Create and Notate

This is my combination for modern created to display the things that I had learned during the semester. I’ve notated it below.

Arm swing to high release spiral. Tendu in a la seconde to cross body compression. Unspiral to high “V” release. Side tilt. Fall to 4th. Turn with high V. Step plie to floor. Step back with back extension. Pull through to high “V” spiral. Head tail roll to detourne. Left balance to right balance. Plie high reach. Prepare seconde. Arabesque in attitude with spiral. Tombe forte to head tail roll. Sit in indian style with arms en bas. Arms to fifth with leg in seconde. Arms to seconde. Close leg back in to indian with arm spiral. Right arm to fifth. Slow turn to downward dog. weight transfer up with leg in arabesque. Land in plank. Lower to floor. Roll to back. lift to standing.

Body Check In

I feel like my body’s been progressing fairly well. My balance is the one thing i’m noticing the biggest change in. I’m able to transfer my weight with greater ease than before. My movement on one leg and through movement in each position has gotten a lot better I believe. I’ve also noticed a lot of strengthening in my back coming from the back exercises we’ve been doing in modern. A lot of initiation of movement from the lower back up through the back to the shoulders out through the arms. Namely, the midterm exercises we’ve been doing are responsible for this. I’m starting to feel a little fatigue but nothing a little rest couldn’t fix…speaking of…

Concept

There are many concepts in dance that are very important to the quality of movement delivered by the dancer. The concept of whole body movement is, to me, one of the most important. Knowing what the entire body is doing in every movement helps the dancer to know exactly what they’re supposed to be doing throughout the duration of the dance. Whole body movement speaks to everything a dancer could possibly need to perform a dance from breathing through the movement, to knowing what initiates the movement, proper placement of feet and hips and head and shoulders. Once a dancer breaks through any mental barriers to get the concept of whole body movement in dance its made easier to fine tune much of the technique involved in the movement as much of the “dance” quality is already there.

Transfer of Weight

The assignment for this blog is to show a video displaying weight shift and to discuss it. The video I chose is of a phenom B-Boy by the name of Rubberlegz. I chose this video because his entire style is almost 100% weight transfer. You would actually find it quite difficult to find a section that didn’t display weight transfer. The thing that makes me choose this video is the high level of difficulty in the movement while he transfers the weight and the ease with which he does. He even presents the movement in a more traditional aesthetic of breaking and then a more contemporary light…its really just baffling.

How Do You Learn

The article we were instructed to read to give us insight on exactly what we’re writing about for this blog (http://www.worldwidelearn.com/education-articles/how-do-you-learn.htm) spoke about an individual’s learning style. They specifically spoke on 3 types of learning Seeing, Hearing, and Experiencing. The seeing learners saw another do something and learned from it, the Hearer simply heard it and learned from it, and the experience learner who had to do it to learn it. Personal, i believe i learn from all three fairly evenly. I realize that watching something helps me in dance as far as how a move should travel and the general aesthetic of the movement. Hearing the instructor or whoever’s teaching tell me how to do it may give me insight into a movement that I wouldn’t get from trying to do the movement, conversely, I could only learn so much without learning how the movement feels in my body so the experience to me is also very valuable… I’ve always been this way. I learned so much growing up from my mom just telling me about life, and so much from my brother getting in trouble for things before me…and still got in trouble for things…that i never did again.

Summer Dance Program

I was researching the Florida Dance Festival, which is gonna be held at USF this year. It will be held from June 14-25th. I was looking at it because its affordable ($40-registration/$23-per class/ $575-full tuition) but its also very close to me thus easier travel. For the type of classes they offer, I think its a a great deal, because many other intensives require you to pay a lot more and travel a great deal farther. They offer Ballet, Modern and Hip-Hop…AND Yoga! They also have repertory classes which give you a opportunity to perform in a show at the end of a festival. I know you wanted us to leave Tampa, but i think this is a great opportunity and a better opportunity as I jus moved back.

Alignment

After all the work our dance program has done to improve u (the  dancers) and our craft, the one that sticks out the most to me was the S.E.T. work. I wasn’t a part of the official study, but I was able to partake a bit in the mini-session that was offered during the seminar. I was astonished at the effects of the work after a single session, but more importantly it made me all the more aware of my body and its structural alignment. In dance, the way your spine stacks vertebrae over vertebrae, where your hips sit, leg placement and the weight distribution amongst them,  as well as arm positioning and head positioning all contribute greatly to ones alignment. I found myself trying to achieve as much as I could through mere self awareness. I began to take more care of how I sat, and stood at attention and even how I laid down, trying to reprogram myself in a sense to help my dance. Although I feel as thought I did indeed benefit from it, I was more so made aware of the ways in which my body is stuck into habits that can be less than beneficial to me. I try and combat them on my own taking many things we learn in ballet and modern and attempting to incorporate them into my natural posture. Slouching doesn’t make you a better dancer, so I’ve tried to stop. Not sure of my progress, I simply try to often remember where my body is in space and where it feels it is in reference to where I would be if better aligned. Then I try and do it. If I could achieve success in my daily life, then my dancing would have to benefit as well…right

Monica Bill Barnes-Another Parade

As I was not in attendance for the showing of this piece at our school, i watched a video of excerpts from Monica Bill Barnes’s YouTube channel. I think I may have watched the video about 20 times now. From the mere 1:41 seconds of the performance that i was able to see I am abundantly disappointed that I wasn’t aware of the performance until it was too late. I would’ve love to have seen the full show. There was a plethora of unique movement which seemed to be layered on top of quite a firm foundation of ballet and modern technique. The quality of movement in many of the duet sections makes these swift jumps from what seem to be very personal movements for each dancer to very technical phrasing integrating a wide variety of ideas. The section in which all four dancers line the front of the stage and perform what looks to be a crash course on motif manipulation and presence, the subtlety of the use of technique is very beautiful as if you weren’t looking for it you may have never noticed.

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