Since the start of February my students and I have been working very hard on learning new choreography. Specifically, we have been working on the choreography for our upcoming performance that will happen May 12, 2012 in Columbus, The Shimmy Mob. The choreograpy has been very challenging and we have made some adjustments. but it is going very well and I am so proud of all my girls and their hard work and determination!! Last year we had started to work on choreography to Gana and due to situations we were not able to finish it, but we will do so this year!! I have put the final choreography notes on th choreography page and soon you will be able to watch a video performance of the choreography!! My Intermediate group had been working on choreography to Dance of Eternity and we will be reviewing that as well as teaching it to the new students who have joined us!!! Later down the road we will also be working on a cane choreography that I came across it is a cute choreography and I have made some changes to it. This will allow all my students to get a feel for what it is like dancing with a prop and the students will get a feel for the saidi rhythm. Having a few pieces of music that are choreographed will help out when we are invited somewhere to perform and will give us a few pieces to play with!!! Learning choreography will help you see how you transition from one move to the next, but remember it will not help you impromptu dance which is my goal for all students to be able to hear music and dance to it without thinking about moves or counting. It is about letting yourself go, being free with the music and interpreting it in your own way. We will eventually get back to drilling. I am asking all my students to take the time to work on your drills at home, when we are not in class. Here is an exampe of how you can set it up and work on certain parts each day:
Sunday off
Monday Chest: drops and lifts. chest circles and chest slides
Tuesday Hips; Sharp: Pistons both ups and downs, Hip thrusts
Wed Hips; Soft: figure 8’s, small hip cirlces, mayas, ribbons
Thursday Glute drills
Friday Arms: moving through first, second and third position, snake arms, shoulder rolls, shoulder thrusts, wrist circles
Saturday Pelvic and Abs: pelvic lifts, pelvic drops, pelvic roll, contract mid section of belly in and release.
Having a day for a different part of the body will allow you to focus more and will round out your dancing so that you are not working on the same movements or body parts each day!! It will make you more aware of your movement and what needs worked on and drilling will make