Note to self: waiting six months to finish your notes from a class is NOT conducive to recording accurately what happened! The following is a mix of my pre-class notes and my (hazy) post-class recollections of what we actually did. If you were there and remember something different, please tell me!
The class was focusing on refining rolling point technique and doing a bit of overview of low lifts.
Recap of 2-hour class at City Life Wellness in Brooklyn, NY, on Thursday, April 19, 2012.
Opening Circle
- check in on people’s bodies
- check in on class intentions
Warm-up
- The Stand [Steve Paxton]
- nod yes
- nod no
- bring attention to your breath
- lean forward, weight to balls of feet
- may notice your back muscles engage and your abdomen relax
- may notice the front of your lower leg engage and your calves relax
- lean backward, weight to heels of feet
- may notice abdomen engage and your back muscles relax
- may notice back of your lower leg engage and the front relax
- if you don’t notice these things, you’re not necessarily doing anything wrong
- Rajendra’s walking-around exercise — pouring weight between feet
- back and forth [Rajendra Serber]
- pour weight entirely into one leg
- lift the heel of the other, to make sure there’s no more weight there
- then by 10% increments into other leg
- pour weight entirely into one leg
- then walking
- when weight is entirely on one leg, lift other leg up
- place it forward without weight
- then pour weight into it, in 10% increments
- back and forth [Rajendra Serber]
- falls
- falling to the ground in different ways by yourself, and rolling up
- diving into the floor, greeting it like a friend
- or tipping off-balance first, then falling down
- or going down gently and easily
- “falls up”
- instructions:
- hands up, throwing oneself up and up on tiptoes, small suspensions
- try putting one leg up to delay, but do both ways
- catch self
- add falling into someone, and be pushed back
- pusher/catcher
- can catch at different places
- easier is sooner, and at pelvis/center
- pusher/catcher
- instructions:
- falling to the ground in different ways by yourself, and rolling up
- More warm-ups
- X-rolls
- lying on back, limbs in an “X”
- leading with different limbs across body, spiral to turn over to another X
- crescent rolls
- towards middle
- towards hands & feet
- showing shoulders & feet off the ground
- push-ups (10)
- X-rolls
Rolling point & weight-sharing refinements
- rolling point – no skips, no slides
- explanation of this
- common areas for skips
- shoulder to chest
- hand to hand
- head to shoulder
- upper torso to lower torso or butt
- monitoring — calling “skip” or “slide”
- first, one person on outside, calling “skip” or “slide,” while couple dances
- couple should dance slowly!
- rotate in, to make different combinations
- then, only one of the dancers can call “skip” or “slide”
- first, one person on outside, calling “skip” or “slide,” while couple dances
- weight-sharing – “sweet spot” work
- “finding the ground under partner’s feet” [Jeffrey Nash phrase]– a sense of when your center is connected to the point of contact, to your partner’s center, and down to the floor under your partner’s feet
- “sweet spot” demonstration
- I dance with each person to help find it
- I call it from outside
- two people dance and try to stay in the sweet spot
- I call “stop” when I think they might be losing it
- and go again when I think they’ve worked it out
- two people dance and try to stay in the sweet spot
- then they call “stop” from inside (I’m still watching)
- and person who calls stop says go again
- then I rotate in, and anyone calls stop *except* me
- rotate again, and again anyone calls stop *except* me
Check-in
- feedback, thoughts?
Lifts
- overview talk
- Lifts in L.A. Style (and many other teachers)
- not forced — things that can be subtle, can appear spontaneously, can be reversed
- small lifts — don’t worry about height. Small lifts are cool and subtle.
- not trying to sustain lifts
- continued connection through partner to ground
- continued connection even after the lift
- Lifts in L.A. Style (and many other teachers)
- to land on feet or hands
- letting limbs be loose, long to find the ground
- if you get disoriented, relax your limbs — they point to the ground!
- esp. with lifts where over dancer is vertical, over dancer should have long legs (and not bent)
- letting limbs be loose, long to find the ground
- falling-over lifts
- demonstrate high post
- bent over but chest up
- arched back, butt out
- saddle for others
- hands on knees
- I like feet slightly wider than shoulders
- checking everyone’s form — pushing down on support
- practice tilting side to side, as if taking a ball on one side and handing it off on the other
- falling into lifts
- start perpendicular — B’s shoulder to A’s chest
- roll contact point down to hips
- A extends up (making self tall, maybe on tiptoes a little
- B pushes off, squats into high post and tilts towards, A falls up and into B bit by bit — but not all the way on top of B at first.
- B pushes off again, squats a little lower. Repeat. (sort of a weird form of rappelling)
- B starts high on A, works way down
- A does NOT help to get into lift more than extending a little up
- eventually A falls over, up onto B
- B can help by tilting towards A to help into lift
- refinement: keep connected after the lift!
- A stays into B when coming out, B stays into A
- progression — B gives A a slight push-off, then quickly slides down right to the position where B can lift A
- demonstrate high post
- ways getting into lifts in a dance (shown)
- push off (just did)
- anytime hips are below hips
- A can help by lifting a leg (shown)
- side-to-side lifts
- A & B side to side, small separation but leaning into each other
- A hands up, make self tall, probably go on toes
- B pushes off
- slides down, catches A’s hip above B’s hip, arm on opposite side
- leans back, takes A’s weight
- can go straight back, or can move A through space by taking a step
- hand-based lifts, from push-offs to counter-balancing
- when falling away from someone, you can extend a hand and catch your partner to counter-balance. From there:
- whip-crackers
- jumping game from before — just continued!
- can do with one or both hands
- but keep coming back to a weight connection, either towards or counter-balancing
- hand-based lifts
- pull in, push on hands. If B gives some support, A can jump up off it
- but keep coming back to a weight connection, either towards or counter-balancing
- knee lifts (initiated by under dancer)
- typically A is taller, pushes up under shoulders & knees at
- same time
- stay in contact, find the weight connection immediately again
- lower leg lifts (initiated by over dancer)
- A just slides down the knee
- find the weight connection again immediately
more time in high post
- feeling partner’s center to the ground
- start with A up, just feeling connection through B to the ground
- B walks around (slowly)
- A tries to stay on, then lets self fall off
- spread, long limbs
- when you’re not sure, let your limbs relax, and they’ll find the ground
- staying in contact after coming off
- tipping overdancer (A) out of high post
- to hands
- to feet, even off balance, being swung off
Wrap-up
- last thoughts?