Scarfs: Free Flow:

 

Flow is referred to as either free flow or bound flow.  


Effort

Movement analyst Rudolph Laban (1879 - 1858) developed a unique model for understanding the quality, dynamics or color of body movement, referred to as Effort, the title of Laban's (1947) book, or sometimes referred with the earlier term Eukinetics. He defined four Effort Factors, each ranging across two opposite.

Effort Elements:

Space Effort considers focus or awareness, ranging from direct to indirect or flexible;

Weight Effort considers pressure, force, or sensitivity, ranging from strength to lightness;  

Time Effort considers speed or slowing of the pace, ranging from quick to sustained.  


Flow Effort considers the control of movement, ranging from bound or controlled to free or released.


Psychologically

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi defines flow as a mental state of complete focus, that merges action and awareness, while losing the self-consciousness. Further, he describes flow as an activity in which a person has personal control, which includes a subjective distortion of time and that flow is intrinsically rewarding.  This concept has been in Asian cultures like Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism for millennia as the concept of being whole and one with yourself. This moment can be experienced by anyone in any activity when they feel like their body and mind are highly focused. Many people would liken this to someone being “in the zone”.

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Exercise

Students were given a very lightweight piece of fabric we called scarf. 

They through the the scarf into the space and grabbed it before it would touch the floor.  

The alternating of the hands as they threw and grabbed the scarf created a sense of arm flow.

This sense of flow is necessary for the student to embody the quality of free flow.

The second part of the exercise, they would let go of the scarf and now throw an imaginary scarf.

That reference made them continue throwing and grabbing the imaginary scarf as they alternated arms.

The result was a noticeable increase in arm movement with a sense of free flow they never experienced before.

Sources:  

Definitions of Flow

The Three Factors of Movement

Laban Analysis