Suprapto Suryodarmo and Amerta Movement Practice

Dear Practice,

As I delve into research about you, I find myself looking around the space that has seemed to surround and embrace your being for most of our time together. Its linear form, sharp shapes, and even grounds suit your being, and I acknowledge its relevance, whilst wondering if it truly enhances your fundamental nature.

How can I, dear practice, bring you two together? Blur this sense of man-made hierarchy between you and your origin space, and let it guide you into movement. However, I start to question the relevance of the phrase 'reaching outside the box', when this space surrounding us holds that exact shape.

What is there to discover about our relationship that lies beyond those walls?

I stand up and walk around, my attention span flickering (Robbins, 2020), trying not to follow the trajectory of the space. As my feet move, one in front of the other, my mind wonders to the space of your origin, how your being was so intertwined with and driven by the environment that I now only acknowledge in relation to you through a glass frame, right at the top of the linear space.

How can I, dear practice, bring you two together? Blur this sense of man-mace hierarchy between you and your origin space, and let it guide you into movement.

Reconnection.

Relevance.

Reconnection.

Broadening my senses and stepping outside, where somehow now the shapes and patterns overwhelm me, a strong sense of excitement sweeps me up and my mind overflows with possibilities that are embedded in blurring the lines between you and this sensational space.

But how?

Sincerely,

Íris

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Dear Dancer.

These thoughts of yours are not something that solely exists in your mind. Research suggests that there are a few relevant practitioners who have dedicated their movement practice to reconnecting with nature. It may prove beneficial for you to incorporate some of their fundamental principles into your own practice to observe and document how that might change our relationship to the environment we surround ourselves with.

One of these practitioners is Suprapto Suryodarmo, a Javanese movement artist who founded the Amerta movement practice. The practice is built on free movement practice, Javanese Theravada buddhism, and meditation (Amerta Movement UK, n.d). Furthermore, the practice is based on 'moving in nature and an embodied study of movement from the play of elements in motion and the laws of nature' (Reeve, n.d). Suryodarmo has an interesting approach to conveying his practice as described in Susan Bauer's (2005, pp.15) detailed article about her experience with working with Suryodarmo:

'Suprapto calls his method, both of guidance and movement, 'reading'. He directs people to attune to the 'inner movement' in the body and to distinguish it from 'thought'... Usually each student follows a different rhythm, 'listening' to the powers they feel within their bodies in the places they move through.' (Bauer, 2005, pp.15). The Amerta practice therefore places great emphasis on the quality of the mover's presence in space, authenticity, and how the movers conduct themselves, rather than the form of the movement. There is also the idea of the interdependence of a changing environment and the act of being in motion, and the ability to be in flux in that constant re-creation of the moments we live (Reeve, n.d).

Perhaps you could use some of Suryodarmo's principles in your own practice since it seems to relate to your line of inquiry. From looking at his practice, it seems like in order to be in connection to the environment you move in, you need to also be in connection to yourself. This idea you mention in regards to blurring the lines between me, your practice, and the natural environment in which you place me, seems to relate to this idea of being in touch with oneself. It may be worth researching whether this detachment from the natural world and disconnection from our surroundings, could be a result from a certain disconnection to ourselves caused by the many distractions of Western culture. Using free movement and improvisation outside, following Amerta principles may be a way to start exploring and documenting this idea, and thinking about witnessing what is happening in the environment both outside you and within you, and developing relationships between inner and outer experience (Bauer, 2005, pp. 17). Furthermore, since Suprapto Suryodarmo used meditation with his students, you may want to implement that as well in order to be as present and in touch with your body as possible when you take on his movement practice.

Until we dance again,

Practice