Viewpoints Instructional Slides Viewpoints Architecture
Space · Time · Relationship
The Framework
A philosophy translated into a technique for training performers, building ensemble, and creating movement.
Originated by Mary Overlie (Six Viewpoints).
Expanded by Anne Bogart & Tina Landau (SITI Company).
CORE OBJECTIVE
"To awaken the performer’s physical and spatial intelligence."
The Space Domain
Spatial Relationship
The distance between things on stage; bodies, objects, or architecture.
Topography
The landscape, floor pattern, or design we create in movement through space.
Shape
The contour of the body in space; lines, curves, positive and negative space.
Gesture
A movement with a beginning, middle, and end (behavioral or expressive).
Architecture
The physical environment; walls, floors, light, textures, and their constraints.
The Time Domain
01
TEMPO
The rate of speed at which a movement occurs.
02
DURATION
How long a movement or a sequence of movements lasts.
03
KINESTHETIC RESPONSE
A spontaneous reaction to motion occurring outside oneself.
04
REPETITION
The repeating of something on stage (internal or external).
Opening Exploration
The Grid & The Net
"Move through the space maintaining equidistant relationships with every other person in the room simultaneously. If one moves, you must adjust. The ensemble is a single organism."
Ensemble
Adjustment
Viewpoints Facilitation Guide Viewpoints Workshop Guide
Lesson 1: Architecture of Space & Time
Graduate Level
Workshop Objectives
This session deconstructs the Viewpoints framework into isolated variables. The goal is to move graduate performers from "self-conscious movement" to "environmental responsiveness." Students will identify how spatial constraints (architecture) and temporal triggers (kinesthetic response) dictate composition.
Key Terms
Kinesthetic Response
Spatial Relationship
Topography
Behavioral Gesture
Facilitation Sequence
Phase 01: The Net
The Hook
15 Minutes
"Move as one organism."
Prompt the students to move through the space while maintaining absolute equidistance.
Facilitator Tip: Watch for "pockets" of space. Encourage them to accelerate and decelerate suddenly. If the "net" breaks, everyone freezes and resets.
Phase 02: Isolations
Deconstruction
45 Minutes
Exercise: Topographical Lines
Students move only in right angles or circles. Layer in Tempo (1-10 scale). Ask: How does the floor pattern change the energy of the room?
Exercise: The Kinesthetic Ping
Pairs. Person A makes a sudden movement. Person B must respond instantly with a movement of equal or opposite intensity. No "thinking" allowed—just the "ping."
Exercise: Architecture & Negative Space
Using the room's walls, corners, and chairs. Students must "fill" the negative space created by a partner or the architecture.
Phase 03: Synthesis
Open Viewpoints
30 Minutes
Transition to a 10-minute "Open Viewpoints" session. Group size: 6-8. Use a minimal drone soundtrack.
Observation Prompts for Debrief:
When did a "compositional moment" emerge naturally?
Who was leading? (Trick question: the space leads).
Where did the ensemble fall into "habits" or "clichés"?
Instant Composition & Ensemble Improvisation
Material: Teacher Guide 1.1
Spatial Awareness Journal Spatial Journal
Instant Composition & Ensemble Improvisation
Name:
Date:
The Architecture of Now
"Architecture is the physical environment in which you are working and whatever is in it, including the air, the floor, the walls, the light, and the bodies of your collaborators." — Anne Bogart
Workshop Reflections
1. ARCHITECTURE & CONSTRAINT
How did the physical limits of the space (walls, corners, textures) dictate your movement choices today? Describe one specific moment where the room "moved" you.
2. KINESTHETIC RESPONSE vs. COGNITIVE CHOICE
Identify a moment where your body responded before your mind could "decide." What was the trigger, and how did it affect the ensemble's tempo?
3. THE ENSEMBLE NET
During "The Net" (Equidistant exploration), what was the most difficult aspect of maintaining the organism's integrity? When did the net feel most "compositional"?
