TFBD Class 3 Notes

Hope everyone made is safe home. There was a little bit of ice on my windshield when I left the studio, but it melted away quickly with the defroster. The roads were bare and safe enough to make it home without any troubles. I'm speaking for myself, of course... so I hope everyone else had it as easy as I did.

Our new finger cymbal pattern is: 3513
We reviewed: 355, 31313

Just to recap, the new movements introduced today are:

Pivot-Shift-Step: This is a 3-part movement. Starting with left foot flat, step the right foot on the ball and twist the right hip forward on count 1. On count 2, shift the weight over to the left and release the hip back to neutral. On count 3, step the right foot flat. Hold in place for count 4.

Now the left side: Step the left foot on the ball and twist the left hip forward on count 1. On count 2, shift the weight over to the right foot and release the hip back to neutral. On count 3, step the left foot flat. Hold in place for count 4.

Now, you can start again on the right side.

Baraka: This is essentially the Pivot Shift Step with a half turn. Starting with left foot flat, step the right foot on the ball and twist the right hip forward on count 1. On count 2, shift the weight over to the left and release the hip back to neutral. On count 3, step the right foot flat. Half turn to face back on count4.

Now facing the back, we do the left side: Step the left foot on the ball and twist the left hip forward on count 1. On count 2, shift the weight over to the right foot and release the hip back to neutral. On count 3, half turn to face front to step the left foot flat. Hold in place for count 4.

Maya: Also known as the "up-to-down figure 8". You can think of this as a 4-part movement, although you really need to do both sides (8-part) to make a figure 8 shape(or infinity sign). Start with your right hip lifted (1), slide hip out to the right (2), drop the right hip down (3), then collect it back to neutral (4).

Now the left side: Left hip lifts up (1), slide hip out to the left (2), drop the left hip down (3), then draw the left hip back to neutral (4).


Now, continue on start again on the right side. Play with different speeds, slow, fast, medium... let's do it all.

Twist Step: Start with right foot flat and left foot on the ball behind right. Step the right foot flat (weight on right foot) and twist the left hip forward (yes, left hip) on count 1, then twist right hip forward on count 2. Step the left foot on the ball (weight on left foot) and twist the left hip forward on count 3, then twist the right hip forward on count 4. Repeat! Then repeat faster!

3/4 Shimmy on the down: Step the right foot with the right hip down-up-down-hold. Step the left foot with the left hip down-up-down-hold. Start slow and speed up to full tempo so that the feet are walking on the beat while the hips move 3 times per step.
Options are flat foot or on the ball of the feet.

Samiha: This movement is essentially 3/4 shimmy on the down with the right foot flat and left foot on the ball. Start with the right foot stepping over towards the left while the right hip twists and executes the 3/4 shimmy. Then step left foot on the ball and twist the hips back to neutral while executing the 3/4 shimmy. The difference in the timing is that the 3/4 shimmy starts before the beat (similar to our finger cymbal 3 pattern), so that the last hip down is actually ON the downbeat.

Here's the choreography so far:

0:00	Intro:	Wait (16 cts)
0:10	Vocal:	Arabic 2 (8 cts), Arabic 3 (8 cts) Arabic 2 (8 cts), Arabic 3 (8 cts)
0:30	Beats:	Running Choo Choo 1 (8 cts), Running Choo Choo 3 (8 cts), Running Choo Choo 4 (8 cts), Running Choo Choo 1 (8 cts)
0:50	Transition:	Pose (8 cts)
0:55	Intro:	Turkish Walk facing right diagonal (16 cts), Turkish Walk (8 cts), Turkish Walk (4 cts), Turkish Walk (4 cts)
1:15	Beats:	8-Count, starting stage right (8 cts), stage left (8 cts), stage front (8 cts), stage back (8 cts)
1:35	Mizmar Q/A:	Maya (8 cts) + Baraka (8 cts) Twist Step (8 cts) + Baraka (8 cts) Samiha (8 cts) + Baraka (8 cts)

Looks like it's another CHILLY week ahead of us. Stay warm and I will see you in class!
Lily