Non-doing

My last term at school has started, and David invited Bob Britton to teach for some days in Fitzroy. Like so often, the process of learning brings some strange topsy-turvy encounters with it.

Quite some fellow teacher trainees extended their stay in Beechworth after the AUSTAT conference, so that the school seemed quite empty. On monday, Bob helped us exploring our feet anew, using group exercises (wrong word here, don't know any better right now), images and the skeleton. Without giving any 'fixed' idea about the right place to balance, he led us through exploring different configurations, many obviously less mechanical advantageous than our design allows.

Two things stood out for me on the first day. Going with awareness through 'odd' movements provides plenty of information, and opens up more choices. Especially when the movements very distinctly involve 'too much' and 'too little'. Only balance allows movement in any direction, and balance happens very dynamically. I also noticed the precision and animation in Bob's demonstrations. His eyes moved a lot, without seeming hectic at all, and he embodied the ways to move he was talking about.

I'm not too sure how often I heard and talk about the 'triangle under the foot'. I still crave to talk to Jack and Alysha about some details I gave them incorrect information about. I'm not too sure whether they incorporated this faulty bit of information into their movements, or whether Bob's workshops managed to help them to a more reliable body map. I like triangles, triangulation provide minimal stability for my delicately balanced tensegrity sculptures, but until yesterday my idea about the triangle under the foot didn't make use of the complex structure of our foot.

If we use the heel and the two sesamoid bones under the big toe (distal end of the medial metatarsal to be precise) we balance 'naturally'. The wide base of the heel 'receives' the body weight first, and the transverse arch, build by the bones posterior to the metatarsals, directs the weight towards the big toe. Flat feet often come together with slightly x-shaped legs, that's too much on the inside, too little on the outside. My legs rather tend to an o-shape, too much weight goes to the little toe, too little to the big one.

Although the way my feet touch the ground changed noticeably, I still find myself often 'stuck' to the ground - not too surprising, as I attempt to spread the weight in my foot quite equally towards the big and little toe. Another example that directions allow us to do the 'wrong thing' more efficiently. Incorporating some consolidated information gives me more confidence to experiment more with what happens at the same time in legs and hips.

Todays topic fitted in nicely, having another take on the separation and connection of legs and torso. Bob kept the group engaged and moving, using an iPad to show us some amazing anatomical drawings. The infectious upness carried on into student clinic.

Feet

Today started in an unusual way, we find a presentation by a podiatrist. I wasn't too surprised that still a lot of people turned up late, including some teachers. Jason didn't know too much about AT, yet he unknowningly incorporated some of its ideas into his presentation. I liked his professional attitude, his presence and the way he integrated any feedback into his time in front of an unusual audience.

We did the turns afterwards, and I had another one with Matt. I challenged him by working on juggling, and he made me aware of my 'fixation' while standing and performing. I noticed myself how much I shortened myself in my shoulder during the 'warm-up' routine, and the pattern of locking my knees while standing is worth exploring some more.

I spend some time before we re-visited Jason's little check-up on feet and balance playing around with Ana. However, I still wonder why I have so much more problems to maintain my 'up' in school, while it gets easier in most other situations. Especially with unicycling I feel like making big advances when I had a go to cycle around the little oval in the neighborhood.

Feet

The week started a bit unusual - due the coordination for the Yoga exhibition the turn time git shifted arounnd a bit. Margaret worked with me on the sensation of weight, grounding it with my heels. I enjoyed the yoga session, I get the impression of improvement.

John let us play with each other in the group session. We tried to guide each other by using our hands around the head and on the back and worked on our observation skills.