Sophie once said before, that she would love to learn the Salsa. Her desire to dance is shown in this performance: endless twirls and flailing arms. It started off with an awkward laugh and smile. Then, she let down her braid and threw off her shoes, without giving it a second look. And then, she twirled and twirled, like the ballerinas in those delicate music boxes.
She used the whole classroom as her stage instead of being stationary. With her bare feet, Sophie twirled everywhere. Left and right, back and front. Looking at the way she spun around endlessly, it was almost like we were sucked in a trance. Her arms were up in the air, and her hair was flowing around her. And if you kept staring, somehow you could picture her in another setting, maybe even in a tropical rainforest.
The way she threw away her shoes showed how she didn’t care. It didn’t matter whether the floor was dirty; at that moment, it seemed like all she cared about was being unrestricted, and those shoes proved to be a restriction for her. The same goes for her hair. Instead of it being neatly done, she let her braid down and let it get loose and wild. Those two actions she showed at the beginning showed what she liked to be: fun and free.
Recording a performance is never the same as watching it in person. While you’re trying to capture every single fleeting moment on camera, there might have been something you missed in person. You can see everything in person, but on the camera, it’s not as easy to capture everything you want to capture. While I was recording Sophie, I found it rather hard to enjoy a performance when you’re trying to capture it at the same time.
Linda, I think you totally got what I was trying to convey in my self portrait. Clearly I’m not much of a dancer, nor am I graceful in my attempt. But I think movement is one of the most honest ways of self-expression, because it’s not obscured by words with limiting meanings. At first I struggled when trying to think of how to best represent myself to the class, but realized that there isn’t a specific story or scenario that tells who I am. It’s much more natural for me to show myself by surrendering my thoughts and letting my body carry my emotions.
I can be timid at first, but really, I prefer to be bare and exposed and carefree. I’d rather let go and surrender to urges and sensations. As you said, I like to be free of restrictions (like my shoes and hair tie) –to be loose and unconfined. This is what I was trying to show when I was twirling around to the wild percussion, letting the music guide me in that moment, without inhibitions.
Also, for me it was important to be barefoot because I think of myself as an honest and down-to-earth kind of person. I’m always present and sincere, not hiding behind a facade or saying anything I don’t mean. Being barefoot made me feel more in touch with my environment and my audience, which is the same as I like to be in a conversation with anyone.
One thing that surprised me was that I didn’t feel nervous or embarrassed to be dancing around alone in front of the class, because usually I don’t like performing in front of others. But I guess because my performance was more spontaneous and intuitive, and my point was to open myself up to everyone, I didn’t have anything to be worried about. It was just me.