ART

APPRECIATION

Prepared By:
JOEY V. LORICA JR

Submitted to:
MA’AM MARINA LAGAYA
Topic: T R A D I T I O N A L C R A F T S

Traditional crafts can be as simple as a basket or as complicated as fine woven silk. Whether it is
a rug, a knitted sweater, an iron hinge, or a hunting decoy, people often invest time and effort,
beyond what is needed for basic necessity, to
produce crafts that are pleasing to the eye.

What is special about

traditional crafts?
Most traditional crafts developed before the
industrial age, which brought the
manufacture of interchangeable parts for
machinery and household appliances – and
before the invention of electricity, plastics
and polyesters.

In the pre-industrial age, craftsmen used materials found in nature like wood, cotton, wool,
natural dyes, stone, etc., to make their crafts – and they used hand- or water-powered tools to
make them.

Some craftsmen became specialists in a particular craft and well respected by the community as
master artisans. Some crafts were made by everyday people as a matter of survival. This was
especially true on farms and rural towns where people needed to be self-sufficient.
Today, traditional
craftsmen have bigger
challenges preserving
their skills because they
need to produce their
crafts in a modern
economy. Because most
traditional crafts are very
labor-intensive, few people earn a living in making their traditional craft.

TYPES OF CRAFTING:
Crafting includes a variety of art forms, from sculpture and metalwork to knitting and printing.
These crafts can all be divided into five basic types based on their form and purpose: textile,
decorative, paper, functional, and fashion crafts.

•TEXTILE CRAFTS – These include any type of craft where you work with fabric, yarn, or
surface design. Some examples are knitting, quilting, appliqué, weaving, and dyeing.
•PAPER CRAFTS – As the name implies, paper crafts have to do with paper. Many kids get
their first introduction to paper crafts in pre-school when they use carved potatoes to hand
• FASHION
print designsCRAFTS – This craft
on construction paper. Other paperallcrafts
encompasses include papier-mâché,
the elements of dressing thecalligraphy,
human body:
and papermaking.
jewelry, hats, leatherwork (shoes, belts, handbags), and garments. It will naturally intersect
with other craft types since jewelry can be made through metalworking and garments are
fabricated by sewing—which can be classified as a textile craft.

•DECORATIVE CRAFTS – This category also includes toy making and other arts—anything
where the final product is a piece of decor. Unlike fine art, decorative art typically has some
element of utility to it. A piece of furniture, for example, may be beautiful in its own right—
but its main function is to provide a place to sit.

•FUNCTIONAL CRAFTS – Many of the four other types of crafts can also be classified as
functional. For example, decorative pottery—including serving platters and utensils—is often
made with components that are okay for people to eat from. Many furniture crafts are
primarily functional but can also be quite decorative.

Obviously, to attract the widest possible customer base, it's good to have functionality built
into your art or craft. Many times customers who won't shell out the big bucks for an original
creation just because of its good looks will justify the cost because it can also be used in day-
to-day life.
INDIGENOUS ARTS, HOUSES,
and PEOPLE

INDIGENOUS ARTS
 INDIGENOUS HOUSES
In the Philippines, Indigenous Art is
art made by the indigenous peoples
of the Philippines. It includes works
in raw materials such as extracts
from trees, fruits, and vegetables.

•Philippine Indigenous Arts

SCULPTURE/CARVNING POTTERY

WEAVING PHYSICAL ORNAMENTS

Some of the art treasure of the Philippines is found in rock in caves, trees, and woods.
The Bahay Kubo, also known as payag (Nipon) in the Visayan languages and, is a type of stilt
house indigenous to the Philippines. It often serves as an icon of Philippine culture. The house is
exclusive to the lowland population of unified Spanish conquered territories.

