This class is suitable for people with no prior knowledge of ballet. This repeating series of eight classes introduces students to the most common ballet vocabulary that they would need to know in order to participate in Open Level Dark Room Ballet Class. The class introduces students to necessary anatomical concepts like turnout, torso stability, foot sensitivity and mobility, sightless balancing, and the use of a taped floor for orientation.
Classes take place each Saturday online via the Zoom platform; there is also the option to call in via phone.
If you are a blind or visually impaired individual interested in learning ballet remotely, you MUST contact us by no later than September 5th, so you can complete the intake process to register for this class.
Register:
The next Intro Level cycle begins on Saturday, September 9th, 2023.
You can also reach Dark Room Ballet by phone at (929) 367-0025
(If you have recently contacted us, we have received your message.)
If you have some ballet experience, you may also qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights; please contact us if you are interested.
Returning students are welcome to re-join intro level classes, as well as encouraged to join Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class. Please let us know if you would like to re-join intro class as a returning student.
If you work with an organization that serves blind or visually impaired people, please share this information with people who may be interested in registering for this class.
If you are NOT a blind or visually impaired student, you may qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights on a select basis; please get in touch with us to explain your interest.
Other Classes in the Dark Room
In addition to online Introductory and Open Level ballet classes for blind and visually impaired adults, Krishna often teaches workshops on related topics open to everyone, including anatomy, improvisation and audio description.
Top image as shared and described on social media: A white flyer with black and white text that is placed around a stylized black line drawing of a dancing body, standing on one leg with a knee bent, back arched with one arm above the head and the other extended to the side.
Text reads: Dark Room Ballet with Krishna Washburn Introductory Ballet For Blind and Low-Vision Adults (no prior knowledge required) Starting Sept 9th 8 Saturdays 4 PM to 6 PM (New York Time) All Dark Room Ballet classes and workshops take place online via Zoom – visit darkroomballet.com or LINK IN BIO for more info!
The next screening of the Telephone Film will be taking place IN-PERSON at the Theater for the New City in Manhattan on Tuesday, August 15th at 7 PM (Eastern Time)
As a member of the wider Dark Room Ballet community, we would like to invite you to this IN-PERSON screening hosted by the Theater for the New City, which describes the event as follows:
Telephone Film is a disability arts film project bringing awareness to audio description for dance, an art form that allows blind and visually impaired people to be fully included in the joy of artistic expression.
Telephone showcases audio description as an art form in its own right, while also providing an immersive sensory experience for audience members of all sight levels.
The screendance documentary is the first of its kind, featuring diverse disabled and non-disabled artists who have come together to prove that: dance is visceral, not merely visual.
Join us at Theater for the New City to experience the forty-five minute film, followed by a talkback with the co-directors, Dark Room Ballet Founder Krishna Washburn (who will join virtually) and choreographer/filmmaker Heather Shaw.
Both co-directors will answer your questions and share about the filmmaking process, the future of anti-ableism in the arts, and more!
The film includes audio description, American Sign Language and open captions. ASL Interpretation will also be included in the Q & A portion of the event.
To attend this IN-PERSON film screening:
Tickets are $20 each (plus a $3 convenience fee)
Once you purchase a ticket online, you will receive a confirmation from the Theater for the New City, as well as access to the Telephone FilmGoer Guide online.
Image originally shared on Instagram: On a purple background, a white stylized continuous line drawing shows a dancer standing on one leg with the foot en pointe (on tiptoe) with the other leg bent at the knee, foot pointing back. The dancer's back is arched, head thrown back and arms spread out wide at the shoulders.
On each side of the dancer white text reads:
70+ people have attended the Dark Room Audio Description for Dance Summer Workshops ... so far!
Join us at LINK IN BIO
or DARKROOMBALLET.COM
70+ people have attended the Dark Room Audio Description for Dance Summer Workshops so far!
There are 4 workshops to go — join us again or for the first time. Students at all levels of vision, dance and audio description experience are welcome!
🎙️ Saturday, July 29: Narrative Components in Audio Description for Dance
✍🏼 Saturday, August 5: Script Preparation Strategies for Audio Description for Dance: Multiple Pathways!