Variable Tracking
Viewpoint Personal Habit Performance Potential Tempo Duration Spatial Relation
Contact Performance Slides Contact for Performance
Weight Sharing as Narrative Engine
SHIFT
From Jam to Stage
The Social Jam
Focus on internal sensation, circular flow, and self-regulation. Democratic and non-hierarchical.
The Performance
Focus on external legibility, narrative tension, and compositional choices. Intentionality of the "gaze."
"Performance is the act of sharing your internal listening with an audience."
Creating Narrative Tension
Resistance
Introducing friction or counter-tension to create emotional weight.
Focus/Gaze
Using the eyes to direct the audience's attention to the point of contact.
Stillness
Holding a precarious moment to allow the audience to breathe.
The Fulcrum Duet
"Initiate a duet where the physical point of contact is the sole fulcrum for every decision. Move as if the point of touch is the only thing keeping you on the stage."
Constraint: No separation for 5 minutes. Every shift in weight must be legible from the back of the house.
Weight Sharing Observation Sheet Physical Listening
CI Performance Observation
Observer:
Performers:
Observation Goal
Watch for the "Compositional Fulcrum." Look beyond the athleticism of weight-sharing to find the legibility of intention. How is the duet telling a story of relationship through gravity and resistance?
1. Legibility of Weight
Is the distribution of weight clear to the audience? Note moments where "pouring" weight created a clear visual change in dynamic.
2. Narrative Friction
Where did the dancers use resistance rather than flow? How did this create emotional or dramatic tension?
3. The Gaze (Focus)
How did the performers' eyes connect with each other, the space, or the audience? Did the focus enhance or distract from the point of contact?
Final Compositional Critique
"If this were a 5-minute performance piece, what would be the title?"
Title of the Work
CI Narrative Teacher Notes Pedagogical Notes: CI for Stage
Framing Contact Improvisation as Performance
The Performance Lens
"The challenge for the performance-based CI dancer is to remain internally present while becoming externally legible. We are moving away from the 'internal meditation' of the social jam into a space of active, real-time storytelling."
1. Coaching the "External Eye"
Encourage dancers to imagine they are dancing for a viewer in the very last row. This is not about 'presentation' in a cheesy way, but about 'clarity of intent.'
The Freeze-Frame: Call "Freeze" mid-duet. Have the dancers look at their shape. Is it legible? Is the point of contact visible? Can they see the potential energy?Contrast Coaching: Prompt one dancer to be the "resistant force" and the other the "liquid force." This creates immediate dramatic narrative.
2. Breaking the "Safety" Habit
Graduate students often fall into a "safe" circular flow in CI. To performance-proof their work, introduce interruption.
Sudden Stillness
"Find the most precarious moment of a lift and stop. Stay there for 30 seconds."
Dynamic Disconnect
"Separate mid-flow and don't touch for 2 minutes, but maintain the 'phantom point of contact' across the space."
3. Narrative Triggers
Use these prompts during the final workshop duets to shift the students' focus:
"Who is giving? Who is taking?" Power Dynamic
"Make the floor invisible." Weightlessness
"Listen to the architecture, not just the skin." Environmental Context
Editing Rigor Slides Editing Rigor
Composition vs. Jamming
Live Process
Subtractive Focus
Editing vs. Jamming
Jamming
Additive: "What else can I do?"
Self-indulgent flow state.
Ignoring the "Frame."
Compositional Editing
Subtractive: "What needs to go?"
External-eye perspective.
Rigor over comfort.
The Editor's Toolkit
Entrance/Exit
Knowing the exact millisecond your presence is required—and when it is finished.
Frame Variation
Changing the level, density, or speed to "re-set" the audience's attention.
Crystallization
Taking a chaotic moment and "freezing" it into a clear architectural shape.
Ghosting
Repeating a colleague's movement from 5 minutes ago to create thematic unity.
Exercise 03: The Edit Only
"Perform a trio where you are only allowed to move if you are editing the existing picture."
If you are not changing the architecture, the tempo, or the narrative focus, you must be in complete stillness.
Compositional Editing Checklist The Editor's Checklist
Real-Time Evaluation
"Composition is the elimination of the unnecessary."
