MISCHA BAKA

(Ella Dumaresq, Shari Cohen)

Ella and her friend Shari arrived. We were lucky enough to walk down the beach and find that a excavator had connected a trench from the Inlet to the Ocean. A great rush of water flowed into the waves. Ella and Shari navigated the water and we explored shapes and holding positions that contrasted against the fluidity of the moving water. A metaphor of trying to find permanence in the persistent flow of time perhaps? Or holding on to other people to find a sense of stability in the chaos. 

Ella Dumaresq, Shari Cohen

(Ella Dumaresq, Grace Frances)

Ella arrived with her friend Grace. They had participated in a series of contact improve dance workshops recently. We explored rolling down the sand dunes on the beach. I love how their bodies flowed into and around each other. I love how the perspective of the camera disguised the angle of the sand dune, but gravity could be seen in how the bodies moved.

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A post shared by Mischa Baka (@mischa_baka) on Dec 19, 2018 at 7:05pm PST

Met up with Ella Dumaresq and had a great chat about the lines between dance, therapy and medical practice. We mused on the idea that dance could be prescribed like a medicine in a very clinical and methodical way. Seeing a doctor and having them prescribe a dance, writing a prescription. Ella shared ideas about exploring resistance in the body. We spoke about the natural environment providing challenges that are not imbued with human motivations or human notions of evil, coercion or desire. The built human environment doesn’t allow resistance to a natural force. The natural environment allows liberation from human intentions while still allowing the body to play and explore its resilience and power.

We played with the stones along the beach.

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Rocks are Breast