The Aetas, pronounced as “eye-tas,” are among the earliest known migrants or
inhabitants of the Philippines. Over the years, the majority of their population
managed to keep their cultural practices and traditions.
3. EARLY MEDIEVAL
- Early medieval art exists in many media.
The works that remain in large numbers
include sculpture, illuminated manuscripts,
stained glass, metalwork, and mosaics, all of
which have had a higher survival rate than
fresco wall-paintings and works in precious
metals or textiles such as tapestries.
- Artists were commissioned for works
featuring Biblical tales and classical themes
for churches, while interiors were
elaborately decorated with Roman mosaics,
ornate paintings, and marble incrustations
- Though popularized in the Italian
Renaissance, fresco paintings were used
during the medieval period as a way to
depict popular religious scenes and symbols.
- Common forms of Medieval art--such as
paintings, mosaics, frescoes, and stained
glass--were most often commissioned to
decorate churches, cathedrals, chapels, and
Christian tombs. As a result, these artworks
almost also focused on Christian themes and
imagery.
4. ROMANESQUE
- Romanesque art is the art of Europe from
approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the
Gothic style in the 12th century, or later
depending on region. The preceding period
is known as the Pre-Romanesque period.
- Combining features of Roman and
Byzantine buildings and other local
traditions, Romanesque architecture
exhibits massive quality, thick walls, round
arches, sturdy piers, groin vaults, large
towers, and symmetrical plans. The art of
the period was characterized by a vigorous
style in both painting and sculpture.
- If Romanesque architecture is marked by
a new massiveness of scale, and
Romanesque sculpture by greater realism.
Romanesque painting is characterized by a
new formality of style, largely devoid of the
naturalism and humanism of either its
classical antecedents or its Gothic
successors.
- Romanesque churches used art, largely
painting and sculpture, to communicate
important things.
- For one, art was used as visual reminders
of biblical stories, which helped teach the
faith to an illiterate population.
 5. GOTHIC PERIOD- The Gothic Period dates from 12th and 13th Century.- The term
Gothic was a negative term first used by historians because it was believed that the
Barbaric Goths were responsible for the style of this period. • 3 basic Gothic
architecture characteristics are rib vaults, pointed arches and flying
buttresses.• Gothic art, the painting, sculpture, and architecture
characteristic of the second of two great international eras that flourished in
western and central Europe during the Middle Ages. -Gothic art is a style
• Gothic of painting,
art evolved from
Romanesque art and lasted from the mid-12th century architecture,
to asand
latesculpture thatof
as the end
the 16th century in some areas. The term Gothic began
was in Paris the
coined by middle of the
classicizing
Italian writers of the Renaissance, who attributed 12ththe invention
century (and what
and showed up to
them was the nonclassical ugliness) of medievalthroughout
architecture to the barbarian
Europe all the way
Gothic tribes that had destroyed the Roman Empire and1500s.
into the its classical culture in
The architectural
the 5th century CE. style's definitive feature is the
pointed arch, while the
definitive feature of Gothic
painting and sculpture is
naturalism.

CONTEMPORARY ARTS

•Contemporary art is the term used for art of the present day. Usually the artists are alive
and still making work. Contemporary art is often about ideas and concerns, rather than
solely the aesthetic (the look of the work).
•A statement that an artist makes about life, thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and many other things
that define human life.
•Artists try different ways of experimenting with ideas and materials.
 HISTORY• First, one needs to be clear
about what the term contemporary art has come to mean. It is generally
defined as referring to "work created after World War II." As it's used by
critics, curators, and teachers, however, it really refers only to work that is
considered avant-garde, or cutting-edge. In particular, it means abstract work
and the various postmodernist genres, from "Pop art" to "installation" and
"performance art."

Contemporary art follows from

modern art, which is broad term
used to define art produced
between the 1850s and 1945.
However, some art historians set
the start date of contemporary art
in the 1960s with the emergence of
pop art, an artistic movement that
represented a radical break from
modernism.

• Juan Novicio Luna (October 23, 1857 – December 7, 1899) was a Filipino painter, sculptor
JUAN
and a political activist of the Philippine LUNA
Revolution during the late 19th century. He became
one of the first recognized Philippine artists.

• His winning the gold medal in the 1884

Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts, along with
the silver win of fellow Filipino painter Félix
Resurrección Hidalgo, prompted a
celebration which was a major highlight in
the memoirs of members of the Propaganda
Movement, with the fellow Ilustrados
toasting to the two painters' good health
and to the brotherhood between Spain and
the Philippines.
 The Characteristics of
Material used in
Contemporary Art
• Many contemporary artists are self –taught
Contemporary Arts
•Contemporary Artists salvage materials
and did not have formal education.
that can be recycled and made into
creative forms.
• Originality is not issue in contemporary art.
An artist can get another artist’s work and
•They make use of materials and media
add to it, redesign or interpret it using other
such as wood, paper, paint, milk, rice,
materials.
pollen, wax, plaster, stone, glass, metal,
plastics, photos, slides, videos, and
• For Example Negros /Siquijor Artist Daryl
computers.
Cuaresma.

