Life as a Modern Dancer

For Undergraduate and Graduate Improvisation Courses: Readings and Prompts

Melecio Estrella. Photo by Jessica Swanson. Read Melecio's essay here.

From Blog Director Jill Randall:

Hello! Today I am pleased to share 10 essays about improvisational practices and performances, plus 52 prompts for exercises and explorations.

Depending on your department, these resources could work in an undergraduate or graduate level course.

I look forward to hearing from you about the use of these pieces in your classes. Email feedback and stories to randalldanceprojects@gmail.com. Thank you!

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Beginnings

A Dozen Questions about Improvising (Actually, A Baker's Dozen) - by Jill Randall

 

Blog Series: "Why Improv?"

Improvisation as Sustainability - by Mitsuko Clarke-Verdery

Improvising in Practice: reflections from my workshop with Jesse Zaritt in a time of COVID-19 - by Molly Rose-Williams

6 improvisation scores (or, archives of making a solo through improvisational process) - by Audrey Johnson

FINDING (HEART): Practices in Improvisation (& Practices in Improvisational Writing) - by Molly Heller

Where We Find Ourselves: Memories of Improvisations - by Melecio Estrella

Rigor + Anarchy in Improvisation - by Ellen Slatkin

 

Improvisational Performances

A Home for Improvisation at "Never Before Never Again" - by Sarah Chien

This Time - compiled and partially written by Pamela Vail

 

Consent and Decolonization in Contact Improvisation

Let us eat cake, consensually, that is: A Reflection on TALK.DANCE.CAKE - by Bhumi B. Patel

 

52 Movement Poems to Inspire Improvisations

52 Movement Poems (the complete list)

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Invitations: 52 Movement Poems (the complete list)

Movement Poem #7

From Blog Director Jill Randall:

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place, in Spring 2020, I started sharing Movement Poems on the blog. The idea was to offer improvisation and composition prompts that we could easily do at home. I paired each poem with a piece of music by Michael Wall, easily accessed on his site soundformovement.com.

Here is the complete list of 52 poems. I hope that you can use them for your personal practice, or use them within an undergraduate or graduate level course.

Movement Poem #1 (Sequencing)

Movement Poem #2 (Grounding)

Movement Poem #3 (Opening)

Movement Poem #4 (Body Game)

Movement Poem #5 (Whole Body, Going)

Movement Poem #6 (Personal Space)

Movement Poem #7 (confetti)

Movement Poem #8 (Whimsy)

Movement Poem #9 (Contents/Container)

Movement Poem #10 (Goals)

Movement Poem #11 (Activate)

Movement Poem #12 (Accumulation)

Movement Poem #13 (Aspirations)

Movement Poem #14 (Placement)

Movement Poem #15 (If, I)

Movement Poem #16 (Distill)

Movement Poem #17 (Bookends)

Movement Poem #18 (Seeking a Daydream)

Movement Poem #19 (simplicity)

Movement Poem #20 (eyes)

Movement Poem #21 (exterior/exit)

Movement Poem #22 (small dance)

Movement Poem #23 (zig zag)

Movement Poem #24 (Movement becomes wishes)

Movement Poem #25: The Delight of Verbs Beginning with the Letter D (thank you, Ross Gay)

Movement Poem #26 (palette)

Movement Poem #27 (Symmetry)

Movement Poem #28 (word pairs)

Movement Poem #29 (Simply, Warming Up)

Movement Poem #30 (Anchors)

Movement Poem #31: Some That I Love (Actions + Pathways)

Movement Poem #32 (You Choose)

Movement Poem #33 (Simple Score)

Movement Poem #34 (reverso poem)

Movement Poem #35 (to arrive)

Movement Poem #36 (Less/More)

Movement Poem #37 (spinal twist)

Movement Poem #38 (light)

Movement Poem #39 (reciprocity)

Movement Poem #40 (Yes!)

Movement Poem #41 (Iterations)

Movement Poem #42 (lean in)

Movement Poem #43 (The Ribs)

Movement Poem #44 (Time/Timing/Tempo)

Movement Poem #45 (Today, So Much New Information)

Movement Poem #46 (word pairs for a solo)

Movement Poem #47 (calming actions for today)

Movement Poem #48 (an entrance, moving backwards)

Movement Poem #49 (Imagery/Ideas)

Movement Poem #50 (New Directions)

Movement Poem #51 (Remembering Kites)

Movement Poem #52