Bound Flow

Bound Flow
Submitted by Russell Graves - August 6, 2003

For many years in teaching mime, stage movement, and acting using Effort/Shape, I was troubled by the the negative tone given to almost all descriptions of bound flow. They all suggest an inhibition. When you think about it being bound is an unattractive state (bound dog, prisoner, kidnap victim). Descriptions undertaking to explain bound flow talk about carrying hot soup and arresting an action in its mid course. I finally resolved the problem by applying the concept countering to all actions where I was concerned with the effort involved. My rule for countering is to adopt the law from physics which says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Consider the problem of sustaining one's front when gesturing. It is possible, but highly undesirable, to "freeze" the torso while an arm or leg or head moves. For instance, if the shoulder that wants to follow the direction of an arm gesture is allowed to counter the action the front will be maintained, and the action will possess a more dynamic quality than it would otherwise. The countering is an internal counterforce against an external action. All of this sounds complicated and esoteric, but I believe it is consistent with the later developments of LN on the part of Ann Hutchinson Guest and others. In practice it works.