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Falling Through Dance and Life
This is a book about falling as a means of reconfiguring our relationship with living and dying. Dancer, choreographer, educator and therapist Emilyn Claid draws inspiration from her personal and professional experiences to explore alternative approaches to being present in the world. Contemporary movement based performers ground their practices in understanding the interplay of gravity and the body. Somatic intentional falling provides them a creative resource for developing both self and environmental support. The physical, metaphorical and psychological impact of these practices informs the theories and perspectives presented in this book. As falling can be dangerous and painful, encouraging people to do so willingly might be considered a provocative premise. Western culture generally resists falling because it provokes fear and represents failure. Out of this tension a paradox falling, we are both powerless subjects and agents of change, a dynamic distinction that enlivens discussions throughout the writing. Emilyn engages with different dance genres, live performance and therapeutic interactions to form her ideas and interlaces her arguments with issues of gender and race. She describes how surrender to gravity can transform our perceptions and facilitate ways of being that are relational and life enhancing. Woven throughout, autobiographical, poetic, philosophical, descriptive and theoretical voices combine to question the fixation of Western culture on uprightness and supremacy. A simple act of falling builds momentum through eclectic discussions, uncovering connections to shame, laughter, trauma, ageing and the thrill of release.
220 pages, Paperback
Published July 28, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 23, 2021
From ‘falling in love’ to the prat falls of comics for laughs, 'Falling Through Dance and Life' is something that is part of human cultures and probably since Homo Erectus strode onto the world stage it’s been a deeply embedded metaphor of our being a dominant species, the physical corollary of our capacity for superior intelligence. The author Emilyn Claid is a dancer and choreographer and more recently a Gestalt therapist, so she is well prepared for an exploration of the physical, cultural and psychological dimensions of falling.
The book comprises 95 short chapters on falling in every aspect, preceded by a 6 part introduction. This is a very personable book and accessible to all readers not just dancers, clinicians and metaphorologists - its just a pity this hardback first edition is such an academic price! Its accessibility is due to the language used and because the subjects of each part are so personal and often touching. There are idea’s to surprise and to think about.
And there are things to try out: Like Steve Paxton’s ’Small Dance’ on page 47 which is a kind of standing meditation. Or, if you want to be inspired to do something more exciting, there’s a passage on sky diving with Lindsey Butcher!
Contact improvisation - which is, at its most basic, ‘two bodies sharing their weight through a tactile connection’ brought back nice memories for me, as it was the form of dance I could most easily relate to in the early Eighties - Improvisational and with a minimum of formality.
Perhaps the core argument of this book is about working with gravity rather than resisting gravity. And then taking this understanding from the 'new dance’ of the Seventies and Eighties into a mental understanding of the ups and downs of our life trajectories. The book helps us to understand gravity as a friend, rather than it being an antagonist. An engagement with this book could lead to a profound reorientation of the readers sense of themselves. How to enjoy failing, falling and even feeling shame, because you are part of a process (normal living and striving) in which these are unavoidable, nay, essential components of life.
I wrote that paragraph earlier in my read now further in I can see that, tbh, the book will really most appeal to dance aficionados and even more to choreographers. The main research material is, after all, performance and interviews with leading dance performers. People who have paid attention to contemporary dance performance of the last 40 years will be guaranteed to be stirred if not shaken.
And no review would be complete without a constructive criticism! Some of the short chapters are frustratingly brief and, (like the one on Laughter p.152) I want them to go on:
The book comprises 95 short chapters on falling in every aspect, preceded by a 6 part introduction. This is a very personable book and accessible to all readers not just dancers, clinicians and metaphorologists - its just a pity this hardback first edition is such an academic price! Its accessibility is due to the language used and because the subjects of each part are so personal and often touching. There are idea’s to surprise and to think about.
“Panic and anxiety are calmed by gravity’s pull.”
And there are things to try out: Like Steve Paxton’s ’Small Dance’ on page 47 which is a kind of standing meditation. Or, if you want to be inspired to do something more exciting, there’s a passage on sky diving with Lindsey Butcher!
Contact improvisation - which is, at its most basic, ‘two bodies sharing their weight through a tactile connection’ brought back nice memories for me, as it was the form of dance I could most easily relate to in the early Eighties - Improvisational and with a minimum of formality.
Perhaps the core argument of this book is about working with gravity rather than resisting gravity. And then taking this understanding from the 'new dance’ of the Seventies and Eighties into a mental understanding of the ups and downs of our life trajectories. The book helps us to understand gravity as a friend, rather than it being an antagonist. An engagement with this book could lead to a profound reorientation of the readers sense of themselves. How to enjoy failing, falling and even feeling shame, because you are part of a process (normal living and striving) in which these are unavoidable, nay, essential components of life.
I wrote that paragraph earlier in my read now further in I can see that, tbh, the book will really most appeal to dance aficionados and even more to choreographers. The main research material is, after all, performance and interviews with leading dance performers. People who have paid attention to contemporary dance performance of the last 40 years will be guaranteed to be stirred if not shaken.
