ChoreoCreation 2012: Class 6 Notes and Homework

Thank you all for a great 6 week series. We packed it in, but I hope you had fun! Here are the notes.

Class 6 -
Technique:
Footwork/Foot patterns
- walk
- grapevine
- cross touch
- step touch
Review:
- hip singles
- hip twists
- pelvic locks
- undulations
- hip slides
- interior hip circles
- interior chest circles
- hip figure 8's
- chest figure 8’s

Movement:
- Sidewinder

Combo:

• Sidewinder while walking (16 cts)
• Undulation up to down, kicking on count 4
• Rond de Jombe right leg on counts 5, 6
• Back turn on count 7
• Face front on count 8 for an ending pose

Group Exercise:
Take the combo above and use one of the motif manipulation techniques. Then perform it as a group. Finally, perform it as slow as possible without music.

Discussion on Choreography:
1. Exits / Endings - Explore options on ending a piece: turning and pose, walking off, etc.
2. General structure of piece: introduction, build up, climax, resolution, end


Class 6 Homework
- Continue working on your piece.
- Get inspiration by watching live dance performances.
- Book a private lesson with Lily if you are serious about completing your piece and performing it.

ChoreoCreation 2012: Class 5 Notes and Homework

Class 5 - Musicality
Technique:
Footwork/Foot patterns
- walk - step touch
Hips warm up
- hip singles
- hip slides

Hips
-Figure 8's Up to Down
-Figure 8’s Down to Up

Chest
- Figure 8’s Up to Down
- Figure 8's Down to Up

Movement:
- hip singles full time, walking half time
- figure 8 quarter time, walking quarter time
- figure 8 half time, step touch quarter time
- Lateral Bodywave
- Creature Comfort: Lateral Bodywave into undulations up to down walking backwards.

Creative:
1. Play 30 seconds of a song. Stop the music, then use the residual and continue to dance. Use 5 different types of music. Goal here is to listen and anticipate the music, continue to dance means you have to commit to the way you’re dancing.
2. Lead the dance: Pair up. Leader chooses a body part and assigns the Partner another body part. Leader leads the dancing while Partner follows with her body part. Then switch. Goal here is to learn someone else's interpretation of the music.

Class 5 Homework
MORNING PAGES
Morning Pages Topic 8 - Who are you in your "story"?

Collage - Do a collage about your character / persona in this piece.

DANCE
Continue working on WIP. Practice and commit to the movements.

REMINDER

Next class is our last in this series.

Sign up for the next series March-April when we will be focusing on tribal fusion combos with finger cymbals! Don't own a pair? No worries, Lily will have some on hand for sale and to lend. Don't like finger cymbals? You should! Being able to play the finger cymbals well is an important part of being a belly dancer! I'm pretty sure your belly dance idols are great at playing finger cymbals. So, follow their lead!

http://www.lilybellydance.com/registerTFMar.shtml

ChoreoCreation 2012: Class 4 Notes and Homework

Don't forget this Saturday, February 11th is Sahara Nights at Copa Bar and
Grill with special guest performers and musician/DJ Jef Stott from San
Francisco! Details here: http://www.sabayabellydance.com/
Hope to see you there!


Class 4 Notes
Technique:
Hips warm up
- hip singles
- hip slides
- pelvic locks
Hips
- hip squares
- interior hip circles
- alternating directions
Chest
- chest squares
- interior chest circles
- alternating directions
Arms
- tribal arms (emphasis on the downward push)

Movement:
- pelvic locks half time, walking quarter time
- pelvic locks half time, walking half time
- hip squares quarter time, walking quarter time (alternating directions)
- interior hip circles quarter time, walking quarter time (alternating
directions)
- chest squares quarter time, walking quarter time (alternating
directions)
- interior chest circles quarter time, walking quarter time (alternating
directions)
- alternating directions: hip squares quarter time, walking quarter time;
interior hip circles quarter time, walking quarter time.

Creative:
1. Given an emotion, dance your 16-count combo (from homework). Class to
guess what your emotion is.