🤔 Saturday, August 12: Yeah, But Was It Good? Learning How to Listen to Audio Description for Dance Critically
🩰 Saturday, August 19: Three Traditional Ballet Variations Explored Through Pedagogical and Theatrical Audio Description
Some of Krishna’s thoughts from recent workshops that social media doesn’t have:
Describing from physical sensation: Whether you start from the inside, or need to start from the mirror with the goal of finding what’s inside, remember that being able to identify and describe physical sensation is a learned skill that comes with practice, just like dancing, just like describing. Personally, I think that spending time thinking about how movements feel in our bodies has intrinsic value, a way of learning about ourselves and learning to trust our bodies and our perceptions. Even if you’re an audio describer exclusively, having understanding, knowledge, and empathy for physical sensations in your own body will only help you in cultivating your skills of describing other people’s movements.
Describing who is dancing: All dances are different and all dancers are different! Always know the names and pronouns of the dancers in the performance you are describing, and it is a common thing in dance performance for performers to portray characters whose names and pronouns are not their own! When a performer is in character, use the character’s name and pronouns, but if someone is dancing as themself, using the dancer’s real name and pronouns is a simple and incredibly helpful addition for your audience. And for dancers: when you are performing, think about your role in the performance, what you contribute to the piece as a whole, and think about how to explain it in words.
Describing emotion: Remember that emotion is why dance exists! Emotion is the birthplace of dance, and everyone deserves to share in that experience. Conversations between audio describers and dancers, choreographers, and the entire creative team can be incredibly fruitful when it comes to emotional communication. Emotional expression is a wonderful and fascinating thing, because all humans experience it, but each one of us expresses it outwardly in our own, unique, authentic way; dance combined with strong audio description can be an incredibly powerful tool for empathy.
Describing within a structure: I know that it is common for audio describers to have very limited access to dance rehearsals, maybe just dress rehearsal at best, but just because it’s common, that doesn’t mean that it’s good. If you are an audio describer who can ask for more time and more access, please do it! You deserve it and your audience deserves it. If you create dance performances, start thinking about audio description at the start of your rehearsal process, not the end! Some of the most wonderful art created for blind audiences today had an audio describer in the rehearsal studio on day one (shout out to Kayla Hamilton!). Having an audio describer as a part of the creative team is something I advocate for.
I’m very honored to be able to share my first choreographic commission with you all, An Outback Story, as well as an entire dance concert with open audio description all throughout! Abilities Dance Boston gave me an opportunity to teach a little bit about writing audio description to the choreographers involved as well. Since open audio description for any dance performance is a rare and special thing, let alone open audio description for virtual dance performances, I think that Branches will be a great opportunity for our community to come together, listen to many artists’ styles of audio description, and talk with each other afterwards, actively learn and hone our ear for audio description for dance. Please come and join in, support disabled artists and support audio description for dance!
This online show is exploring the intersections of climate justice and disability justice, producing a full show from our homes to minimize carbon footprint. This dancer led production features work mainly by the dancers/choreographers of Abilities Dance in this collective mosaic spanning different cities, themes, and identities.
Choreographed by Claire Lane, Leslie Taub, Dara Capley, Lauren Sava, Kylie Kean, Krishna Washburn, and Ellice Patterson/ Music Composed by Erin Rogers / Dancers include Kate O’Day, Scynthia Charles, Lauren Sava, Carmen Rizzo, Andrea Muñiz, Linda Lin, Leslie Taub, and Ellice Patterson
Ticket price/youtube premiere/unlimited free tickets for financial equity
A live link for all registrants will be up for a week so you can watch at your leisure!
Special thanks to Liberty Mutual for making this production possible!
Crystal Teal background with brown tree branches in the on top and an image of planet Earth being held by a hand. Title Branches is a cream color and is vertical on the left side. Flyer reads “Join Abilities Dance for our dancer-led show premiering on July 15th @7pm EST”
Music Composed by Erin Rogers
Choreographers include: Kylie Kean Claire Lane Dara Capley Lauren Sava Leslie Taub Krishna Washburn Ellice Patterson The bottom right corner reads “Virtual Only. Free Tix for anyone who needs it. Scan code or follow the link below to buy your tix today!” with a QR code next to the text. Link to purchase tickets https://ticketstripe.com/adbbranches directly below this text.
A blue toned flyer with white text that shows some of the information on this page, superimposed over a faint image of Krishna dancing with legs planted and arms extended in her home studio.
