- Musics with strong associations to pictures or other dance styles that work with the same technical qualities that i was looking after, to give an easy entry point for a certain kind of physicality. I call these for 'frame worlds'.

(This choise comes from something that i find problematic in teaching beginners - contemporary dance can have so many different contents that students sometimes have difficulties to find any feeling to grasp and the movemet stays as an exercise. I don't mean to say that  the way i chose this time would be better or the only solution for this problem, definitely not. But i wanted to try how this would be.)

- Asking the group to observe how the diffrent sequences feel to do

- Playful drama in the movement material, not aiming for abstract but giving chances for expression for instance with active using of the head and hands - body parts that we in normal life use easily for expression

 

The class structure

First 45 min

1. Exercise: warm-up, spatial awareness

2. E: awareness of the body and isolation of the joints

3. E: twisting and turning - the spine as a mobile core for movement

4. E: shoulder area and relaxation as a movement motor (swing) combining and coordinating legs and arm movements

 Last 30 min

5. E: A longer choreography with elements from the other exercises. Inside the choreography swings, diagonal lines in the body structure, spine isolations, sharp accents, soft and long steps.

 

What we did

The first two exercises were there mostly for the group to get warm and focused on their movements, to feel the body. Exercise 1 was a more free task freely in the space, built from 4 simple blocks that repeated several times.

Exercise 2 had elements for different body parts, finding the ranges of motion, rhythms, isolations. Difference of bent and straight limbs and so on, 'putting the body on a map'.

From my side, i wanted during these exercises to get a picture of how the group moved and what were their biggest challenges plus establish a contact with the group that was new to me. The group was excited and working well, and they were interested in undertsanding details in the movement.

 

For exercise 3 I had chosen a french accordion music. I was looking for a light and playful atmosphere, with energy and and a light rhythm. The group caught the atmosphere very nicely with the twists of spine, turns and a bit folk dance inspired small jumps and steps. They seemed to be having fun and letting go a little which i was very happy to see. We did the exercise focusing on spine especially too, trying to free it and twist all of it - to channel this feeling into a larger and more relaxed scale of movement.

Exercise 4 has clearly inspiration from afro styles, deep grounding and very functional arms that loop a swingy sequence while the legs are doing their own sequence, yet coordinated with the arms so that the full body works functionally. Releasing tensions not needed and using the floor were important in this.

One side was worked first after which i asked the group to feel if there was a difference between the two sides. We talked shortly about the musculature of the shoulder area and put words on the feelings that the exercise generated. The group was asking qustions and wondering why the body felt so uneven after having worked only the right side. We repeated everything to the other side.

 

Exercise 5 was the task that got the longest time in the class. Technical focus was on strenght and relaxation for functional movement. I chose to use a very clear frame world: tango. In the material there were movements with forms and patterns that reminded from tango, in addition to the tango music. I wanted to offer the group an invitation for playfulness, and exploring the physical movement qualities strenght and softness that we focused on, through emotion and choises in style and atmosphere. The phraze was still clearly a contemporary dance pharze and we looked at the technique for swings, releasing and stabilising the joints when needed and so on, just the atmosphere was borrowed form another style and concept.

 

Afterwards

I think this was a good way to meet a group that i only taught two times. Even in such a short time with the group we were able to include both the performative and holistic side of dance art, even in technique training. Emotion and feeling - mental and physical and everything between are a big part of dance art, and  I am convinced that they can be included in training for all technical levels.

It was beautiful to watch this group move. I could clearly see that there was more than just exercise for coordination. There was dance.

 

(The image: the last excercise notated for myself. The idea is not that it would be very informative for anyone else in content, it more only decribes my material documentation itself. The images point is to show an authentic piece of a working tool.)