Class 4 Homework
MORNING PAGES
Morning Pages Topic 7 - Brainstorming Web: Pick a word that describes your
piece. Then branch out with other words that come to mind.

Collage - Do a collage about your piece. This does not have to be done in
the morning. Use magazines, weekly mail flyers, newspapers, etc. Anything
that pertains to your piece.

DANCE
Continue working on your piece.

Have a great weekend!
Lily

ChoreoCreation 2012: Class 3 Notes and Homework

Class 3 - Variation and Manipulation of combo
Technique:
Footwork/Foot patterns
- walk
- step touch
Hips warm up
- hip singles
- hip twists
- pelvic locks
Hips
- hip slides
- alternating hip slides and hip singles Chest
- chest slides
- alternating chest slides and chest pivots (same as hips above but at the hip)
Movement:
- hip singles full time, walking half time (warm up)


16-count Combo:
R shoulder roll forward (12), L shoulder roll back (34), undulation up to down (56),  pelvic lock front (7), chest lock down (+), chest lock up (8).
Head slide R (1), chest slide R (2), hip slide R (3), L arm up / R arm down (56), Cross turn L over R (78)


Creative :: Dance the 16-count combo using some of the motif manipulation techniques:
- Retrograde
- Inversion
- Size
- Embellishment
- Change Plane and Levels
(Google: “16-ways to manipulate a motif” and you’ll get the rest of them!)


Class 3 Homework
MORNING PAGES
In your dance journal, write (pen to paper):
Morning Pages Topic 5 - When I think of bellydance, I see, I hear, I taste, I smell, I feel (touch)...

Morning Pages Topic 6 - What is the "story" I'm telling in this dance? Who is the character in this piece?

MUSIC
1. Listen to your music with your notebook and pen. Doodle your song.
2. Listen to your music and note sections of the song that are your "rest" periods.

DANCE
1. Create a 16-count combo that you can use for your piece. Practice it for the next class.

2. Practice dancing your piece with just feet (no arms, chest, nor hips). Determine if you are stationary too much and if you need to add traveling movements. General rule of thumb: If the music sounds like the whole band is playing or several instruments are playing together, travel. If it’s just one instrument or a singer, then stay in place.

3. Practice dancing your piece with just the arms. Notice if they stay in the same place and if they reflect the music appropriately.

4. Continue working on your piece.

ChoreoCreation 2012: Class 2

Class 2 Recap and Homework!


Technique:

Footwork/Foot patterns

- walk

- grapevine

- cross touch

Hips

- hip singles (warm up)

- hip twists (review)

- pelvic locks

Chest

- chest locks



Movement:

- hip singles full time, walking half time (warm up)

- hip singles full time, cross touch half time

- pelvic locks full time, walking half time

- pelvic locks full time, cross touch half time

- chest lock + pelvic lock, walking half time

- locking and smooth: chest+pelvic, walking half time (arabic/undulation and broken arabic/undulation)



Creative:


1. With a piece of music, enter in:

- diagonal

- spiral

- circle

- v or pyramid



2. Dance your entrances for the class.









Class 2 Homework

MORNING PAGES

In your dance journal, write (pen to paper):

Morning Pages Topic 3 - Why do I like this music? Why did I pick this music?



Morning Pages Topic 4 - What message do I want to share with the world using bellydance and this music?



MUSIC

Take the outline from last week and write down the counts to these sections. For example:

0:05 - Fade in, quiet - 4 sets of 8

0:43 - Question and answer of the violin and flute - 6 sets of 8

1:25 - Percussion - 2 sets of 8

1:40 - Violin solo - 4 sets of 8

2:02 - Flute solo - 4 sets of 8

2:36 - Violin and Flute together, crescendo to the end - 4 sets of 8

2:59 - End



Note that music is typically in 4/4 time (counting 1,2,3,4) whereas dancers typically count in 8/4 time (counting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8). However, not all music is in 4/4 time and the timing can change within a song. If you need help with how to count your music, let me know.



