Conscious Conversations: An Experiential Study of Improvisation in Sound and Movement

Abstract

Art is a conscious practice. It is a method of live manifestation and a process of creative and individual expression. We perceive art and its meaning both physically and metaphysically through the vessels of body and mind, bridging connections between the abstract and the explicit. Creative process offers a method through which we may open our minds and channel inspirations so that we can explore and manifest greater meaning than ourselves. Art is the connective tissue of consciousness. Art offers truth beyond what we seem to know, and it intrigues us in ways that pull us deeper into the void of being. As it manifests, art is all one mechanism of life. Knowing that art operates from a place void of distinction, we can recognize opportunities to close the circle on differentiations we have defined—even within art itself. Artistic expression has been categorized into separate entities, defining lines between music, dance, poetry and theatre, among many other self-proclaimed forms. Different channels of creativity are segregated by form, restricted to their world of creative expression. But bringing forms together in free-flowing play illuminates the universal language of creativity and inspires personal creative exploration. This project operates on two levels of creative conversation: it seeks to diminish those lines through collaborative improvisational explorations between music and dance, and, through a synthesis of research and practice, establishes awareness of the bodymind- spirit relationship in improvisation. By bringing music and dance into one creative space while investigating the conversation between body, mind and spirit, the creative process is altered, freeing expression from form and offering new palettes for play.