Our dreams are deeply personal, and in the beginning stages of my dream praxis, I felt hesitant about how to proceed, yet I also felt something of Psyche’s insistence. Movement of various kinds, as well as other forms of creative expression, offer a way to explore the pendulating dynamic between knowing and not knowing, between what may feel like chaos and what could be the way forward - a sometimes charged dynamic present in our creative and dreaming lives.

These days, I can’t stand being put in a pose. I need to wiggle, lapping up the sensations I receive from movement that, for example, flows from my head to my tail and along the full length of my spine, movement that is generated from and grounded by an articulated pelvis and supple intercostals. By weaving together our dreams and our bodily movements, we make a unique kind of space for the dream, following its lead into new territory.

What is a movement score?

It is a verbal proposition or suggestion for improvising movement. As I consider movement scores based on dream images and themes that emerge in relationship to the image, I’m aware I’m creating something of a beginning or am contributing to a conversation that has begun via my writing down of the dream, consideration of its context, and the first wave of associations and sensory information I’m being given. The score takes me out of the chair or off the couch and invites me to try on the movement.

Two ideas I’ve found useful in Gaga, a movement language and field of research led by Ohad Naharin, are: first, let this be an inquiry into beginnings; and second, working with pleasure is a non-negotiable in movement, insist on pleasure as a protection as you move.

“One must have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star.” Nietzsche