Saturday, July 8: Four Strategies to De-Center Sight in Audio Description for Dance (past session)
Saturday, July 15: Experimentation in Vocal Tonality for Audio Description for Dance (past session)
Saturday, July 22: Body Language, Movement Shorthand, and Mime for Blind Audiences (past session)
Saturday, July 29: Narrative Components in Audio Description for Dance (past session)
Saturday, August 5: Script Preparation Strategies for Audio Description for Dance: Multiple Pathways! (past session)
Saturday, August 12: Yeah, But Was It Good? Learning How to Listen to Audio Description for Dance Critically(past session)
Saturday, August 19: Three Traditional Ballet Variations Explored Through Pedagogical and Theatrical Audio Description (past session)
These seven tuition-free workshops are designed to address many different topics pertaining to audio description for dance from many different approaches.
Like all Dark Room curriculum, all of these workshops are designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired learners, and these workshops are meant to serve specifically: blind and visually impaired dancers, blind and visually impaired audio description consultants and editors, audio describers of all vision levels, access professionals working for arts organizations and educational institutions, choreographers, dramaturges, and performing arts educators.
Registration is now open! To register for any of these tuition-free workshops, please send an email to info@darkroomballet.com
New students who have never studied in the Dark Room before will need to fill out an intake form. Most audio description courses are very expensive, and almost none of them focus exclusively on dance in their subject matter, so please register at your earliest convenience!
About the instructor:
Krishna Washburn is the Artistic Director and sole teacher for all Dark Room courses. She teaches traditional blind dance technique at the introductory, open, and professional levels, dancer’s anatomy for blind and visually impaired learners (No Diagram Anatomy), and audio description for dance. She holds a M.Ed. from Hunter College and multiple certifications through the American College of Sports Medicine with special focus in biomechanics. She is the Co-Director, along with choreographer Heather Shaw, of Telephone, an educational documentary film that explores artistic philosophy pertaining to audio description and documenting the multiple artistic forms of audio description for dance. Krishna is one of very few blind educators working in the field of dance and audio description, but hopes that will change very soon.
WORKSHOP DETAILS:
NOTE: All workshops take place via Zoom beginning at 4 PM (Eastern/New York Time) and run approximately 2 hours; some may run longer depending on participation.
Saturday, July 8: Four Strategies to De-Center Sight in Audio Description for Dance
When developing audio description for dance, even for blind artists, there is an expectation that the audio describer will “say what is seen.” What if this approach isn’t adequate to express the artistic ideas of the dance? What are strategies that audio describers and dancers can reach for instead? In this workshop, students will learn four strategies to help break them out of the “say what you see” box, and also learn about a popular strategy that might be better off left on the shelf.
Saturday, July 15: Experimentation in Vocal Tonality for Audio Description for Dance
Most audio description used to support television and film is recorded with a neutral tone of voice. However, we here in the Dark Room propose that dance is a very different art form that deserves a different approach to audio description. Be ready to listen to some interesting examples of audio description, practice using the voice expressively, and pair sound and movement together in artistically effective ways.
Saturday, July 22: Body Language, Movement Shorthand, and Mime for Blind Audiences
Although there are common cultural assumptions about popular body language and movement shorthand, it’s important to remember that they are all learned and not universally known! We’re going to break down some body language assumptions, find ways to integrate effective audio description, and explore the wonderfully hilarious world of mime and exaggerated body language.
Saturday, July 29: Narrative Components in Audio Description for Dance
One of the greatest challenges for audio describers of dance is balancing movement description with essential narrative components. While some dance companies provide narrative information about dance in a synopsis before the performance, we here in the Dark Room argue that the synopsis is inadequate to help blind and visually impaired audiences truly immerse themselves in the art. Learn how to connect story and movement through examples and creation.
Saturday, August 5: Script Preparation Strategies for Audio Description for Dance: Multiple Pathways!
Where do audio description scripts come from? It depends! This workshop will discuss multiple approaches to getting started on an audio description script, depending on multiple factors: access to artists involved with the project, prior knowledge, type of audience, style of performance, timeframes, and so on and so forth. This is a great introduction to script writing for audio description novices, and a great opportunity for audio description fans to express themselves.
Saturday, August 12: Yeah, But Was It Good? Learning How to Listen to Audio Description for Dance Critically
Audio description for dance performances is still very rare, but that doesn’t mean that blind and visually impaired audiences should be satisfied when the audio description on offer is of low quality. Students are going to get to listen to many, many examples of audio description for dance, and talk about what works and what doesn’t work, and what we might change in order to improve it.