Skills, Techniques and Production

Subject matter and style in
in Contemporary Arts
Contemporary Art
•Many contemporary artist do not have formal
• Subject matter in contemporary art is
studies in the fine arts but are self –taught.
not confined to representations of
Concerned with the development of their talent
human figures and landscapes. The
and skills in art making, they study on their
favorite subjects in contemporary art are
own, interact with artists and read a lot about
children, women or the environment,
lives of artists and their artworks. computers.
such as the late artist Muffet Villegas
Flora and Fauna.

• In some artworks, the subject matter is

not easily recognized, If the artwork is an
experiment on technique, the subject
matter is the technique itself.
Type of Techniques
•Collage – is made by adhering flat elements such as newspaper or magazine cut-outs,
printed text ,illustrations, photographs, cloth string etc to a flat surface to create a thick layer
that is almost like a relief sculpture.

•Decalcomania –The process of applying gouache to paper or glass then transferring a

reversal of that image onto canvas or other flat materials

•Decoupage –the art or craft of decorating objects with paper cut-outs

•Frottage –a technique in the visual arts of obtaining textural effects or images by rubbing
lead, chalk, charcoal, etc.

•Montage –the process or technique of selecting, editing, and piecing together separate
sections of film to form a continuous whole.

•Trapunto –from the Italian for "to quilt," is a method of quilting that is also called "stuffed
technique."

•Digital Applications –all work relating to the DiDA course is created, stored, assessed
and moderated digitally.

Description Applied to Contemporary Arts

• Subject Matter-is what you see that is depicted in the artwork. It may be a human form
where the figures are engaged in an activity, or a combination of texture and color.

• Material is what the artwork is made of. It can also be a combination of objects used in the
artwork.

• Art element and principle refer to the physical qualities of the image. The artist uses color,
lines, space and other elements to create visual images.
 PRACTICE and MOVEMENTS

What is Art Practice and Movements?

•An Art Movement is a distinct artistic style, technique, or trend that maps a particular
period of cultural development in the history of art.
•There is no fixed rule that determines what constitutes an art movement. The artists
associated with one movement may adhere to strict guiding principles, whereas those who
belong to another may have little in common.
•Art Movements are simply a historical convenience for grouping together artists of a
certain period or style so that they may be understood within a specific context.
•Art Movements are usually named retrospectively by art critics or historians and their titles
are often witty or sarcastic nicknames pulled from a bad review.
•Grouping artists of similar interests or styles into Art Movements is mainly a characteristic
of Western Art.
•Art Movements are essentially a 20th century development when there was a greater
variety of styles than at any other period in the history of art.
 ESSENTIAL ART PRACTICES,
MOVEMENTS, and STYLES

ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM – The designation ‘Abstract Expressionism’

encompasses a wide variety of American 20th-century art movements in abstract art.
Also known as The New York School, this movement includes large painted canvases,
sculptures and other media as well. The term ‘action painting’ is associated with
Abstract Expressionism, describing a highly dynamic and spontaneous application of
vigorous brushstrokes and the effects of dripping and spilling paint onto the canvas.

ART DECO – Emerging in France before the First World War, Art Deco exploded in
1925 on the occasion of the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs (Exhibition of Decorative
Arts). Blurring the line between different mediums and fields, from architecture and
furniture to clothing and jewelry, Art Deco merged modern aesthetic with skillful
craftsmanship, advanced technology, and elegant materials.
BAUHAUS –The school of art and
design was founded in Germany by
Walter Gropius in 1919 and shut down
by the Nazis in 1933. The faculty brought
together artists, architects, and
designers, and developed an
experimental pedagogy that focused on
materials and functions rather than
traditional art school methodologies. In
its successive incarnations in Weimar,
Dessau, and Berlin, it became the site of
influential conversations about the role
of modern art and design in society.

