Sarah
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Connection and Nina Simone!
I love this class so much and can't wait for the next round! I truly feel so much more aware of how I move through the world, both good and bad (inflexibility! ack!). I was totally feeling like a kettle of water about to boil yesterday too (in terms of emotions built up from the week), and it's amazing how scary it can be to confront emotions and to find a way to move through them, as you were saying. The improv exercise was really hard for me, because I felt like it asked me to do something I never have to do in a given day, which is to not only connect with people but also invent with them. I felt a bit like a kindergartener learning how to read as I was trying to improv! I felt like I was learning a whole new language, even different from the language we've been learning in the class so far. It also made me realize how less fun it is when you are only aware of yourself moving. When we did across-the-floor exercises all together, I really began to understand what it feels like when you really use your whole body to connect (not just your eyes) with a group, when you sense each other moving. It is so cool -- it made me feel stronger or more grounded! I'd love to push myself to be braver in connection exercises. Last week, when we did our combination facing the opposite wall, I was completely discombobulated. But I think if I used the group more instead of the room, I wouldn't get so lost. Lastly, I LOVE it when we dance our combination to different songs and experiment with different emotions and contexts. It's just so fun to try to tell a story on top of it all. I'm learning how to sing right now too, and it's amazing how similar the challenges in dancing are to those in singing. Sometimes I catch myself being so concerned with technique and am-I-doing-it-right, and my singing teacher constantly has to remind me to have fun, tell a story, let go, relax! This class makes it really easy to try all of those things at once. Thank you so much!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
already always perfect
Session 2, Day 7
We did a bit of a shortened warm-up so that we can get right down to moving big. We revisited our exercises across the floor and did our center “barre” exercises. We also did our basic connection exercise. This time we tried to connect quickly. That helped to take out some of the uncertainty and hesitation. Almost deciding to just be there already…already always there…already always perfect…We then spent a lot of time just running the dance. We added a few more steps to the end of the phrase. And we danced to different types of music to see how that affected/influenced our movement. I don’t know about you, but it was an emotional day for me. I mentioned in class that the energy in the room felt like something was simmering and just about to come to a boil, bursting out of the pot. Wow, great! Hopefully, we can channel this energy through our bodies and out to the world when we dance. Having the courage to feel confident when you feel out of control is what I believe, allows you to truly fly, with two feet on the ground, especially while dancing. Give it a try! – next week perhaps, or maybe even now. There is a lot of power in deciding that now is the time.
We did a bit of a shortened warm-up so that we can get right down to moving big. We revisited our exercises across the floor and did our center “barre” exercises. We also did our basic connection exercise. This time we tried to connect quickly. That helped to take out some of the uncertainty and hesitation. Almost deciding to just be there already…already always there…already always perfect…We then spent a lot of time just running the dance. We added a few more steps to the end of the phrase. And we danced to different types of music to see how that affected/influenced our movement. I don’t know about you, but it was an emotional day for me. I mentioned in class that the energy in the room felt like something was simmering and just about to come to a boil, bursting out of the pot. Wow, great! Hopefully, we can channel this energy through our bodies and out to the world when we dance. Having the courage to feel confident when you feel out of control is what I believe, allows you to truly fly, with two feet on the ground, especially while dancing. Give it a try! – next week perhaps, or maybe even now. There is a lot of power in deciding that now is the time.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
thoughts for naught...or not?
Session 2, Day 6
I presented the same question to the group as last time: what are you working on; what part of dancing do you want to improve? And it seemed like across the board, everyone wanted to think less and feel more, get out of our own heads when dancing, and more importantly…connect the mind and body when dancing so that you don’t get stuck in all the thoughts. This is a great goal to have and a huge challenge at hand. No matter what level your dancing technique is, all dancers are working on this. So don’t get discouraged if it seems like you’re not making progress. Because I can assure you that if you’re working on your dancing, attending class regularly, and are mindful about your goals, then you are definitely making headway on your path. We added some new exercises to our daily routine…After pliés and tendus, we learned rond de jambes – my favorite ballet exercise. I love the roundness and fullness of the movement as the leg makes half circles on the floor. I stressed the importance of keeping weight centered on both feet at all times. And even when the gesturing leg rising off the floor, I still have this feeling like I’m connected and support by the floor through the foot. So in general, when a part of my body leaves the floor, it never feels like it’s taking off into space. In rond de jambes, I also feel the opposition in my body, moving through my center, as I reach my arms forward when my leg reaches away. My arms, in this exercise, are essential to stability. Remembering to engage in the traps/back, reaching through the ring fingers, and a slight press downward (connecting to the floor once again) as if I’m resting my arms on a tabletop. We also added more to our connection exercises. We took this idea of connection and moved with our partners. This requires a lot of letting go and moving into (your partner) which sometimes becomes a very emotional task. Don’t’ worry. This is part of the process. But not necessarily what’s at stake. That is to say, let the emotions arise but let them go just as easily. The practice is just that – practice. Everyone in the class is doing an amazing job of staying open and positive. I recognize that this work sometimes requires a lot of deep self-evaluation and that can be scary at times. But I hope you all recognize how much fun that journey to self-discovery is, and how valuable that feeling of vulnerability is when you experience the sense of freedom on the other end…Moving on…we added some more movement to our phrase. It’s really coming along now. Everyone’s dancing looks more connected and people are dancing with more courage. It’s really great to watch the transformation. We’ll keep refining this phrase some more and dance a little for one another in class for the next time.
