A Change is as Good as a Break (part 2 of 2)

Let’s continue to look at rhythm and phrasing in our movements. Most movement phrases have a clear beginning…. middle…ending, and somewhere in that phrase there will be an accent (often more effort required) and then a recuperation. Highly skilled performing artists can ALL perform the exact phrase in exactly the same manner, though for most of us, each one of us will likelyperform that same phrase very differently. This is the beauty of movement, as movement is not just a ‘task’ that our musculoskeletal system executes. Rather movement is imbued and decorated with all of our history, attitudes (Effort qualities) and emotions. Not convinced? Well, let’s look at a few examples: [if you have children or grandchildren try these out together, as it will be very informative for your own movement phrasing!]

Scroll back to the feature picture for our July 2025 blog post: we see a young girl and a sprinkler. (I will make some inferences about her movement based on the photo.) Likely this girl is slowly tiptoeing daintily in somewhat of a circuitous pathway as she both avoids and gets sprinkled with the cold water from the hose (Effort qualities: Lightness, decelerating, binding flow and indirectness). When the sprinkler soaks her, she suddenly darts off to ‘safety’ (Efforts: accelerating, directness, free flow).

Compare this to this month’s picture of a boy and a sprinkler. (I am NOT comparing genders, just phrasing and Effort qualities). What I see in this photo is a boy running/jumping thru the sprinkler (Efforts: free flow, light weight, directness, accelerating)…and I’m guessing, after he runs thru, he likely slows down, turns around, and starts all over (Efforts: binding flow, strong weight, decelerating).

While these are the same activities, the attitudes (and hence the phrasing and effort qualities) of the two children differ significantly. All the while having fun.

Let’s look at a simpler phrase from the kitchen for you to try for yourself: cutting a carrot crosswise. How do you engage in this task? Do you use your big knife and WHACK..whack..whack..whack..whack..whack... moving your knife along the length of the carrot? (this would be impulsive phrasing with strong weight, directness, free flow on the first WHACK and then a recuperation on the smaller whacks)

OR Do you rock on/off the knife tip as you slice..slice..slice..slice.. while you push the carrot into the line of the cutting edge? (this would be more of an even phrasing, with strong weight effort on the slice, and a recuperation on the lifting of the blade).

NOW try to cut up a carrot in a variety of ways. Where is your accent? How do the different phrasings affect how you feel in the activity? Do images come to mind? Where is the exertion-recuperation?

Finally, here is an even simpler thing to try: How do you consume a peppermint that your friend just gave you? Do you suck it or bite it? They are both biphasic, but the sucking has a lingering, light quality, while the biting has quickness and strength.

And that’s just a taste of movement analysis, pun intended!