COLOR FIELD PAINTING – Often

associated with Abstract Expressionism,
the Colour Field painters were
concerned with the use of pure
abstraction but rejected the active
gestures typical of Action Painting in
favor of expressing the sublime through
large and flat surfaces of contemplative
colour and open compositions.

CONTRUCTIVISM –Developed by the

Russian avant-garde around 1915,
constructivism is a branch of abstract
art, rejecting the idea of “art for art’s
sake” in favour of art as a practice
directed towards social purposes. The
movement’s work was mostly geometric
and accurately composed, sometimes
through mathematics and measuring
tools.
CUBISM –An artistic movement began in
1907 by artists Pablo Picasso and Georges
Braque who developed a visual language
whose geometric planes challenged the
conventions of representation in different
types of art, by reinventing traditional
subjects such as nudes, landscapes, and still
lifes as increasingly fragmented compositions.

DADAISM – An artistic and literary

movement in art formed during the First
World War as a negative response to the
traditional social values and conventional
artistic practices of the different types of art
at the time. Dada artists represented a
protest movement with an anti-establishment
manifesto, sought to expose accepted and
often repressive conventions of order and
logic by shocking people into self-awareness.

FAUVISM –Coined by the critic Louis

Vauxcelles, Fauvism (French for “wild
beasts”) is one of the early 20th-century art
movements. Fauvism is associated especially
with Henri Matisse and André Derain, whose
works are characterized by strong, vibrant
colour and bold brushstrokes over realistic or
representational qualities.
EXPRESSIONISM –is an international artistic
movement in art, architecture, literature, and
performance that flourished between 1905
and 1920, especially in Germany and Austria,
that sought to express the meaning of
emotional experience rather than physical
reality. Conventions of the expressionist style
include distortion, exaggeration, fantasy, and
vivid, jarring, violent, or dynamic application
of color in order to express the artist’s inner
feelings or ideas.

FUTURISM – Fairly unique among different

types of art movements, it is an Italian
development in abstract art and literature,
founded in 1909 by Filippo Tommaso
Marinetti, aiming to capture the dynamism,
speed and energy of the modern mechanical
world.

HARLEM RENAISSANCE –Emerged after

the First World War in the predominantly
African-American neighbourhood Harlem in
New York, the Harlem Renaissance was an
influential movement of African-American art
spanning visual arts, literature, music, and
theatre. The artists associated with the
movement rejected stereotypical
representations and expressed pride in black
life and identity.
IMPRESSIONISM – is a 19th-century art
movement, associated especially with French
artists such as Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste
Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley, who
attempted to accurately and objectively
record visual ‘impressions’ by using small,
thin, visible brushstrokes that coalesce to
form a single scene and emphasize movement
and the changing qualities of light.

MINIMALISM – Another one of the art

movements from the 1960s, and typified by
works composed of simple art, such as
geometric shapes devoid of representational
content. The minimal vocabulary of forms
made from humble industrial materials
challenged traditional notions of
craftsmanship, the illusion of spatial depth in
painting, and the idea that a work of abstract
art must be one of a kind.

NEO-IMPRESSIONISM–A term applied to

an avant-garde art movement that flourished
principally in France from 1886 to 1906. Led
by the example of Georges Seurat and Paul
Signac, Neo-Impressionists renounced the
spontaneity of Impressionism in favour of a
measured and systematic painting technique
known as pointillism, grounded in science and
the study of optics.
NEOCLASSICISM – Almost the opposite of
pop art in terms of inspiration, this style is
one that arose in the second half of the
eighteenth century in Europe, drawing
inspiration from the classical art and culture
of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, which is
not uncommon for art movements.

NEON ART – In the 1960s, Neon Art turned a

commercial medium employed for advertising
into an innovative artistic medium. Neon
lighting allowed artists to explore the
relationship between light, colour, and space
while tapping into pop culture imagery and
consumerism mechanisms.

OP ART–is an abbreviation of optical art, a

form of geometric abstract art that explores
optical sensations through the use of visual
effects such as repetition of simple forms,
vibrating colour-combinations, moiré
patterns, foreground-background confusion,
and an exaggerated sense of depth. Op Art
paintings and works employ tricks of visual
perception like manipulating rules of
perspective to give the illusion of three-
dimensional space.
PERFORMANCE ART – A term that
emerged in the 1960s to describe different
types of art that are created through actions
performed by the artist or other participants,
which may be live or recorded, spontaneous
or scripted. Performance challenges the
conventions of traditional forms of visual art
such as painting and sculpture by embracing a
variety of styles such as happenings, body art,
actions, and events.

