Movement for Aerialists Workshop
By: Danni Maxwell
Day 1
Dance Concepts and Exploring the Floor:
This would cover basic understandings of music and movement, including but not limited to:
- Counting music, finding and utilizing dynamic musical changes, and understanding/playing with changes in tempo
- Basic center/stationary dance movement. This includes basic body positions.
- Basic across the floor/traveling dance movement
- Basic Floor work
Connecting dance with your apparatus:
- learning a brief combo on the ground incorporating silks
*All movement will have a basis in either ballet, modern or jazz dance techniques*
Day 2
Choreographic Techniques and Character Building:
A more creative/hands-off setting, allowing students to explore what they learned in Day 1 to open artistic doors. This would include:
- Dance improv techniques for warm-up/center. This includes movement initiation from various parts of the body and dynamic changes.
- Using music to guide movement and emotion. This includes changes in tempo and rhythm, and encourages moving from the inside out.
- Learning a basic floor combo (connected to apparatus) and adapting it to different styles of music (leading into character development)
- Character Building: one piece of music will be played for the entire class to hear. Students take a few minutes to write down words/emotions/ideas/etc that come to mind as they listen. Afterwards, they create a character (or storyline) that incorporates these ideas. Students are given time to choreograph a small sequence/short piece on apparatus to bring their character/story to life, which they will then show to the class at the end. Dialogue is welcome to help inspire creativity.