more drawing

On the quest for the perfect drawing again!! This time I spent three days with Scottish Dance Theatre and tried to capture moments from their class with Sean Feldman. I was mesmerised by his class material and the resulting movement from this wondeful company!What was particularily brilliant about Seans class was the material he used. It was especially suited to what I am searching for in my dance preparation for my film. Spirals and loops...constantly moving...and emotionally very moving to watch. I am hoping he will be back again soon.

This was an intense experience for me and it was interesting to note how I was observing and dancing inside at the same time....what difference does it make that I have dance experience? does that make me more able to capture movement? Do my drawings have more movement in them? My superviser, Sharon White is looking at the ways in which animators can become better at capturing movement in their drawing and it has been great to discuss this with her. I certainly have noticed my awareness of the muscles etc as I do observational drawing. This kinaesthetic awareness( root 'cenaesthesia'...from the Greek words koinos meaning common and aisthesis meaning sensuous perception ) is very vital for me as a choreographer, although there are non dancers who have made dance work, and I feel it helps me enormously in my drawing....Day one was fast..fast drawing missing bits ..going back next time to alter..and looking at the drawings at the end of an 80 minute session let me see what I had found. I am very critical of my own work, I seem to be constantly seeking the perfect drawing!!

Some have a real sense of moving..like the one on the left above...I found I wanted to focus mainly on one or two dancers who seemed to be inspiring me. I will watch the next performance with a new eye....I wonder if the same dancers will be my focus!!

I began to try to use the minimum of line to capture the moves....The feedback from the dancers themselves was brilliant. They saw themselves and also felt there was a real sense of movement in my work.