POP ART – emerged in the 1950s and was

composed of British and American artists who
draw inspiration from ‘popular’ imagery and
products from commercial culture as opposed
to ‘elitist’ fine art. Pop art reached its peak of
activity in the 1960s, emphasizing the banal
or kitschy elements of everyday life in such
forms as mechanically reproduced silkscreens,
large-scale facsimiles, and soft pop art
sculptures.

POST-IMPRESSIONISM–Coined in 1910,
the term ‘Post-Impressionism’ describes the
reaction against the Impressionists’
naturalistic depiction of light and colour.
Artists like Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, and
Vincent van Gogh developed personal styles
unified by their interest in expressing their
emotional and psychological responses to the
world through bold colours and often
symbolic images.
PRECISIONISM – Precisionism was the first
real indigenous modern art movement in the
United States and contributed to the rise of
American Modernism. Taking its cues from
Cubism and Futurism, Precisionism was driven
by a desire to bring structure back to art and
celebrated the new American landscape of
skyscrapers, bridges and factories.

ROCOCO – Rococo is a movement in art,

particularly in architecture and decorative art,
that originated in France in the early 1700s.
Rococo art characteristics consist of elaborate
ornamentation and a light, sensuous style,
including scrollwork, foliage, and animal
forms.

STREET ART–Evolving from early forms of

graffiti, Street Art is a thought-provoking art
movement that emerged in the 1960s and
peaked with the spray-painted New York
subway train murals of the 1980s. Street
artists use urban spaces as their canvas,
turning cities around the globe into open sky
museums and have often found their way into
the mainstream art world.
SUPREMATISM – Found to be a relatively
unknown member of the different types of
abstract art movements, outside of the art
world that is. A term coined by Russian artist
Kazimir Malevich in 1915 to describe an
abstract style of painting that conforms to his
belief that art expressed in the simplest
geometric forms and dynamic compositions
was superior to earlier forms of
representational art, leading to the
“supremacy of pure feeling or perception in
the pictorial arts.”

SURREALISM – ounded by the poet André

Breton in Paris in 1924, Surrealism was an
artistic and literary movement that was active
through World War II. The main goal of
Surrealism painting and Surrealism artworks
was to liberate thought, language, and human
experience from the oppressive boundaries of
rationalism by championing the irrational, the
poetic and the revolutionary.

SYMBOLISM– Emerged in the second half of

the 19th century, mainly in Catholic European
countries where industrialization had
developed to a great degree. Starting as a
literary movement, Symbolism was soon
identified with a young generation of painters
who wanted art to reflect emotions and ideas
rather than to represent the natural world in
an objective way, united by a shared
pessimism and weariness of the decadence in
modern society.
Topic: CONCEPT OF OKIR TO
I S L A M I C A R T- To these ethnic Muslims, the term ukkil or okir, means
both the art of sculpting or carving and a particular curvilinear design. Internationally, this
design is recognized as arabesque. It is a decorative visual language of vegetal and flowing
forms with its own grammar and vocabulary.

