Thread: Improv games for class

I seem to remember on the old Bhuz that there was a discussion some time about games that teachers used to get their students used to improvisation. I have scoured my own archives, and searched the old Bhuz, but can't find the thread (grrr...).

I seem to remember that one of the games was to write lots of individual movements on pieces of paper, put them in a bag, get students to pull a number out and use them to improvise to a particular piece of music....I'd like to use this, but want the more detailed instructions - can anyone help me find them/remind me what they are???

Also - any other suggestions for games are welcome!

TIA
D

Shoot- I didnt write down who posted it, kicking myself,m:: . But here were the ideas (maybe the fantastic dancer will read this and chime in- does the search function bring up old bhuz threads?) I think this is what you were looking for?



Some Ideas for bringing out the creativity in your dancers. What have you found that works well?

Inspired by http://www.goshen.edu/art/ed/self.html and playing the game "If... Questions for the Game of Life"

--Asking questions at the beginning of class to get people thinking and the creativity flowing like:
***Who is your favorite dancer?
***What is your favorite song for dancing?
***If you could improve in one area of dance, what would it be?
***Why did you first try bellydance?
***What is your favorite rhythm?
***What is your favorite 3 move combination?
***If some said to you "Bellydance, Isn't that like stripping?", How would you respond?
***What are the different styles of Bellydance/Middle Eastern Dance?
***How would you describe the difference between bellydance and Middle Eastern Dance?
***What makes bellydance, bellydancing?
***How do you describe bellydance?
***Which name for bellydance do you use in different situations?
***What is the meaning of dance?
***What is the purpose of dance?
***Why do you dance?
***Who do you dance for?


--Creative combinations. Play a different rhythm each week. Have each dancer give a 2-5 move combination. Learn about rhythms, transitions, weight placement, arm positioning, and thinking.

--Thrilling Zilling. Work on a different zill pattern each week. Have each dancer show a different move to go with it. Each dancer should try each move. Talk about what works or doesn't work and why.

--Learning to Improvise. Play a well known dance song, have a dancer's circle where each dancer does a couple moves in the center. Celebrate each dancer's courage and style. Improves self-esteem and sisterhood while learning to put moves to music.

--Memory game. Play a steady rhythm that lasts a while (rhythm cd on repeat works). Have a dancer do a move. Dancer number 2 does that move and adds one. continue adding until everyone is giggling or no one can remember the combos. The dancer that can dance the longest memory chain is crowned Diva for the day.

--Rhythm chain for drums or zills. Play a rhythm 2-4 times. Next drummer/ziller plays it 2 times then adds a second rhythm or variation. Works great for learning transitions. Must have small number of drummers and versatile repertoire. Hilarious campfire game for experienced drummers who have had too much to drink.

--Dancing with feeling. Name an emotion/story and have each dancer express it in a dance. (Find music that works well with the emotion you have named.) Let your dancers know to include the details like framing, body position, facial expression, stage/floor location, etc...

--Learning to listen. Play a song 2 times and have each dancer write down in a dance journal about the song. The first time through should be about feelings. The second time through should be about technical things like rhythms, style, sections, dance moves that would work well, etc.. Great for brainstorming before choreographing.

--Shimmy Queen. Pick a type of shimmy. See who can keep it going the longest. Who can shimmy the smoothest. And, who can add the most layers/combos. Award the shimmy queen hipscarf for the week for the overall winner. Talk about what shimmy combos work or don't work.

--Feel it. Blind fold yourself and dance to a song. Have a friend or teacher record it on video tape. Review it to learn things about your dancing you didn't know. Ask yourself which things you like best.

--Perfect Balance. Find unusual objects around your house to balance. have each dancer at your next house attempt to balance them for the longest period of time. The trick is to play a fast song that gets every dancer moving. Depending on the object this could be hilarious. If you are used to balancing the same thing all the time, this will challenge how you think about each move and your center of balance.

--New move. Have each dancer come up with a new move or combo that they haven't seen before. Praise each dancer on her creativity.