Saturday, August 19: Three Traditional Ballet Variations Explored Through Pedagogical and Theatrical Audio Description
Are you a blind or visually impaired dancer who needs an audition solo? Are you a blind or visually impaired ballet lover who would love a deep-dive into some traditional ballet dances? Are you an audio describer of traditional ballet performance who wants to learn multiple approaches to capturing the magic of ballet in language? If so, this workshop is for you! Learn solos from traditional ballet repertoire: La Fille Mal Gardee, The Nutcracker, and Giselle.
Please contact moira670@gmail.com for more accessibility information requests and needs
Flyer Image Description: A tree filled image with a close up of two trees and their large textured bark. Between the two trees a hand from the forearm down and palm forward spreads its fingers. It looks like a ghost hand that is filled with the surrounding forest life. The entire background image is heavily saturated with almost neon reds, pinks, yellows, blues, greens and purples. On top of the glowing forest is white text saying: Eco Somatic readings and conversations: disability ecologies of pain and joy with the environment. Stephanie Heit, Petra Kuppers, Krishna Washburn, Taja Will, moira williams. Online April 26th 6-8pm EST/5-7pm CT/3-5pm PST. Access Menu: Access Doula, Participation Guide, AI Captioning.
Facilitators:
Stephanie Heit is a queer disabled poet, dancer, teacher, and co director of Turtle Disco, a somatic writing space on Anishinaabe land in Ypsilanti, Michigan. She is a Zoeglassia Fellow, and the author of PSYCH MURDERS (Wayne State University Press, 2022) and The Color She Gave Gravity (Operating System, 2017). Stephanie is an active member of the Olimpias; an international disability performance collective. She co-directed the Asylum Project (2015-2019); an experimental and community practice investigation into the many meanings of asylum. Stephanie is bipolar, a mad activist, and a shock/psych system survivor. Link to Stephanie’s website is HERE.
Petra Kuppers (she/her) is a disability culture activist, a wheelchair dancer, and a community performance artist. Petra grounds herself in disability culture methods. She uses eco somatics, performance, and speculative writing to engage audiences toward more socially just and enjoyable futures. She has been engaged in community dance and disability culture production since the late 80s. She continues to lead workshops internationally, in these forms as well as in disability-culture adapted social somatics. She is the Artistic Director of The Olimpias, an international disability culture collective, and co-creates Turtle Disco, a somatic writing studio, with her wife, poet and dancer Stephanie Heit, from their home in Ypsilanti, Michigan, on Three Fires Confederacy Territory, colonially known as Ypsilanti, Michigan. A link to Petra’s website is HERE.
Krishna Christine Washburn is artistic director and instructor for Dark Room Ballet, and co-directed the Telephone Film. She has an M.Ed. from Hunter College, BA from Barnard College, and is certified by the ACSM in biomechanics. She speaks regularly on self-audio description and educating blind/visually impaired dance students. A link to Krishna’s website is HERE.
Taja Will is a non-binary, chronically ill, queer, Latinx (Chilean) adoptee. They are a performer, choreographer, somatic therapist, consultant and Healing Justice practitioner based in Mni Sota Makoce, on the ancestral lands of the Dakota and Anishinaabe. Taja’s approach integrates improvisation, somatic modalities, text and vocals in contemporary performance. Their aesthetic is one of spontaneity, bold choice making, sonic and kinetic partnership and the ability to move in relationship to risk and intimacy. Will’s artistic work explores visceral connections to current socio-cultural realities through a blend of ritual, dense multi-layered worldbuilding and everyday magic. A link to Taja’s website is HERE.
moira williams is a disabled Indigenous artist, cross disability cultural activist/organizer and access doula; co-creating and weaving disability justice together with crip celebratory resistance and environmental justice. moira believes in access as art and “access intimacy” as an attitude needed to push beyond the limitations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Their often co-creative work leads with disability, stemming from the understanding that deep-rooted cultural changes must be made in arts and environmental spaces and practices to become accessible. One part of affecting change is by placing disabled artists and activists in positions of influence to shape culture from within. Another part is acknowledging that entering positions of power is not the end goal. Instead, the end goal is to co-create an active culture where power positions no longer exist. moira’s on-going work with water focuses on access intimacy and water intimacy as ways forward to accessible waterways and joy. A link to moira’s website is HERE.
Black and white photo of "Telephone" dancer Camille Tokar Pavliska wearing dark shorts and tee-shirt.