ISLAMIC ART–in the Philippines have two main

artistic styles. One is a curved-line woodcarving and
metalworking called okir, similar to the Middle
Eastern Islamic art. This style is associated with men.
The other style is geometric tapestries, and is
associated with women. The Tausug and Sama–Bajau
exhibit their okir on elaborate markings with boat-
like imagery. The Marananaos make similar carvings
on housings called torogan. Weapons made by
Muslim Filipinos such as the kampilan are skillfully
carved.
•The origins of okir are pre- • The Okir Motif is an art depicting
Islamic. •They are believed to have the indigenous originality and skill
originated from the much earlier of the Maranaos. • It is a fine art
okil or okil-okil decorative carving of figuring, painting, carving and
traditions of the Sama (Badjao) sculpturing depicting the social
people, which are often highly and psychological identity of
individualistic and rectilinear. Maranao Society.
•The four basic components of Islamic ornament are:
CALLIGRAPHY
–the art of writing –is a unique feature of
Islamic art in that it has been used in
astonishingly varied and imaginative ways.
The written word appears not just in pen
and paper but across all art forms and
materials, often giving rise to works of
great beauty.
GEOMETRIC PATTERNS
– A common feature of Islamic art is the
covering of surfaces covered with
geometric patterns. – This use of
geometry is thought to reflect the
language of the universe and help the
believer to reflect on life and the greatness
of creation.
VEGETAL PATTERNS
–These semi-natural patterns used in early
Islamic art decorated buildings, textiles,
pottery and manuscripts. –The patterns
are based on plants and flowers found in
the natural world.
FIGURAL REPRESENTATION
– allahallahIt is commonly thought that
there are no pictures of people, animals,
or even of any inanimate things in the
world in Islamic art.– This is not quite
true. Secular Islamic art has always
featured recognizable people, animals,
and so on.
G E N E R A L C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S O F I S L A M I C A R TD E C O R A
TION OF ISLAMIC BUILDINGS
– Islamic Art is especially famous for its architecture.– There are very few
paintings, and sculptures, because the Koran did not allow the representation
of Muhammad, Allah, people or animals.– However, Islamic art is very fine.

– The interiors of Islamic Buildings were richly decorated.– Muslims used

Arabic calligraphy symbols as decoration.– Usually, they sculpted verses from
the Koran. – They also decorated the walls with beautiful vegetal designs
called ataurique.– or geometric designs. – Sometimes the materials they
used were not very rich: simple bricks, plaster, etc.– but they also used noble
materials, like glazed tiles or hard wood like oak or birch (especially for the
mimbars).
 SYMMETRY ART

• What is Symmetry arts?– Fundamental organizing principle in nature and

art.– Preserves distances, angles, sizes, and shapes.– Symmetrical balance (or
Symmetry) means that the work of art is the same on one side as – the other, a
mirror image of itself, on both sides of a center line.made up of exactly similar
parts facing each other or around an axis; showing symmetry. • What
are the 3 types of symmetry?
– Animals can be classified by three types of body plan symmetry:
radial symmetry, bilateral symmetry, and asymmetry.

• LINE OF SYMMETRY ARTS– line • SYMMETRY REVIEW– An

that divides a figure into two halves attribute of a shape –exact reflection
that are mirror images of each other. of form on opposite sides of a
dividing line.
Topic: IMPROVISATION
(Utilize the body as the basic tool
in expression and communication )
•IMPROVISATION –is the activity of
making or doing something not
planned beforehand, using whatever
can be found.–in performing arts,
improvisation is a very spontaneous
performance without specific or
scripted preparation.•WHAT IS THE
IMPORTANCE OF
IMPROVISATION?– Improvisation
develops one's creativity, mental
flexibility and thinking skills in
numerous ways. Benefits:
Improvisation develops one's:
Imagination and ability to generate
new ideas. Spontaneity and ability to
present without preconceived ideas.
•WHAT IS THE MAIN VALUE OF
IMPROVISATION?–Improvisation
fosters creativity and individuality.–
Improvisation appeals to both the
performer and the audience.–
Strengthens the connection between
theory and practice in the developing
musician.
•IMPROVISATION TECHNIQUES–
The skills of Improvisation can apply to
many different abilities or forms of
communication and expression across
all artistic, scientific, physical,
cognitive, academic, and non-
academic disciplines. For example,
improvisation can make a significant
contribution in music, dance, cooking,
presenting a speech, sales, personal or
romantic relationships, sports, flower
arranging, martial arts, psychotherapy,
and much more.–Techniques of
Improvisation are widely used in
training for performing arts or
entertainment: for example, music,
theatre, and dance. To “extemporize”
or “ad lib” is basically the same as
improvising. Colloquial terms such as
“let’s play it by the ear”, “take it as it
comes”, and “make it up as we go
along” are all used to describe
“Improvisation”.–The simple act of
speaking requires a good deal of
improvisation because the mind is
addressing its own thought and
creating its unrehearsed delivery in
word, sounds and gestures, forming
unpredictable statements that further
feed the thought process (the
performer as the listener), creating an
enriched process that is not unlike
instantaneous composition [with given
set or repertoire of elements.]
CONTACT BODY-IMPROVISATION
It is a form of improvised dancing that has
been developing internationally since 1972. It
involves the exploration of one’s body in
relationship to others by using the
fundamentals of sharing weight, touch, and
movement awareness.Contact Improvisation
originated from the movement studies of
Steve Paxton in 1970s and developed
through the continued exploration of the
Judson Dance Theater. It is dance form based
on weight sharing, partnering, playing with
weight, exploring negative space and
unpredictable outcomes.

