences—which will be discussed later.

I continued to watch as the dancers performed some “rotator roll-ups,” focusing

on spinal articulation. One phrase that stuck out to me was Shayla’s brilliant comment,

“Now do this motion with true breath—not your fake ballerina breaths.” I thought this

phrase was completely genius—and I agreed because the girls were not using their breath

to move. I think that often times as ballerinas, we have this feeling of lightness and grace

and we forget that deep, meaningful breath is absolutely key to our dancing! In fact,

many times I have caught myself finishing a combination or exercise and then thinking,

“I am pretty sure I forgot to breathe!” Instead of feeling replenished and nourished like

breath is supposed to do, I am left exhausted.

The next week and weekend I got the privilege of observing this same 391 group

of ladies in their Ballet showcase tech rehearsals and performance. Ironically, I observed

these same principles of Upper-Lower and breath manifest themselves within their

performance. In noticing first their breath, I was able to pick up on a pattern that the

dancers followed in nearly every piece. Breath is absolutely essential to life, movement

and rhythm. It is the foundation, the ground base for all patterns that follow. Yet, as

dancers, I think we can forget how crucial a role it plays in our dancing. In the beginning

of each piece, I would hear silence—almost as if the dancers were not breathing at all—

which worried me! But, by the end, I could audibly hear the shallow breathing of these

dancers. This breath was not the kind that was necessarily aiding in their movement

sequencing, but instead seemed more of an after-math of their dancing. How beneficial it

would be for these dancers to understand that breath begins at the cellular level—that is

enlivens, and creates a dynamic, continuous flow and lively movement. In addition to

increased movement quality, effective use of breath would translate to the exertion-

recuperation cycle—replenishing movement vitality with less heavy or excess breathing.

Instead, the breath would be used to aid and enhance their movement.  

Returning to the Upper-Lower split that I observed in their technique class, this

pattern was further noticed and highlighted in their performance on stage. Learning to use

the limbs in a connected way with the core makes such a difference on movement quality

and execution. A key principle that would improve the homologous movement—that is,

the upper and lower body moving together—is yield to push and reach to pull patterns.

Yield to push patterns provide grounding and power, while reach to pull patterns provide

access to space. In observing them on stage, many dancers yielded to the ground

effectively, but failed to reach through their distal ends to the edges of their kinesphere in

following through with reach and pull. In order to increase their movement quality, it

would benefit the dancers to visualize their energy initiating from the core, reaching out

of each of the six limbs rather than stopping at their fingertips. One movement that would

greatly benefit from the implementation of this principle would be in pique arabesque.

First, they would need to yield to the floor by deepening their plié and then using that

push from earth to pique onto their other leg. In this same moment of execution, they

must think about their kinetic chains extending out from the top of their head. Thinking

of laser beams shooting from the ends of their fingertips would not only improve the

dancer’s line, making them look longer in space, but also sustain the movement longer—

improving the efficiency and virtuosity of the movement.  

During this time, I also got to observe (from stage) one of our very own dancers,

Natalie Taylor, in the new piece set on our company by Shayla Bott. Her duet with Paige

Hollingsworth in the third movement is absolutely stunning. First of all, her movement

phrasing of her unique solo is so smooth—as she performs one movement right into the

next. One of my favorite moments is when her whole body is brought down suddenly

because of her elbow, and then she is quickly brought back off the floor from again, the

initiation from that same elbow. What makes this moment brilliant is the intentional

preparation and initiation that produces such a fulfilling phrase that appears seamless.

Her patterns of connectivity were fully utilized and movement was successive and fluid.

Natalie is a beautiful mover—a  joy and inspiration to watch.  

Last weekend, I also got the privilege of watching Ballet West’s performance of

Firebird, Petite More, and Balanchine’s, “Who Cares.” Echoing the main principles that

were observed before, these dancers not only had a true grasp of Upper-Lower

connectivity and of Breath, but have also completely mastered the rest of the patterns of

total body connectivity as well as the principles of the Bartenieff fundamentals. It was

such a wonderful experience to witness the lively interplay between all of these concepts

in a performance that seemed to bring everything together.  I came to realize that in the

professional division, what is most beautiful are the very basics of ballet technique that

are exquisitely employed. Their whole bodies are connected; from the moment they walk

on stage, all the different parts have a clear relationship—even in the most difficult

moves such as fouette arabesques en pointe. Although their movement is multifaceted

and complex, their awareness of body, effort, space, and shape is balanced and appears

effortless. I especially noticed this principle in their choreography as a core in Firebird—

as they were able to dance beautifully in unison with all the same shape in their simple

port de bras. Lastly, these dancers, I realized are no longer simply athletes, but true artists

—as each ballerina exhibited exquisite personal uniqueness—making the entire

performance an exciting adventure for the audience to watch.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed this second assignment—learning what truly

makes the difference between a dancer and a professional artist.  After the Ballet

Showcase performance, it was interesting to talk to one of the moms of a Theatre Ballet

company member. She said something that really stuck with me: “I’ve been thinking

about what makes a dancer really shine. I think it is the energy behind the movement.

Someone who catches my eye follows through with each motion and holds nothing

back.” A dancer who moves the audience not only understands each function of the body,

but they understand the purpose and relationship between all the parts. They realize that

relationship is fundamental; relationship is connection. A clear sense of these

fundamentals allows us to reach a goal of lively interplay of inner connectivity with outer

expressivity to enrich our lives.