getting to the good stuff

Day 7
Today we got a little deeper in movement we’ve already done before. We did the connection exercise while walking with a partner, and noticed how keeping things simple helped to stay connected – when the walker was able to maintain a single direction (forward forward instead of up and down or side to side) then the partner was able to follow more easily. We began lying on the floor in our X and initiating with our finger or toes to bring us into a gentle spiral of the spine. Then moved up to sitting for some stretches. We revisited our pliés and tendus, really trying to fill up all the music by coordinating the arrival of the arms and legs. It’s nice to see everyone’s progress in the workshop by repeating these earlier exercises. Definitely more confidence as everyone danced through the material more, now that the movements are more familiar. Across the floor, we practiced being clear with our direction, opening the heart center as you move forward. We reviewed the combination, and when running the dance, we listened to our fellow dancers on their timing so that we can stay together as a group. To open our awareness to listening to others, we did a short group improv in groups of 3. The premise of the improv being that everyone moves together on a pulse, changing positions in the room, while maintaining awareness of the others and their position in the room in relation to you own. We went a second round on the group improv and added that you can choose to follow the movements of someone in your view, or choose to be a leader during any time. This developed into some very interesting relationships among the dancers in the improv, as some fell into unison or a solo emerged. Amazing job, dancers, with the openness and willingness to jump right into improvisation. It was really beautiful. We’ll get to do a little more next time!