Stand-in Teacher
Tanis wasn't able to come tonight, so we had a subsitute. Shannon used to dance with the company at DJD.
She had a little different approach, in that she had us sing the rhythm before she showed us the steps. "Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da-da, da..." - that kind of thing. What this did, for me anyway, was set the rhythm in my head, so I didn't have to think about timing. The tune was already there, and the feet just seemed to follow it naturally. Then I could concentrate on the actual steps
Now, I think the step that really stuck in my head was created by Paul Draper, who (if I got the story straight) moved from ballet to tap and brought a lot of ballet type moves to the genre. And there are a couple of places where this is obvious. There's a point where you step to the side, with a kind of launch into flight, spread armed pose. It's something I can see Gene Kelly doing. That part has a neat syncopated pause, where you stick for a minute, but it's right after a weight transfer to that foot, so you have to arrest any momentum so you can stay in place.
And then a little later there's a shuffle, toe-heel, step, with a couple of weight transfers, and you stop and hold for two beats. Again, stopping the momentum like that is hard, but on the third try or so, I managed, with lots of wobbling and arm-waving, to keep my balance.
We didn't get back to Honi Coles Stroll, which I was kinda hoping for, cuz it's so neat as a group dance. But we did work through the Shimmy. I love that one cuz the moves are easy and accessible, but it looks impressively complex. It's also the only complete routine in my repertoire, so far.
Shannon's warmups were also a bit different, but worked the ankles and thighs just as hard. And there were some other things that she threw in, different sequences of steps and such.
So it was a fun night, and I learned a new way of hanging on to what we've been taught. It gives me a better understanding of what Tanis is telling us as well. It's very cool that a different perspective can make so much fall into place.
She had a little different approach, in that she had us sing the rhythm before she showed us the steps. "Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da-da, da..." - that kind of thing. What this did, for me anyway, was set the rhythm in my head, so I didn't have to think about timing. The tune was already there, and the feet just seemed to follow it naturally. Then I could concentrate on the actual steps
Now, I think the step that really stuck in my head was created by Paul Draper, who (if I got the story straight) moved from ballet to tap and brought a lot of ballet type moves to the genre. And there are a couple of places where this is obvious. There's a point where you step to the side, with a kind of launch into flight, spread armed pose. It's something I can see Gene Kelly doing. That part has a neat syncopated pause, where you stick for a minute, but it's right after a weight transfer to that foot, so you have to arrest any momentum so you can stay in place.
And then a little later there's a shuffle, toe-heel, step, with a couple of weight transfers, and you stop and hold for two beats. Again, stopping the momentum like that is hard, but on the third try or so, I managed, with lots of wobbling and arm-waving, to keep my balance.
We didn't get back to Honi Coles Stroll, which I was kinda hoping for, cuz it's so neat as a group dance. But we did work through the Shimmy. I love that one cuz the moves are easy and accessible, but it looks impressively complex. It's also the only complete routine in my repertoire, so far.
Shannon's warmups were also a bit different, but worked the ankles and thighs just as hard. And there were some other things that she threw in, different sequences of steps and such.
So it was a fun night, and I learned a new way of hanging on to what we've been taught. It gives me a better understanding of what Tanis is telling us as well. It's very cool that a different perspective can make so much fall into place.
posted by Kelly at
8:09 PM
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