Entrance Necessity
Did the performer enter because the space needed them, or because they were bored ? Was the entrance clearly defined by a specific speed or level?
Spatial Balance
Is the ensemble aware of the stage picture as a whole? Are they creating intentional negative space, or just cluttering the center?
Temporal Framing
Is there a clear use of stillness to frame movement? Are moments allowed to "breathe" before the next shift occurs?
Exit Strategy
Did the scene end at its peak, or did it "fizzle out"? Was the exit an intentional compositional choice that changed the narrative tension?
Live Performance Notes
Perceived Compositional "Peaks":
Moments of "Jamming" (Self-Indulgence):
Instant Composition & Ensemble Improvisation
Material 3.2: Editing Checklist
Score History Slides Scoring Indeterminacy
The Liberation of Constraint
Defining Indeterminacy
"A performance is indeterminate when the performer is given a set of rules, but the outcome is unknown even to the composer."
Key Distinctions
• Improvisation: Choices made by taste/instinct.
• Indeterminacy: Choices made by system/rule.
THEORETICAL CORE
To remove the ego of the "Creator" and allow the environment and the system to generate beauty.
The Pioneers
Cage / Cunningham
Chance Operations
Using the I Ching or dice to determine the sequence and location of movements.
Steve Paxton
The Small Dance
A score of extreme minimalism—observing the involuntary adjustments of the body standing still.
Trisha Brown
Accumulation
Mathematical scores (1; 1, 2; 1, 2, 3...) that build complex structures from simple gestures.
Project: The Algorithm
"Design a movement score based on a strict binary logic."
Constraint A
If a partner touches your shoulder, you must travel to the nearest corner at 100% speed.
Constraint B
If the room becomes silent, you must perform a repetitive behavioral gesture until the next sound.
The score is the boss. Instinct is second.
Score Creation Worksheet Score Design
Experimental Composition / Indeterminate Systems
Ref ID:
The Challenge
"Create a system where the dancers are the processors of data. The score should liberate them from their 'favorite' moves and force new physical vocabularies."
01
Binary Logic (IF/THEN)
Define two strict rules that trigger movement based on environmental data (sound, touch, light, spatial position).
If [Condition]:
Then [Action]:
If [Condition]:
Then [Action]:
02
The Map
Sketch the floor pattern or spatial constraints. Use arrows to indicate "data flow" or zones of high/low intensity.
03
Temporal Limit
How does the piece end? Is it a fixed time (e.g., 10 mins) or an "event-based" ending (e.g., when everyone is in a pile)?
Score Prototype v1.0
Graduate Dance Program / Creative Movement
Showcase Protocol Slides The Showcase
Ensemble Instant Composition
Live Mastery Performance
Performance Parameters
A
Duration
25 Minutes of Uninterrupted Composition.
B
The Entrance
Darkness. Sounds of the room only. Movement begins with a single shared breath.
C
The Frame
The "Wings" are part of the stage. Standing still off-center is a performance choice.
"The ensemble is successful when the audience believes the work was choreographed weeks ago."
Criteria for Success
Compositional Rigor
Are you editing? Is there a clear beginning, middle, and end? Are you repeating and varying themes?
Ensemble Responsibility
Are you listening with your whole body? Is the focus on the group organism rather than solo virtuosity?
Spatial Awareness
Using the whole stage. Awareness of levels, negative space, and architectural triggers.
Risk & Discovery
The courage to break a pattern that has become too comfortable. Surprising yourself and your partners.
Final Performance Prompt
Leave no "unseen" moments.
Every breath, every shift, and every entrance must be an act of intentional composition. The stage is yours.
Performance Program Template Ensemble Performance Series
The Architecture of Silence
An Instant Composition
Concept
A 25-minute ensemble exploration utilizing Viewpoints theory and indeterminate scoring algorithms. The work has zero pre-planned movement or narrative; it is edited in real-time by the performers.
Duration
Approximately 25 minutes.
The Ensemble
Ensemble Statement
Performers: Use this space to define the specific compositional rules or "Score" used for tonight's performance.
Graduate Performance Workshop