--Dancer duel. Have experienced dancers have a dance off competition. They each improv to the same song at the same time. The other dancers journal critiques both good and bad. This helps to overcome the fear of criticism and judging at a competition or a performance.

--Drop it Drink. Hafla game where everyone has an object to balance. You drop it and you have to drink from the "grog". The "grog" can be anything from the drink of the night to a concoction of icky drinks.

--Whirling dirvishes. Who can spin the longest before falling down? This one helps to learn the importance of spotting and is fun for those watching.

These are great suggestions Sumaya - I will certainly use some of them!

However, I'm still on a hunt for details of the piece-of-paper-from-a-hat method...
D

If I remember, Ellarial uses this game, you could try PMing her.

Awsome post Sumaya!

Originally Posted by beafarhana

If I remember, Ellarial uses this game, you could try PMing her.

Thanks Bea - I had a feeling it was a UK dancer that I'd read about using initially...but couldn't remember

I'll PM her.
D

Wow those suggestions came at the right time for me - the beginners are to try their first improv tomorrow. Karma. Thanks for asking the question DeelyB! And an awesome reply indeed.

Anyway, slips of paper - I remember Carol Hall using a game like this and it worked really well. I have no idea if this is the game you're talking about but this is what she did:

She gave us all a piece of paper and asked us each to write down four moves. She then took the pieces of paper, and kind of shuffled them. She put the music on, which was a piece that had a steady rhythm (i.e. there weren't lots of changes), with plenty of strings/melody for the more lyrical moves. Then she started reading out each move written down on the pieces of paper, and we danced that move for four bars. She warned us when we were moving on to the next move so we could prepare ourselves for a transition.

I may just use it meself tomorrow!
Kathy

Those werent my ideas...got them from another more brilliant bhuzzer, but dont remember who! Sorry it wasnt what you were looking for!

I had a teacher who would play the same 30 sec or so of a song and have us do something differently each time, in our own accord.

I also had a teacher would put on music at the end of class to let us just jam. She suggested that we don't watch other people or close our eyes to really feel the music.

Originally Posted by deelybopper

I seem to remember that one of the games was to write lots of individual movements on pieces of paper, put them in a bag, get students to pull a number out and use them to improvise to a particular piece of music....I'd like to use this, but want the more detailed instructions - can anyone help me find them/remind me what they are???

Artemis Imports used to sell a ready-to-use version of this game called Tummy Rummy. I don't know whether they still do, but you could check - www.artemisimports.com

My instructor has done something like this in class.

She wrote down one or two moves on cards. She grouped us in pairs and each group picked three or four cards. So, on your cards might be written:

Level change
Classic arms
Hip drops
Diagonal Travel
Hip Circle
Arabesque

Each group would have different cards, obviously, and we had five minutes to come up with some way to present a quick choreo as a duet using all the moves on the cards. It was fun.

I think it would be easy to change the focus to improv by using solo dancers instead of pairs, and cutting out the prep time - so each dancer would have to think on his or her feet how to put the moves to the music.

You can also have everyone stand in a circle when the music is playing. One dancer starts a move while naming it and everyone else does it too. When the dancer on her right is tired of doing the move then she names another move and the circle does it, etc.

You can also do this with layers. Someone starts a move and the next dancers adds a move to it. The next dancer in turn can either add a move or discard a move. One move has to be going at all times though so if you are undulating and doing shimmies, a dancer can take away the shimmy but the next dancer in line cannot take away the undulation. This game can become real silly as dancers learn that not all combinations work together.

Morning
Although DeelyB PMed me I thought I would reply here - yes I have posted in the past about getting students to improv using cards. I have 2 sets - one for beginners (6-8 weeks into course so just have simple moves) and also some for late improvers (18-20 weeks in which have " harder" moves) but can also be used as a reminder for more experienced dancers.