Finally, make a table for the music, leaving the Movement section blank. Here is the example:

http://lilymoves.blogspot.com/2011/10/tfbd-sepoct-series-class-7.html



DANCE

1. Lock yourself up in a room with no distractions and no mirrors. Dance to your music freely without judgement. Just move. Write nothing down. Just move and get connected with the music. Do this at least 3 times before our next class.

2. Practice dancing the entrance of your piece.

3. Create a stationary 16 count combo. We will use this in the next class.

ChoreoCreation 2012: Class 1

Class 1 - Footwork and WIP
Technique:
Footwork/Foot patterns
- walk
- grapevine
- step together step
- step touch
Hips
- hip singles
- hip twists
Movement:
- hip singles walking
- hip singles grapevine
- hip singles steptouch
- Basic Egyptian

Choreography -
Remember that your music is important, but don't feel like you have to pick THE ONE. I hope you'll use this class as an opportunity to work on something. Enjoy the process! Then apply it to another piece of music later. Remember that your choreography is a Work In Progress (WIP). Love the progress. Love the process. Like with all things, from movements to creating a choreography, practice is so important!


Class 1 Homework


MORNING PAGES
What are Morning Pages? Basically, it's an unedited spillage of thoughts in reference to a topic or question written in the morning when your mind is fresh. So make it unedited and write whatever comes to mind. It doesn't need to be complete sentences, cohesive, or make sense. Just write! General length of time for writing each topic is 8 minutes.

In your dance journal, write (pen to paper):

Morning Pages Topic 1- "Why dance?" With your answer to that question, then ask why X… and continue until you can't stand it any more.

Example: Why dance? Because I love to move. Why move? Because that how I feel alive. Why the need to feel alive? Because I don't feel alive during the week 9-5. Why don't I feel alive during the week? … etc. etc. etc.

Morning Pages Topic 2 - "Of all the types of dance (ballet, modern, flamenco, hip hop, etc.), why bellydance?"

At the next class, I will check your journal, but I won't read them because I know there can be some personal stuff in there!

MUSIC
1. Listen to your music 30 times. Sing or hum along to it.
2. In your dance journal, outline your music in terms of what the music is actually doing, for example:
- Fade in, quiet
- Question and answer of the violin and flute
- Percussion
- Violin solo
- Flute solo
- Violin and Flute together, crescendo to the end
- End

Don't worry if you don't know musical terms, just describe what the music is doing.

3. Then add the music time of the start of each section, for example:
0:05 - Fade in, quiet
0:43 - Question and answer of the violin and flute
1:25 - Percussion
1:40 - Violin solo
2:02 - Flute solo
2:36 - Violin and Flute together, crescendo to the end
2:59 - End

DANCE
1. Lock yourself up in a room with no distractions and no mirrors. Dance to your music freely without judgement. Just move. Write nothing down. Just move and get connected with the music. Do this at least 3 times before our next class.

2. Plan out how you want to start your piece. Plan an entrance with just the feet. Practice dancing just the feet.

TexStyles

Hi everyone,
This Friday, January 13, a local fabric shop called TexStyles is offering special discounts
to belly dancers in the evening if you want to come shop and swoon over some of their great fabrics and trims. I'm not affiliate with them, but consider coming to support a local business that wants to support dancers. Also, if you're planning to attend my costuming working workshop, this would be a great place to visit for your fabrics and adornments!

Here's their post from Facebook (address and more information in the link
below)

TexStyles is proud to announce a new event being held for our amazing Belly
Dance Community. This coming Friday Night from 7PM until 9PM we will hold
our first ever Bedleh at the Beledi! Consider us your home for costuming.
We have brought literally 100s of new laces and trims back with you in
mind. Friday we will close the doors to everyone but our Belly Dancers! We
will be playing Excellent world music and serving Mint Tea! Come in bring a
rug to get comfy on and spend some time playing with our trims and chiffon
and other wonderfully rich fabrics!

https://www.facebook.com/Austin.TexStyles?sk=info