Task 2: Memory-Triggered Improvisation 

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Building on the memory sensitivities uncovered in the first task, the second improvisation focused on invoking a past movement memory. I selected a strong embodied recollection from my training in Dai dance—specifically, a rotation sequence involving shoulder spirals and wrist articulation. I recalled the emotion and atmosphere of that class, letting the memory guide movement without replicating the original choreography. The body quickly defaulted into familiar patterns, showing how memory often activates through gesture and habit rather than conscious effort. 

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As I repeated the sequence, I questioned: Was I merely recalling movement, or was my body negotiating with memory? To probe this, I altered speed, direction, and intensity, challenging the memory's structure. These interruptions revealed a friction between what my body remembered and what it wanted to explore. I reflected that these resistant moments embodied muscle memory shaped by training history, aligning with Connerton's (1989) notion of incorporated memory and Varela, Thompson, and Rosch's (2017) enactive cognition, where cognition arises through embodied engagement. 

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By consciously disrupting the remembered sequence, I observed how improvisation brought embedded memories to the surface, not to replicate them but to question and reconfigure them. This task clarified that improvisation enables the body to negotiate between past and present, recalling, adapting, and transforming movement patterns. Through reflection and experimentation, I came to see that this process directly supports my research aim of understanding how the body remembers and thinks in motion and how improvisation generates embodied knowledge.