She is in a deep lunge with her arms spread out, wrists flexed. Text is overlaid on the photo reading: telephonefilm.com.
The next screening of the Telephone Film will be taking place online at the EstroGenius Festival on Sunday, April 23rd at 7 PM (Eastern Time)
As a member of the wider Dark Room Ballet community, we would like to invite you to this virtual screening (completely online) hosted by the EstroGenius Festival 2023, which describes the event as follows:
Telephone Film, co-directed by choreographer/filmmaker Heather Shaw and Dark Room Ballet Founder Krishna Washburn, is a disability arts film project that promotes radical arts inclusivity by bringing awareness to audio description for dance, an art form that allows blind and visually impaired people to be fully included in the joy of artistic expression. Telephone advocates for a new paradigm of anti-ableist artistic expression by showcasing audio description as an art form in its own right, while also providing an immersive sensory experience of dance for audience members of all sight levels. The screendance documentary is the first of its kind, featuring diverse disabled and non-disabled artists who have come together to prove that: dance is visceral, not merely visual. Join us to experience the forty-five minute film, followed by a talkback with the co-directors. The conversation will center around accessible art, creative choreographic/filmmaking methodologies, and the future of anti-ableism in the arts.
This event will include Audio Description and American Sign Language.
To attend this virtual film screening:
Tickets are available on a sliding scale, which means you can pay any amount to attend.
Once you purchase a ticket online, you will receive a confirmation from the EstroGenius Festival that will include a Zoom link to attend the event, as well as access to the Telephone FilmGoer Guide online.
Black and white photo shows Krishna posing in a studio with her cane arm outstretched and other arm raised. She’s smiling as she looks to the side, wearing sunglasses and a dark long-sleeved shirt with white lettering that says BLIND GENIUS
Hosted by Movement Research, Dark Room Ballet classes are designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired adults (though all are welcome).
NOTE: This is a FREE class, but donations are welcomed.
Dark Room Ballet Pro Class
Saturdays, April 15 – June 3, 2023
4 PM to 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time)
This workshop is offered online via Zoom – participants can attend any sessions.
To register, please email: info@darkroomballet.com and let us know which sessions you would like to attend
Who can take Dark Room Ballet Pro Class?
If you have been studying in Dark Room Ballet Open Level class regularly, and feel confident in your use of tape for orientation and your basic ballet vocabulary, you can take Dark Room Ballet Pro Class.
If you are a blind or visually impaired professional or pre-professional dancer, or a blind or visually impaired dancer who regularly studies in ballet classes designed for sighted people, you can take this class.
If you aren’t sure if you’re ready, ask Krishna during Question and Answer time in Monday night Open Level class (odds are, if she recognizes your voice before you self-identify, she will say yes). If you’ve never taken Open Level, please come! This is a low support class. That means you will not receive a vocabulary email the night before, and the descriptions Krishna uses will rely more heavily on vocabulary than anatomical words.
What is the format of Dark Room Ballet Pro Class?
There is a five-part barre and a two-part center, plus a ten-to-fifteen-minute lecture on how to apply blind-specific dance techniques to advanced ballet techniques. As always, there is Question and Answer time.
Here’s a list of the weeks and the lecture topics:
Session One (4/15): Fifth Position and the Challenges Maintaining Bilateral Symmetry.
Session Two (4/22): Grand Plie — Why?
Session Three (4/29): Strategies for Maximizing Balance in Center Adagio.
Session Four (5/6): Inside and Outside Turns for Dancers That Don’t Spot.
Session Five (5/13): Traveling Turns for Dancers That Don’t Spot.
Session Six (5/20): Flow State and Petite Allegro.
Session Seven (5/27): Grand Allegro and Orientation.
Session Eight (6/3): Blind Dancers, Artistic Identity, and the Difference Between Bravado and Brio.
What makes Dark Room Ballet Pro Class different from Dark Room Ballet Open Level Class?
Krishna says…
1. There is a greater assumption of prior knowledge. In addition to the assumption that students will know the complete vocabulary set of Dark Room Ballet Intro, students should also recognize the following ballet vocabulary terms: pas de cheval, penche and fondu penche, sous-sous, grand battement, glissade, jete, assemble, temps levee, fouette tendu and fouette degage, couru, detournet, soutenou, pique step, faille, developpe through passe, and should be comfortable combining promenade with other movements.
