Hypedestrian is a technique developed by Hannah Cullen and practiced by cullen+them. The technique takes movement inspired by pedestrian acts and gestures, and then manipulates, alters and deepens those movements to create work that is both dynamic and deeply intentional.
Through the process of creating material, pedestrian motions are stretched, lengthened, intensified, and altered using space, shape, size, time and texture. Physical limits are pushed and tested, while a consistent grounding in the movement’s humanness is maintained. This allows the movers to vacillate between the highly physical and highly pedestrian seamlessly.
Throughout the day we all use our bodies – some more than others certainly – but in one form or another, we are all physically engaged. Rather than accessing our physicality in separate designated spaces like gyms or specialized exercise classes, what if we were attuned the our physical engagement in a more integrated way? When we’re more connected to our own bodies, we’re inevitably more aware of the bodies of those around us. When we more deeply understand our physical limitations, boundaries, experiences, etc., we can better understand and appreciate those experiences in others.