Group Motion in Practice

Brigitta Herrmann is a dancer, performer, choreographer, and movement educator. As co-founder and co-artistic director of Motion in Berlin, Group Motion Multimedia Dance Theater, and of Ausdruckstanz Dance Theater in Philadelphia, she is a leading force in the arena of dance/movement improvisation and choreography. The late Manfred Fischbeck was co-founder and co-artistic director of Group Motion Multimedia Dance Theater. A performer, teacher, choreographer, musician, and innovator in improvisation and dance technology, he taught dance at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, and theater at the University of Pennsylvania. Elia A. Sinaiko, PhD, is an independent researcher in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Anna Beresin, PhD, is a play researcher and professor of liberal arts at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroductionThe Origins of Group MotionGroup Motion in PracticeDance Is My Life: Brigitta’s StoryRunning into Dance: Manfred’s StoryGroup Motion Performance StoriesPart I. Group Motion Game StructuresSolo/DuetActive-PassiveActivationMirrorClosing Your EyesSelf Portrait DanceSolo Dance/WritingDialogueConnected to StringsSelf-ActivationBreathing MovementFinal Reflections on Solo/Duet FormsCircleImpulseName GameAddingFinal Reflections on Circle FormsSpaceAreasCrystallizationThe GridShadow DanceExchange GameMoving or Being StillTriangle/Diamond DanceGroup Dialogue/Trialogue DanceFinal Reflections on Space FormsSoundTime DanceMessage DanceReceiving Sound EnergyConducting Sound EnergySound Activation/SoundscapesWords into SoundsFinal Reflections on Sound FormsWordTraveling LandscapesSay What You DoWord/Movement MirrorChat RoomWriting Process and ActivationTextographyStorytelling DanceAlter Ego MonologueAlter Ego DialogueFinal Reflections on Word FormsRitualHouse or Village Square DanceObject DanceGroup ActivationsTableaux StillsGroup Tableaux TravelEvolution CyclePast Lives CircleDoing Nothing: The Dance of StillnessGame SequencesIntroduction to the Friday Night WorkshopModel of Group Motion on a Friday NightThe Significance of Ritual DancesPart II. Group Motion PracticesEight Therapeutic Principles of Group MotionThe Partnership of Dance and MusicA Process of Collective CreationCommunity Performance ProjectMonday Night Improv LabMoving Beyond the GamesReflection on the Practice of Free ImprovisationPractice of Interaction with TechnologyPart III. Closing Conversations and MeditationsCooperation: The Universal Creative PrincipleDance as a Vehicle for Understanding Human NatureThe Awakening of the Body in the Technological AgeThe Art of Dance and TransformationThe Art of Free ImprovisationFrom Then to Now and There to HereDance as an Art FormDance Is a Way of LifeAppendix I: Dance Chronology: Brigitta HerrmannAppendix II: Theater and Dance Chronology: Manfred FischbeckBibliographyIndex

“Group Motion’s work is unique in that is takes what is often practiced in insular modern and post-modern dance communities and brings it weekly to the Philadelphia community...and now to anyone who picks up this book.”—Thinking Dance