5 Rhythms in Contact Body Improvisation–It is a movement meditation practice

devised by Gabrielle Roth in the late 1970s. It draws from indigenous and world traditions
using tenets of shamanistic, ecstatic, mystical, and eastern transpersonal psychology. The
five(5) rhythms (in order) are:1. FLOWING–In Flowing, we physically practice the
art of being fluid in our bodies. Men and women that embody the Rhythm of Flowing are
supple, flexible, surrendered and trust their feet to lead them where they are meant to
go.2. STACCATO–In Staccato, we physically practice the power of masculine energy.
Staccato is the fierce teacher boundaries. It is the protector and ambassador of our fluid
being. Visually, a man or woman fully embodied in the Rhythm of Staccato is defined,
clear, connected and not fearful of the transparent expression of their heart. Whether
dancing Staccato alone, in partnership, or in groups.
3. CHAOS–In Chaos, we physically practice the art of fully releasing our bodies – we let
go of the head, spine, hips and feet and move faster than we can think. Dancing chaos is
the practice of going into the unknown, not fearing what’s on the other side. Visually we
look like a big, hot, giant, sweaty mess over flowing with cathartic energy. 4. LYRICAL–In
Lyrical, we physically practice the art in coming out of Chaos. It is the physical, energetic,
emotional, and spiritual dancing rebirth. Lyrical Is expansive and connects us to our
humanity; timeless rhythms, repetitions, patterns and cycles. 5. STILLNESS–Each time we
dance into Stillness, we practice the art of making humble and mindful endings
interpreted by our higher connected self. This carries through to all of our endings in life –
the end of this dance, this day; this relationship, or this life cycle. Good endings mean
taking responsibility for the whole journey, distilling wisdom from our experience so that
we may begin the next wave or cycle and not carrying the past with us.

• Improvisation is often done within (or

SOUNDharmonic
based on) a pre-existing
frameworkIMPROVISATION
or chord progression.
Improvisation is a major part of some
types of 20th –century music, such as
blues, rock music, jazz, and jazz fusion,
in which instrumental performers
improvise solos, melody lines and
accompaniment parts.
• Improvisation, in theatre, the playing
THEATREIMPROVISATI
of dramatic scenes without written
ON
dialogue and with minimal or no
predetermined dramatic activity. The
method has been used for different
purposes for theatrical history.

SOLVING IMPROVISATIONAL
CHALLENGES

1.MENTAL BLOCKS –As you learn your piece or movement, you will find at times
your works in improvisation flows easily and at other times, improvising is much
more difficult, and you feel blocked. When that happens, you need to be patient
with yourself, since you cannot expect your mind and body always to be equally
receptive. Finding ways to work through improvisational problems is part of the
process of learning.2.REMEMBERING NEW MOVEMENTS–Remembering
improvised movement is important because later those movements will be
molded and formed into a study. You will find that the ability to remember
movement is comparable to standing outside yourself and watching as you
improvise.
3.FITTING IT ALL TOGETHER –It requires patience to learn how all parts fit
together; the ability to give form to your action may take time. Each person needs
the proper environment and enough practice and encouragement; no two people
can be expected to pass through the levels of creative development in the same
manner or at the same speed. The goal is for the movement to fit together with a
sense of wholeness and to grow from a natural, or organic development of
movements and phrases.4.DIFFERENCE IN CONCEPT–If a piece seems to be taking
shape in a certain direction, explore hat direction even if it differs from your
original conception on your work. The creative process requires that you be open
to all possibilities as they occur.5.MINDSET–Even though it may seem like an after-
thought, your mindset has a lot to do with your creativity and ability to improvise
on the band stand. Fear, distraction, lack of preparation, mistakes, and a
judgmental audience are just a few of the things that can get in the way of a
creative performance. However, each time you perform and improvise in front of
an audience, you’ll become more comfortable and confident; in turn, focusing on
the things that matter like the music itself.