So for both I use the same technique - they have a sharp move ( side hip accents, drops, lifts etc - not necessarily just hips - could be upper body too); a smooth move ( eights, circles, rotations etc) and a travelling move. They are allowed to use the moves in any order, for any number of repetitions, in any direction, speed etc which they want - BUT they are not allowed to deviate from the move written down. It means they have to use moves in combinations that probably aren't comfortable for them, and also because each card is different when they swap they aren't faced with something familiar. Also means that with the inclsuion of a travelling move they really have to think about weight placement before and after travel so that everything appears seamless.

Baby beginners can just concentrate on moves with simple arms, more advanced have to make the arms as seamless. Everyone can cope with this idea of improvising as it takes away the "mind going blank" which is most common, and they actually feel like they are dancing on their own rather than copying anyone else.

The hardest part was actaully coming up with 15 different cards! The other advantage is that everyone picks a card at random and then I would go round the room explaining moves that weren't immediately apparent - but to the whole class so that everyone had a reminder.

In a recent technique class and workshops I have also written mini combinations. I know that some people can't see the point of teaching combinations because how could they fit to any other music that you learn it too ?- but I emphasised the transistions between the moves and also encouraged different repetitions of moves to fit the music so they can fit. This is also a method of semi-improvisation - they know what is coming next but can have chance to work themselves up to knowing how to transistion smoothly.

Emma

Who has just remembered that the reason the cards came into being in the first place was because I was being inspected by the local education authority and needed to have more " resources" available rather than just me and the CD player!!

I've noticed that many beginner students are reticent at pairing new dance movements with walking. A standing shoulder shimmy feels "safer" to them than a shoulder shimmy done while walking across the room, but learning to layer is crucial to development.

So I got thinking about how to make this fun and came up with an idea which will work on a less-serious group of students. I think it would fly well with kids' classes, too.

My idea is dance tag. Whoever is It has to do a dance move, and while doing that move, they have to go and tag someone else. The new person who is It has to do a different move while catching the next person. This way, they're drilling technique and having a blast while doing it.

I've also had my students do this while balancing things on their heads. I use soft, 3-pound Pilates balls, but beanbags would work well, too. This really helps with isolations.

An exercise that one of my teachers had the class do once in a while is to do a move for 6 counts and then change it on the 7-8, then start a different move for 6 counts etc. The idea was to have enough time to think and be relaxed, but to look like we were doing choreographed combinations. This is a nice exercise also because the song doesn't have to be very repetitive.

Sorry - haven't been able to post before now, just wanted to say a big thankyou to ellariaal for sharing that. Am saving the post now, so I don't have to ask again in the future

Thanks for all the other suggestions as well - they're great and will definitely get worked into classes at some point or another!
D

Just thought I'd give an update on how I modified/used ellariaal's game for my classes this week.

I wrote each of the moves we covered in the first class (7 in total) on pieces of paper (4 of each move) and folded the pieces and put in a bag. I divided the class into 4 groups, and each group picked 4 pieces of paper from the bag. They then had to put the moves together to a piece of music in the order they had pulled them from the bag. Then I got them to swap round just 2 movements, and repeat the exercise. I used a rhythm track, as the class had some people who had never done any BD before that point, so I didn't want to challenge them too hard (i.e., I want them to come back next week!). I also suggested that they travel with the movements if they felt confident enough (left, right, backward, forward, pivot turn).

There were some interesting results:
1 - it really made the students think about how long each movement is, ie how many counts it takes, and they realised that to get a good flow between the movements and stay in time to the music they had to speed some up/slow others down. This was really interesting - hadn't expected this effect

2 - Especially for the complete and utter beginners - it gave students a sense of achievement. They weren's improvising as such, just creating combinations, but as they had chosen which movements to swap over they felt pleased with what they had done.

3 - For those students who are generally resistant to/troublesome when working in groups it was great, as there was a clear set of instructions and they couldn't boss any one around/refuse to participate!

Downsides:
- for some of the more experienced students the moves were a little limiting and they felt somewhat frustrated. I sold the exercise to them in terms of creating combinations, and understanding transitions between movements. I also reminded them that in the first class of term they had to be a little patient because of the complete beginners.

D