Chapter 5
The Body Is Your Instrument: Maximizing Expression and Moving Weight
Video 5.11
Heals Together
Transcript
Heals Together
- This somewhat common conducting stance is often accompanied by an elevated conducting plane
- While it may project a general sense of command or authority, it does not allow for weight to efficiently transfer throughout the body
- Try adopting this stance and move your arms from one side of your body to the other
- You will quickly discover that the inability to shift weight creates imbalance in your body. Your only recourse is to tighten in order to avoid falling over
- Consequently, this stance results in tension throughout the body that limits movement in the Movable-Masses, center and legs. The resultant stillness in these areas can contribute to a lack of a visual sense of authenticity
Video 5.13
Feet Hip Width Apart: Parallel vs. Forty-Five Degree Angle
Transcript
Feet Hip Width Apart: Parallel vs. Forty-Five Degree Angle
- Stand with your feet parallel and about hip width apart
- Push your pelvis forward and bring your arms up as though you were about to conduct
- You will likely find this stance somewhat uncomfortable
- Turn your feet out to make roughly a forty-five degree angle. This stance will now likely feel "sort of comfortable"
- However, this is only because the feet turning outward is a compensation for the pelvis being forward
- To illustrate this point, move your feet back to parallel
- Now, allow yourself to have soft feet and unlock your pelvis. You will likely find that your weight shifts backward slightly, lengthening your spine and bringing you back to a more balanced stance
Video 5.17
Moving weight - exercise ball demonstration
Transcript
Moving Weight - Exercise Ball Demonstration
- To show weight, you must move your own physical weight. When we move heavy objects in everyday life we use our entire body. This requires our center (dantian) to move
- You move your center (dantian) by shifting weight from one leg to the other. To accomplish this, you will need to use your hip, knee and ankle joints while maintaining soft feet
- The ball is now removed to offer a more complete view of the body
- While the hands and arms may ultimately beat time and/or make any gesture that enhances the specificity of the music, without availability to shift the weight of the body it will be difficult to communicate weightiness without resorting to tension
Video 5.18
Moving Weight - Pushing and Pulling Demonstration
Transcript
Moving Weight - Pushing and Pulling Demonstration
- This simple exercise of pulling an imaginary rope and pushing an imaginary wall further demonstrates the importance of allowing the weight of the body to shift in order to show weight
- While the hands add a layer of specificity, it is really the shifting of weight of the entire body, evidenced by the movement of the center (dantian), that make the gestures look heavy
Video 5.19
Communicating Expansion
Transcript
Communicating Expansion
- Communicating expansion is most effective when the whole body is involved
- As the arms expand outward, they displace weight. In order to remain balanced, this weight is counterbalanced by the weight of the Movable-Masses moving slightly backward
- The opposite is true as the hands contract
- This allows the body to expand in three dimensions at once, physically taking up more volume. Without the movement of the Movable-Masses, the gesture would look far less expansive and authentic
Video 5.20
Communicating Contraction
Transcript
Communicating Contraction
- When showing contraction, a common occurrence is to see the torso and head collapse with the gesture
- This can cause the ensemble's sound to become squeezed and/or unsupported
- Here is the same issue shown in profile
- Allowing the spine to expand upward and downward while the arms are contracting will encourage a more full and supported timbre
- Though the hands are shown contracting an imaginary ball in this example, the elongation of the spine can accompany any contracting gesture of the hands
- Here is the same gesture, shown in profile
Video 5.23
Leading With the Tip of the Baton
Transcript
Leading With the Tip of the Baton
- A common habit that impedes living in the tip involves first raising the wrist upward and letting the hand, fingers and baton trail behind
- (Slow motion)
- (Real time)
- While this may occasionally be useful to convey a very specific musical intention, its overuse leads to a general lack of specificity in the tip of the baton and to tension in the wrist
- Allowing your focus and intentions to include the tip allows the tip to lead the motion rather than being pulled into motion by the arm
- (Slow motion)
- (Real time)
Video 5.24, Video 5.25 and Video 5.26
Increasing Viscosity Demonstration
Transcript
Increasing Viscosity Demonstration
- Imagining that you are moving through viscosities of differing thickness can be an effective way to communicate weight
- The less viscous the substance, the less of your body will be involved in the gesture. As the viscosity thickens, more of your body will need to move in order to convey your intentions
- In this example, simple horizontal motion is utilized but the broader principle applies to any gesture
- Here, the gesture is made with mostly the arms and hands. The torso remains relatively static
- Motion throughout the upper body is now allowed and the gesture appears slightly heavier
- Lastly, the entire body becomes part of the gesture. The gesture now communicates an even greater sense of weight
- Movement is allowed throughout the Movable-Masses, the center (dantian) and the legs, all made possible by maintaining soft feet
- These variations are all viable options depending on the specificity of the musical moment. However, many conductors attempt to show increasing weight in the arms and hands alone, resulting in excess tension and effort. By allowing more of the body to move, increases in weight can be communicated without excessive tension.