Improvisational dance exercises do not adhere to strict choreographic guidelines. These exercises allow the student to explore her body's position in space, while moving in accordance with a specific theme or a distinct movement quality. While some improvisational dance exercises use music to invoke a movement response, participants do not have move to the exact beat of the music.
History
While dance historians do not know the exact origins of improvisational dance exercise, it is possible that Follies Bergeres dancer Loie Fuller played a key role in developing the idea. Fuller favored natural movement patterns over the strict confines of ballet. She opened a dance school in 1908, where she taught natural movement and improvisational techniques. Loie Fuller inspired Isadora Duncan, who also embraced the natural movement concept. Duncan created her dances by exploring specific movements, and noting the emotional effects they caused. She observed the movements of the waves and the swaying of the trees, and developed dances based on these movements. Many dance improvisational exercises are based on nature or animal movements.
Time Frame
The concept of movement improvisation as an emotionally gratifying experience set the groundwork and a field called dance therapy. In 1940, dance instructor Marian Chase decided to study at the Washington School of Psychiatry, where she developed her therapeutic dance concept. She founded the American Dance Therapy Association in 1966. Mary Starks Whitehouse, a Jungian analyst, was a contemporary. Whitehouse developed a dance improvisation exercise that enabled participants to develop a dance that expressed their feelings about a specific image.
Significance
The NIA technique, which stands for Neuromuscular Integrative Action, is a dance exercise improvisational method that incorporates many of the principles embraced by natural dance proponents and dance therapists. Carlos and Debbie Rosas developed the technique in 1983, against a fitness atmosphere characterized by complexly choreographed aerobic and step classes, performed to a computerized, steady beat. In an article on the IDEA Fitness website, Debbie and Carlos explain the evolution of the NIA method.
Apparently, they were taking a martial arts class. The instructor told them that they knew how to exercise, but didn't know how to move. They integrated techniques developed by Isadora Duncan with yoga, tai chi and other movement techniques, and created a new mind/body exercise method. Students warm up with breathing exercises, and then perform a series of movements based on simple images. An instructor might tell students to wave their arms as if they were stroking a field of flowers. There's no right or wrong. Everything is open to interpretation.
Types
While some dance improvisation exercises allow the participant to work solo, contact improvisation, developed in 1972, emphasizes interaction between two bodies. Exercises may include falling, rolling, following a physical contact point or supporting your partners weight. While usually performed as a duet, contact improvisation also works as a group improvisation exercise. Physical objects, such as chairs and desks, may also be used as a point of contact.
Benefits
Dance improvisation exercise may be fun, but it also has some specific health benefits. In her book titled "Dancing Identity: Metaphysics in Motion," author Sondra Horton Fraleigh explains that improvisation, especially contact improvisation, enhances proprioception, or the body's awareness of its position in space, as well as its immediate surroundings. Some improvisation classes, such as NIA, have aerobic benefits. Participants who do not enjoy traditional aerobic movements get the chance to move to a variety of musical styles.
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