And no review would be complete without a constructive criticism! Some of the short chapters are frustratingly brief and, (like the one on Laughter p.152) I want them to go on:
“Laughter erupts between bodies as a shared gift, undoing the fixed sensibleness of an upright ‘I’.“ p.154
April 22, 2021
The reality and metaphor of falling are both so powerful. Although Emilyn Claid suggests one can dip into her new book at any point, I read from beginning to end, not wanting to miss anything.
Emilyn does an admirable job of threading her way through many different worlds: dance history and performance practice, theory and therapy, interweaving these with personal stories. Her changing use of language captures each reality as she moves between them.
Some of the personal essays are very moving, such as her son’s near fatal fall when he was on a film assignment. There are also anecdotes that bring a smile; she tells of a costume fitting at the National Ballet of Canada accompanied by comical insults from the wardrobe master as he worked on the over-the-top Cinderella costumes.
The book provides glimpses into Emilyn’s own trajectory, from professional ballet dancer, through studies at the Martha Graham School in NYC, to more radical creative work with X6. Later she became artistic director of Extemporary Dance, moved on into academia, subsequently training as a Gestalt therapist.
The historical sections capture many key innovators in dance, in Britain, Europe and North America. Some stories are shocking, such as the Sankai Juku performance in Seattle which resulted in a fatal fall. I have strong visual memories of this work, stark rope-suspended figures slowly descending the outer wall of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. I'd forgotten one of the later shows ended so tragically.
Interspersed with passages examining theoretical thinkers from the world of therapy, there are
sections of directed movement experiences which feel like mini-intermissions -- a chance to get back to the embodied present.
Life is complex, Emilyn is complex. She’s done a great job in navigating her way through and linking all these different fields in her own journey.
Her writing made me reflect on my own experiences with falling. My husband and I used to play a game of trust when we first lived together: I'd call trust and he'd have to run to catch me as I shifted balance and toppled over. My Mum died of a fall down the stairs at home: something that I carry with me.
Haven't we all fallen and needed to pick ourselves up.... again and again?
This book will resonate with readers from many backgrounds and provide much food for thought.
reviewed by Rosemary Jeanes Antze
Emilyn does an admirable job of threading her way through many different worlds: dance history and performance practice, theory and therapy, interweaving these with personal stories. Her changing use of language captures each reality as she moves between them.
Some of the personal essays are very moving, such as her son’s near fatal fall when he was on a film assignment. There are also anecdotes that bring a smile; she tells of a costume fitting at the National Ballet of Canada accompanied by comical insults from the wardrobe master as he worked on the over-the-top Cinderella costumes.
The book provides glimpses into Emilyn’s own trajectory, from professional ballet dancer, through studies at the Martha Graham School in NYC, to more radical creative work with X6. Later she became artistic director of Extemporary Dance, moved on into academia, subsequently training as a Gestalt therapist.
The historical sections capture many key innovators in dance, in Britain, Europe and North America. Some stories are shocking, such as the Sankai Juku performance in Seattle which resulted in a fatal fall. I have strong visual memories of this work, stark rope-suspended figures slowly descending the outer wall of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. I'd forgotten one of the later shows ended so tragically.
Interspersed with passages examining theoretical thinkers from the world of therapy, there are
sections of directed movement experiences which feel like mini-intermissions -- a chance to get back to the embodied present.
Life is complex, Emilyn is complex. She’s done a great job in navigating her way through and linking all these different fields in her own journey.
Her writing made me reflect on my own experiences with falling. My husband and I used to play a game of trust when we first lived together: I'd call trust and he'd have to run to catch me as I shifted balance and toppled over. My Mum died of a fall down the stairs at home: something that I carry with me.
Haven't we all fallen and needed to pick ourselves up.... again and again?
This book will resonate with readers from many backgrounds and provide much food for thought.
reviewed by Rosemary Jeanes Antze
March 26, 2021
You will recognise something of yourself here immediately as Emilyn’s wide-ranging survey of all that is falling connects with your own experiences; inevitably, as we all know falling and in this ex-tensive survey Emilyn explains why and how.
Emilyn’s expert eye and eloquence in both somatic and intellectual matters delivers a sublime and seductive combination of chapter titles and short excursions into all kinds of falling; falling all over the place from personal, performance and psychotherapeutic perspectives. With each example or experience presented there is the possibility of simply satisfying your curiosity or gaining a more profound understanding or simply to dip in again for something different; another and equally beguiling direction.
I was quickly drawn in, happily lost in browsing across chapters and then held in, dare I say, an ex-pertly choreographed journey through different spaces, movements, situations and circumstances of falling that could be both intellectual and essentially visceral experiences; reading about it and feeling it at the same time.
Emilyn’s expert eye and eloquence in both somatic and intellectual matters delivers a sublime and seductive combination of chapter titles and short excursions into all kinds of falling; falling all over the place from personal, performance and psychotherapeutic perspectives. With each example or experience presented there is the possibility of simply satisfying your curiosity or gaining a more profound understanding or simply to dip in again for something different; another and equally beguiling direction.
I was quickly drawn in, happily lost in browsing across chapters and then held in, dare I say, an ex-pertly choreographed journey through different spaces, movements, situations and circumstances of falling that could be both intellectual and essentially visceral experiences; reading about it and feeling it at the same time.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews