weaving Voices 01.04.2025 issuu - Flipbook - Page 90
Performance theorist Peggy Phelan, writes at length around the value
of a pedagogy for misunderstanding, as a strategy for embracing
Misunderstanding as a political and pedagogical telos can
cultural difference. “Misunderstanding
be a dangerous proposition, or it invites the belligerent refusal to learn or move
at all. This is not what I am arguing for. It is an attempt to walk (and live) on the
rackety bridge between self and other, and not the attempt to arrive at one side or
the other, that we discover real hope.”151 (TB)
u Understanding
Understanding weaving as both a real felt experience of using our
hands and eyes to create weaves with yarn and materials, and also
as a metaphor for a way of working together, a collective act of
creating. When we sit or stand and weave together, we can often see
the results of our labour, the weave comes into view, it is there before
us, growing and changing before our eyes. And when we sit or stand
and weave together, we sometimes can’t see it, but we can feel it –
a shift in our perception; a new way of connecting with each other;
growing and changing; feeling how our thread connects to and is an
integrated part of the whole. Weaving as an activity is both visible
and invisible, it is both a literal and a metaphorical action. Both of
these actions can be felt experiences. Both can be embodied.152
(TB)
n Neurons that fire together…
having a really clear, direct somatic understanding of yourself as you
go through your life. Feldenkrais lessons have themes and variations,
and the variations have different constraints and invitations. We
often have our participants/students explore a habitual movement,
whether they perceive it as habitual or not, then introduce nonhabitual movements in relation to it. This causes confusion in the
habitual organisation and gives your nervous system more options
to ‘fire together’ with new ‘wiring’. That’s why we say that you
cannot do a lesson incorrectly unless you are causing yourself pain.
It’s also why it is not necessary to do all of the variations if you find
that the confusion passes beyond being interesting into the realm
of frustration. Stay within the boundary of what gives you joy and
curiosity! (TB)
i Island (After Brexit)
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less. (John Donne)153
what’s important to you right now as you
t Teresa,
compose your answer?
“Neurons that fire together, wire together” is a common saying
in the field of neuroscience. This tells us that the more you fire the
same habit, the stronger the wire connection is in your brain, whether
or not it’s in sync with your greatest intention. Everyone picks up
habits that may not be as useful as other potential and available
options, whether we realise it or not. For example, your brain does
not decide to tell you that moving in one certain direction will cause
more wear and tear over time than will a different movement. Even
if it does, you have the choice not to listen to it. The only ways in
which you can know the difference are by either studying it, or by
Teresa, what’s important to you right now? (HB)
How we build upon the partnerships we’ve established during the
project. Understanding how to appropriately assess and evaluate
the legacy of the work we create and facilitate with the multiple
communities. Finding ways to disseminate the ‘insider knowledge’
we have accumulated throughout this project to individuals and
collectives in the field. (TB)
151
Phelan, P. (1993) Unmarked: The Politics of Performance. London: Routledge, p. 174.
152
Brayshaw, T. (2023) Open welcome letter to Weaving Voices participants at Leeds launch day.
153 Donne, J. (n.d.) No Man Is an Island [online] Available at: https://allpoetry.com/No-man-is-an-island
[Accessed 22 Sept. 2024].
178
And you Hannah, what’s important to you right now? (TB)
The tyranny of language, wondering about how you might read this,
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