Paul Hunt
Motion is
everywhere. It is often most controlled
on any sort of stage. The more dangerous
the motion in context with the stage, the tighter one’s control has to be. Paul Hunt is a prime example of this.
Hunt has been
part of gymnastics for a very long time and has competed – and won – in many
competitions. He now coaches others in
gymnastics in Utah. His clowning is in a
gymnast’s routine.
It is amazing
to watch him work either on the equipment or the floor. The tricks he does as a clown are well
controlled and never an actual slip of balance or loss of momentum. The first time I had seen his act upon the
balance beam in a YouTube video, I was flabbergasted at the precision it took
for him to keep himself on the beam and keep himself within control, even in
moments where he was falling. Having
been a part of ballet and gymnastics myself, I instinctually want to join him
on the beam and “horse around” in a very controlled manner.
Each move has
to be precise. A miscalculation means an actual face plant with the mat. A true slip of one’s grip means a nasty
collision with the bar. Not once can you
be out of control or you lose control.
And yet, with this control, Hunt moves as if he’s not restricted by
these limits. He most likely isn’t. The body learns how to stay balances if
trained properly. The motions become
second nature if done enough times. A
well choreographed dance can seem like utter chaos to an audience when it truly
isn’t. Hunt shows that well.
He has a floor
routine that he does where he has quite a few leaps and a lot of movement
about. Quite a bit of it looks like
motions thought of on the spot or half practiced. The leap he breaks at the top of the act
looks like it hurts when Hunt would have learned how to do it properly so as
not to truly harm himself. The video I
watched was too fast for me to catch just how he was breaking the roll. I’m sure it was with meat and not with bone
for all his breaks. With the seemingly
incongruent motions, the entire piece – or, at least the sets of motions
themselves – would have been practiced and practiced, choreographed well in
advance as to give him time to perfect it so that the audience, regardless if
they have been trained or not to watch for the way clowns work, can still
appreciate the humor behind each motion that he does.
Personal Space
I never
realized there were so many spheres that we live in. Makes sense, once you think about it. Auditory, Visual, Vocal, Travelling, these I
hadn’t realized existed but they make sense.
It’s a sphere of influence in a way and we’re larger than just the
physical space we fill up by existing.
And along side these, there are a wide variety of motions through them,
different points of being. It’s wicked.
Posture and Alignment
Who knew there
was so much to how one stands? This is
kind of ridiculous, to be honest. It
explains quite a bit, though. Having
improper posture or alignment causes kinks in the system. It’s cool to see, though, that the section
isn’t talking about just the base skeleton.
It goes into how use the buoyancy or radiance to readjust one’s
form.
Body Energizers
This chapter
really talked about buoyancy. About half way through – though it was all rather
fascinating – I was beginning to wonder when we’d reach the others. Then we got to the others. I like the example of the cat getting ready
to pounce. It was a good analogy to use
seeing as I own a cat and know how that looks, how that is. Potency was weird. It didn’t really resonate with me till it was
listing what was learned from the experiments.
Then I was able to really see what the goal was. The last part seemed to be just a blend of
what we’ve already done.
Be a Clown
I never
realized there were so many types of clowns.
It’s cool to read all the different types and be able to put them with
acts that I’ve seen. It makes it more realistic and makes me eager to try it
out.
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