Thread: "Back to basics" class, breaking moves down, etc

Having been dancing for quite a number of yrs, and having an engineering type monkey mind, I've been working on breaking down moves, simplifying, how to figure out what I am doing when I do something, how to explain it. Please look, try it out and see what you think of the concepts.

The stuff in italics is part of a handout I'm using/handing out in the class I'm teaching.

Every move comes from more basic motions, rather like learning to write. When you write, you learn to make circles and lines and waves, then letters, then words, sentences, etc. So, here's what I've figured out, wanted to share and see what you thought. This is the breaking down, simplifying it all to basic basics, geometric lines, points, planes, then putting them back together for individual moves.

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First think of directions and measurements. Right/left, up/down, front/back, width, length, height. Now slide your hips and your chest those ways, but for the up/down you raise/lower your whole body.
Slides, moving along a line in a direction:
side/side (width)
front/back (length)
up/down (height)

Now make it 3 dimensional, adding twists

3 Planes for 3 Dimensional dance:
Twists, back/ forth around a pivot point, called the fulcrum.
side/side (horizontal, transverse plane)
up/down (vertical, coronal plane, chest/torso will be a sideways tilt)
front/back (pelvic tilt, chest lift/drop is actually a tilt,median/sagittal plane)

Once you train your body to properly isolate slides and twists in their planes/directions/dimensions, you can do any movement by combining 2 or more.

Seriously. A hip circle is a slide to side, slide out front, repeat to other side, to back. An infinity/8 commonly called a Maya is lift, slide to side, drop, slide to center, repeat other side. An odd thing I found is chest lifts actually are a tilt, but it all works for chest/torso work also. An umi is a pelvic tilt, hip up, pelvic tilt, hip up. Cool!

Variety is the Spice of Dance.

Practice using torso muscles rather than leg muscles, and you can more easily layer a shimmy (driven by legs) .

Variations. Things to change from a basic move:
tempo/speed, size, direction, height, # repeats, pauses, wt shift, shift pivot point, add a shimmy, turn, travel or stop/pause.

Opposites:
Languid vs crisp (pat or slap)
Speed: slow/fast
Even or uneven. Syncopated (1234 or sl sl fast fast fast pause), size, #, direction.
Size: big/little
Inward/outward
Direction: Forward/bkward/side/quarters
Traveling/stationary
Simple/complex
Up/down, R/L, front/back
Motion/stillness (Shimmy/pose)
Sharp/snakey/circular
Single or repeated
Change pivot point: center/ side


Repetition is fine. It gives people a chance to get used to what you are doing and they won’t get bored. Pauses are good for a break for dancer & audience.

I'm more of a "follow the bouncing butt" type of learner--I have to "do" the move over and over, after watching my teacher; however, I have been around Bhuz long enough to know that many people benefit from written instructions, especially if they support what you are teaching in class.

Originally Posted by mish_mish

I'm more of a "follow the bouncing butt" type of learner--I have to "do" the move over and over, after watching my teacher; however, I have been around Bhuz long enough to know that many people benefit from written instructions, especially if they support what you are teaching in class.

Hi, I do a lot of "follow the bouncing butt" as well as explanations. I give handouts to keep me on track, and so perhaps they can refer to them later. I've done a bunch of "grab my butt, now let me grab yours", hands on sort of feeling what someone is doing also, if that makes sense.

Breaking it all down has been fun, as well as then putting it all back together.

Sounds good. I have been practising at home with the Jenna dvd and she does something similar

Originally Posted by jaziri

Having been dancing for quite a number of yrs, and having an engineering type monkey mind, I've been working on breaking down moves, simplifying, how to figure out what I am doing when I do something, how to explain it. Please look, try it out and see what you think of the concepts.

The stuff in italics is part of a handout I'm using/handing out in the class I'm teaching.

Every move comes from more basic motions, rather like learning to write. When you write, you learn to make circles and lines and waves, then letters, then words, sentences, etc. So, here's what I've figured out, wanted to share and see what you thought. This is the breaking down, simplifying it all to basic basics, geometric lines, points, planes, then putting them back together for individual moves.

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Hi Jaziri,

I Love what you have done... it's really similar to how I structure my teaching, almost to the wording! This sounds like something developed over a Long time :-)

What level are you planning to teach this at, out of curiosity? I don't know if this is the sort of feedback you're looking for and I may be way off the mark but I'm thinking that perhaps some of that material wouldn't get much of a look in with students under adv beginner or intermediate level.

Potential dumb question: do you further break down that info or is that all in one handout?

Originally Posted by NandaDncer

Hi Jaziri,

I Love what you have done... it's really similar to how I structure my teaching, almost to the wording! This sounds like something developed over a Long time :-)

What level are you planning to teach this at, out of curiosity? I don't know if this is the sort of feedback you're looking for and I may be way off the mark but I'm thinking that perhaps some of that material wouldn't get much of a look in with students under adv beginner or intermediate level.

Potential dumb question: do you further break down that info or is that all in one handout?

Hi, this is for a beginner/intermediate class. I live in a small town, and we have small classes and mostly have fun as opposed to trying to go pro. I've been teaching and dancing a long time, started teaching wayyyy back when I had 2 yrs under my belt but no one else was able to. Teaching made me figure out what I was doing, and different ways of explaining it.

Over the yrs I have heard various ways of teaching and explaining, some good, some not so much. Each of us is different, and learns in different ways. I've been frustrated with the "jargonizing". perhaps "complexifying" of the dance and have taught that it just isn't that difficult. It bugs me in my professional life also, mystifying really isn't necessary. I'd rather share and communicate than be worshipped (having run across both open sharers and bellier-than-thou types)

Yes, learning to isolate can be difficult, and opening up enough to actually move, but once you get these basics down, all the rest of classes and workshops is "just" (ha) figuring out different ways to put it together.

And yes, that is a lot.

Hearing "1000 ways to shimmy!" drives me up a wall. A shimmy is a small shake. You can shimmy a different part, harder or lighter, front or back, bent knees or straight, legs or torso, etc, but aside from some minor variations, a shimmy is a small shake.

So I've been trying to figure out more of how we move, kinesthetics, and came up with this. I'm amused that others have done the same, makes me feel like I'm doing ok, funny how the wording is similar also. This handout is, so far, for 1 small class of a beginner and a few adv beginners/intermediates. It's all in 1 handout, along with a diagram of planes of body.

I will probably modify the handout since this is the first time I'm using it, just made it up.We canceled class last night, hoping to give it to them next wk, will let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the input.

I like the way your monkey (analyzing) mind breaks the movements down! I'm a newbie who wants to know not only what the moves look like, but I want to know how that part of the body is moving, at what angle, how it relates to the center of the body...but mostly I want to know what are the feet and knees doing during each movement! This helps me to visualize each move, and check myself for proper body placement! So much to learn!!!!.........