I presented the same question to the group as last time: what are you working on; what part of dancing do you want to improve? And it seemed like across the board, everyone wanted to think less and feel more, get out of our own heads when dancing, and more importantly…connect the mind and body when dancing so that you don’t get stuck in all the thoughts. This is a great goal to have and a huge challenge at hand. No matter what level your dancing technique is, all dancers are working on this. So don’t get discouraged if it seems like you’re not making progress. Because I can assure you that if you’re working on your dancing, attending class regularly, and are mindful about your goals, then you are definitely making headway on your path. We added some new exercises to our daily routine…After pliés and tendus, we learned rond de jambes – my favorite ballet exercise. I love the roundness and fullness of the movement as the leg makes half circles on the floor. I stressed the importance of keeping weight centered on both feet at all times. And even when the gesturing leg rising off the floor, I still have this feeling like I’m connected and support by the floor through the foot. So in general, when a part of my body leaves the floor, it never feels like it’s taking off into space. In rond de jambes, I also feel the opposition in my body, moving through my center, as I reach my arms forward when my leg reaches away. My arms, in this exercise, are essential to stability. Remembering to engage in the traps/back, reaching through the ring fingers, and a slight press downward (connecting to the floor once again) as if I’m resting my arms on a tabletop. We also added more to our connection exercises. We took this idea of connection and moved with our partners. This requires a lot of letting go and moving into (your partner) which sometimes becomes a very emotional task. Don’t’ worry. This is part of the process. But not necessarily what’s at stake. That is to say, let the emotions arise but let them go just as easily. The practice is just that – practice. Everyone in the class is doing an amazing job of staying open and positive. I recognize that this work sometimes requires a lot of deep self-evaluation and that can be scary at times. But I hope you all recognize how much fun that journey to self-discovery is, and how valuable that feeling of vulnerability is when you experience the sense of freedom on the other end…Moving on…we added some more movement to our phrase. It’s really coming along now. Everyone’s dancing looks more connected and people are dancing with more courage. It’s really great to watch the transformation. We’ll keep refining this phrase some more and dance a little for one another in class for the next time.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Help spread the word!
Early registration deadline for the next session (immediately following Session 2) has been extended to February 17. Sign-up now and take advantage of this great deal! Ask the front desk at Lines Dance Center for more details. First class in on March 6.
out of the ground...
Session 2, Day 5
We began by asking ourselves what are our goals were for the workshop; what are we working on? This is something that you should be asking yourself in some form or another, every time you take class. Give yourself a daily goal or thing to focus on, as well as a long-term goal with your dancing. We began moving by our normal warm-up. I often went around the room to assist with alignment, etc. We also did the basic connection exercise and added a new Hino task: we learned to find our partners momentum by trying to catch and move their swinging arm. This exercise was a good lead-in to our assisted drag step. Finding the swing of the arm allowed us to find the momentum in the whole body of our partner as she stepped into the long drag that is in the combination. We shifted gears from our normal routine a bit, and went straight into our combination. No new material, but everyone is really starting to feel confident in the movement. This is definitely where we want to be. We drilled the first few steps of the left side (we’ll elaborate on this more next class). And then we did a few of the traveling exercises across the floor to close the class. I mentioned at the end that the pace that we were moving through the across the floor exercises is the pace that we should be doing them all the time by now. Meaning the next group should be coming in about every two counts of eight. We’re at the point where we’ve got a lot of information under our belt, so we should be working towards mastery of those things and adding more to our repertoire. Awesome!
We began by asking ourselves what are our goals were for the workshop; what are we working on? This is something that you should be asking yourself in some form or another, every time you take class. Give yourself a daily goal or thing to focus on, as well as a long-term goal with your dancing. We began moving by our normal warm-up. I often went around the room to assist with alignment, etc. We also did the basic connection exercise and added a new Hino task: we learned to find our partners momentum by trying to catch and move their swinging arm. This exercise was a good lead-in to our assisted drag step. Finding the swing of the arm allowed us to find the momentum in the whole body of our partner as she stepped into the long drag that is in the combination. We shifted gears from our normal routine a bit, and went straight into our combination. No new material, but everyone is really starting to feel confident in the movement. This is definitely where we want to be. We drilled the first few steps of the left side (we’ll elaborate on this more next class). And then we did a few of the traveling exercises across the floor to close the class. I mentioned at the end that the pace that we were moving through the across the floor exercises is the pace that we should be doing them all the time by now. Meaning the next group should be coming in about every two counts of eight. We’re at the point where we’ve got a lot of information under our belt, so we should be working towards mastery of those things and adding more to our repertoire. Awesome!
Friday, February 5, 2010
walk this way
Session 2, Day 4
We began the session talking about the connection in our legs, specifically towards the backs of our legs, and looking at the anatomy of our feet as well. We should try to connect our sitz bones to our heels at all times and bring our weight over our heels, without necessarily “leaning back” and taking the shoulders too far backwards. During our warm-up exercises, we tried to feel this alignment in motion as we shifted our weight in small circles over our feet. It was amazing how we felt more grounded and centered after taking some time to be “off center”. Moving across the floor, we added a little pivot or half-turn step to our simple, 2-count walks forward – in anticipation for full turns later on in the workshop. The lawyer in her power suit seemed to help get you ladies in the spirit of this one. And then at the end of the class we worked on the side drag step that was added to the combination last week. We took a partner to assist us in feeling comfortable with the falling motion in this move. Everyone was really brave in this exercise; really lived up to the Superman image. It’s a big feat to learn how to fall, and to learn how to be carried (by a partner). So great job, dancers! We did a lot of hard work. So I think the next installation will be lots of review of all the material we’ve covered thus far. Reiterating some of the principles with regards to alignment and anatomy, and spending extra time on the movements that are more challenging – like this falling stuff. See you next time!
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