2. The mark for the exercise is quicker. In Open Level class, we mark by practicing a complete side of the exercise at a tempo that is similar to the music. In Pro Class, the mark is much more minimal. If the pattern is en croix or through alternating legs, the pattern might not be marked at all! You might find that the exercises in Pro Class are not actually more difficult than those in Open Level, but they require you to use your logical thinking more and your memory more. This is the case for Pro Classes for sighted people as well, in case you were curious!
3. The verbal description is simpler. In Open Level class, we’re used to hearing Krishna saying as much as she possibly can: anatomical words, body sensations, and ballet vocabulary all mixed together. Krishna’s descriptions are going to sound much more like the descriptions that she, herself, hears in technique class: mostly ballet vocabulary, with certain specific anatomical cues. She will sound less like a computer assistant and more like a human, but she promises to never, ever shut up!
4. You’ll have more chances with certain exercises. For most exercises, you’ll have two chances to master (same across two classes), but there will be other exercises that will carry across three classes.
5. You get a mini lecture on a specific advanced ballet movement concept as it pertains to blind dance technique specifically!
Image is a flyer that contains all the info in this message/post, in white, black blue and orange text on a primarily blue and sometimes yellow backgrounds. The main image is of Krishna in a wearable art piece by artist Ntilit. Krishna is seen from the side, with hair braided, her eyes covered with black and white cups, and her arms bent, one close to the body and one in front of her face, both wrapped by small dark pillows that are filled with small bells and crinkle balls (inside unseen).
Hosted by Movement Research, Dark Room Ballet anatomy workshops are designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired adults (though all are welcome).
NOTE: This is a FREE class, but donations are welcomed.
No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room:
➣ The Distal Arm Complex (April 1)
➣ The Proximal Arm Complex (April 8)
4 PM to 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time)
This workshop is offered online via Zoom – participants can attend ONE or BOTH sessions.
To register, please email: info@darkroomballet.com and let us know which sessions you would like to attend
Workshop Description
In this two-part workshop on the complete arm complex, we will use movement, touch, and conversation to not only cultivate scientific knowledge related to the shoulder, arm, and hand, but also initiate a higher degree of body awareness and neurological learning in this area. Evolutionary history and the marvels of human variation will also be addressed in this workshop.
No prior knowledge of human anatomy, dance, or self-audio description are required to participate, but all students will come away with deep anatomical knowledge, reduced movement anxiety, and tools to start learning how to talk about movement in a visceral way. Let’s get right down to the real nitty gritty!
Material covered in these two workshops will include:
The skeletal structure of the shoulder, arm, and hand
The locations and functions of musculature of the shoulder, arm, and hand, and their relationships to commonly known dance vocabulary
The nerves and nerve plexuses of the shoulder, arm, and hand, and what it means to cultivate neurological connection to this part of the body
The connective tissues (fascia, tendons, cartilages and ligaments) of the shoulder, arm, and hand.
All students will receive the complete script of the workshop two days beforehand, and the script can be reviewed either before or after the workshop. Although these two workshops are meant to be taken together, students are allowed to register for one or the other and they can both stand alone.
This workshop is designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people and does not use diagrams.
About No Diagram Anatomy Workshop Series
No Diagram Anatomy workshops are in-depth dancer’s anatomy workshops that de-center sight and are designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people. Participants will learn about their bodies’ layered anatomy from the outside-in using a combination of guided audio description, imagination, touch, and movement experimentation, and will also be given opportunities to practice talking about how the movement feels in the body (self-audio description).
These thoughts were recorded a while ago, but they are on a topic re-visited during a recent Monday night Open Level Class…
Listen to Krishna discuss her feelings on the Flow State in this audio recording (transcript available):
Audio file of Krishna speaking about Flow State, on SoundCloud
Transcript (work-in-progress):
Hello, everybody. It’s time for another edition of Krishna’s Mailbag. So this is the lovely little occasional program where I check in the mailbag for Dark Room Ballet and I answer interesting questions. So let’s check in the mailbag and find out what I have to talk about today. Let’s see what we’ve got. Oh, this question is really great. It asks, “Hey Krishna, what is the flow state? I’m a new dancer and I’ve heard about this, but I have no idea what they’re talking about.” Well, let me tell you about something. People who study education and who study learning about 10, 15 years ago, started to really pay a lot of attention to this special moment in a person’s life which is called the flow state.
