Practising sameness: Inside a long-term dance improvisation practice

Abstract

This article describes the practising of a weekly group dance improvisation practice that has been taking place for more than ten years. The practice was/is instigated by Olivia Millard resulting from a three-year Ph.D. exploration. Although the practice is based in Millard’s own dance interests, the practice is not aimed at ‘teaching’ this practice or suggesting that this model of practising should be adopted or ‘learned’. Instead, the (non-deliberate) teaching that takes place emphasizes the ongoing act of practising itself. This article explores the embodied experiences of practising over time in two parts. The first is written by Millard who describes the way the practising is tied to the use of scores and how the significance of the practising lies in the regular doing of the same thing, over and over again. The second part of the article is written by a long-term participant, Ashlee Barton, who writes from the point of view of participating in this practice regularly and consistently over such a long period of time.