The flow state is a moment of activity in which a person is just on the edge of the maximum difficulty that they can execute without losing confidence. They’re just on the edge. Oftentimes these moments require great focus, but also create great focus in the person. I find that the best way to explain a flow state is to describe moments of flow state that I myself have had. Flow state in dance for me happens a lot, a lot when I’m studying with other teachers, when I am developing work for my students. Flow state happens a lot for me. In fact, it happens while I’m teaching class a lot. It is a really intense experience. Pretty much every brain cell feels like it’s firing and nothing in the world could distract me from what I’m doing at that moment.
I’ve had moments working with particular dance teachers where I’m really on the edge of my capacity to learn something new and something becomes apparent to me while I’m learning it. And I understand how I’m going to work through the movements that I’m studying. Something becomes more clear, something becomes more obvious, but it’s brand new for me still. So I have to put every ounce of focus into what I am doing. I think oftentimes about work that I have done with a dance teacher here in New York City. A contemporary teacher, her name is Bethany Perry and I would oftentimes experience flow state in Bethany’s class because I’m ballet dancer. I stay up upstanding, I stay up tall, but in contemporary always changing levels, always changing direction.
And Bethany like many contemporary choreographers did not work with an eight point compass, but with a 12 point compass like a clock. So I was always changing direction and the precision of my direction had to really be taken into account. For a blind dancer that’s really, really hard, but what it was for me was really finding the memory capacity almost a preliterate like hunter gatherer kind of memory capacity. Remembering where I was, remembering where I’m going, rotating, keeping my body in space, keeping aware of it. And I always know that I’m in the flow state because my breathing changes a lot. I become very aware of it, I breathe really, really deep and really, really slow.
My heart is beating like a butterfly’s swings so fast, but my breathing is really deep and it’s really slow. And I almost feel my skin vibrating, I feel like every nerve in my peripheral nervous system is just on fire, [inaudible 00:05:28], vibrating. It is such a special experience. Now, that might sound like something you might want to experience yourself as someone on their dance education journey. Here’s some tips for me if you really want to allow yourself to enter the flow state. Here’s some things that you can do. You can make it really more accessible for yourself, you can’t force it to happen, but there’s things you can do to make it more accessible for yourself.
Number one, number one, remember that you have the capacity to learn the thing that you are studying. Do not psych yourself out. If you psych yourself out, no flow state for you. You have to go into it with the understanding, okay, I am here learning this thing and I have the ability to learn it. That’s number one. Number two, feel good and comfortable about the space where you are dancing. Before you start dancing, check everything, feel comforted that you know how much space you have, that you know all of the textures on the floor, that you know where your sound sources are, that you know where other sources of sound might be coming from. Take the time before you start dancing to really get to know where you are dancing. So you’re not going to get surprises from your space, you’re going to feel comfortable where you are.
Number three, allow yourself to enjoy dancing. I know that, that sounds like really ridiculous, but some people, they have this internal critic which is like, “Oh, I’m not doing it right, I’m not going to get it as the way that I want it to be.” If you have that little voice going on, that’s like, “Oh, I know that I didn’t point my foot as hard as I could have, oh, I lost my balance for a split second there, oh, I’m not moving my hand in the way that I know that I should.” Those things, those little critical voices in your mind might be preventing you from learning something much more exciting and allowing yourself to be excited in the moment. Those small things that we work on in technique class, sometimes you need to let it go and go towards a bigger goal of being fully immersed in what you’re doing.
Sometimes the most impressive things that come to us being able to hold big balances, being able to really change direction and not get lost, not forget, being able to access core muscles that we’ve found difficult to access. Having those feet alive with electricity, those hands alive with electricity, maybe it’s overcoming vertigo which plagues a lot of us blind dancers. Sometimes you need to let go of the small little critics voice and let yourself be in the bigger moment of what you’re doing. There’s always time to perfect the little things, but if you sense something is changing inside you that day, that you might be moving into somewhere new, somewhere important, let it go, let the excitement take you.
Go for it and trust that you can learn and that you can be in the thing that you are doing and the world will change, and you will change. When I think about what I’ve just shared right now, it is such a marvel to me that there have been people in my life who’ve discouraged me from following my path as an artist, following my path as a dancer, because how could I live without this kind of experience? How could I live bereft of this kind of excitement? This kind of joy that I so, so love and I so, so need deep in my heart, deep in my psyche. That’s who you are too, that’s who you are too. Always find joy in your dance practice and if you feel yourself teetering on the edge of something special, something important, dive in. It’s going to be great.
