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Teacher’s Top Three: Improvisation and Composition Studies

Nichelle (admin) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:30:32 +0000

As a dance educator and choreographer in New Mexico, Jenn Romano works with high school dance students and in two after school dance programs for at risk youth. She also choreographs for local musicals and is involved in a myriad of diverse projects, including writing on ballet and dance as Albuquerque’s Dance Examiner.

Jenn’s Top Three comes directly from her work, teaching dance composition in New Mexico high schools. She uses these exercises to practice improvisational skills as well develop student-generated choreography in her classes. Try them with your students!

1. Slowing Things Down

Movement in slow motion is by far my favorite thing to do (as my students will definitely confirm). The fluid, controlled motion is mesmerizing to me and takes strength as well as focus.

For this exercise I choose a starting point and give the dancers a period of time (sometimes half an hour or more) to traverse the perimeter of the room. The leisurely pace allows for the exploration of a myriad of levels and shapes. As an added bonus, slow motion is a great cool down and is easy on the joints.

2. “Flocking”

A grown-up version of “Follow the Leader,” this exercise is great to initiate dancers into improvisation. Like “Follow the Leader,” one dancer is in charge of creating the movement and the others must follow. Rather than forming a line, however, the dancers are grouped together like a flock of birds. That way, when the current leader turns in any direction, the dancer now in front of the group becomes the group leader. This is a great activity because the dancers must learn to work while moving in a closely established group and also learn to think quickly when they are leading others. (DA Notes: See flocking in action in the video example from a 2008 flock improvisation at Tate Modern below)

Once, we performed this exercise in a common area of the school where the other students were treated to an impromptu show. Some of the “leaders” took to following the mannerisms of spectator students and even the headmaster (thankfully, he was a good sport!). The feedback from our audience was very positive and it seemed to give the dancers a new confidence in their improv skills.

3. Hitting the Books

This choreography assignment means going to the library because, well, I love to read! Beforehand, we discuss different qualities of movement. This discussion might include having the students suggest descriptive words which the class then interprets with our bodies.

In the actual assignment, the dancers choose a bookshelf and pick a random book. Children’s books tend to be the most fun but the possibilities are endless. Sometimes I compose specific instructions to make it more like a game (i.e. pick the seventh book to the left on the second shelf, read the third sentence on the fifth page). Once a sentence is chosen, the dancer’s job is to interpret the words through dance paying close attention to adjectives and verbs.

The best part of the project is putting all of the dancers’ contributions together to create one big performance piece. We use the text as a soundtrack (sometimes getting the drama club involved to record them for us). Repeating some sentences and chopping others into two parts have created some hilarious combinations of nonsense.

Jenn Romano has a degree in Dance with a minor in Journalism from Columbia College. For over twenty-five years she has been pursuing her love and passion for dance beginning with an obsession with Classical Ballet and soon branching-out to study Modern Dance, Jazz and Classical Indian among others. In all her endeavors, Jenn encourages dancers to follow their dreams and passions regardless of body shape or ability: Dance hard and dream big.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH0dJ3mdu1g

What are YOUR favorite improvisation or composition exercises?

We would love to answer any questions you have about using improvisation-based “games” in the K-12 or studio setting.

Your comments are welcome below!

© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2011. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Choreographing, Dance Styles, Dancing, For Classroom, Improvisation, Modern/Contemporary, Other Dance Forms, Teaching | Who's talking about this article?

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Set Your iPod to Shuffle

Nichelle (admin) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:00:44 +0000

Everyone needs a bit of inspiration now and then, particularly if you are a teacher and need to be a prolific choreographer week-after-week and year-after-year in your classes and stage performances. Many, I know, settle themselves in front of the computer and scour youtube for dance ideas but there are other ways to spark creativity. My wheels begin turning when I see or read about the work other artists (dance or otherwise) are doing. However, it doesn’t matter if I’m creating a recital number for preschoolers or a jazz combination for 15-year-old students, ideas can come from anywhere. Occasionally I like to turn my spotlight on stories, notions, images, etc. that I feel might serve as a jumping off point – similar to the one-sentence story starters creative writers use. I’m not offering a how-to or making suggestions for your next masterpiece (though I may sometimes offer possible applications). Mostly I just want to help get your own creative juices pumping. You can let me know if I’ve done so in the comments below!

Experiments with Improvisation, Chance, and Technology

In honor of contemporary dance trailblazer, Merce Cunningham, who recently passed away, I thought I’d present you with ways in which he (and others) have creatively used digital music devices to devise unique dance/movement experiences and performances.

The first example is a work that Cunningham made in 2006 while in his late 80s. In eyeSpace the musical score is loaded onto iPod Shuffles (which are provided for the audience). Using this device Cunningham, who consistently utilized principles of chance and randominity in his presentations, gave audience members an individualized listening experience as they watched the dancers perform. This article at the American Art Museum blog offers a nice description of the event from an audience member’s perspective as well as some insightful commentary on how people view art.

An organization called Improv Everywhere, which is based in New York City, has been doing a variety of innovative and fun group improvisations for several years. They specialize in “organized fun” and have made an annual event of their Mp3 Experiment. This particular mission involves participants downloading an mp3 online and uploading it to their personal mp3 player. A meeting time is arranged and watches are synchronized so that everyone presses play at the same moment. From here, the participants are led through a series of actions and tasks which may seem spontaneous to viewers. You can read more about the six Mp3 Experiments completed thus far, as well as the groups’s other missions, at the Improv Everywhere website.

Another example in dance was demonstrated by The Pillow Project in Pittsburgh last year. During Silent Saturday (part of their Second Saturday series) these dancers moved in apparent silence while listening to their own mp3 player. Audiences, encouraged but not required to bring their own, had the option to watch while listening to their own soundtrack. You can read more about the event at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website.

These are just a few examples that hopefully will spark your creativity. If you have other related examples, feel free to share them!

Applications

I know some of you are probably thinking “Cute, but how in the world would I apply that at my dance studio?” Though I doubt that many of you will be handing out iPod shuffles to each audience member at your next recital, I do think there are ways to adapt or embrace these concepts for both performance and in-class use.

Dare to bring a bit of chance to a performance – consider creating a special number that might be danced to a handful of music selections. Your audience will be amazed and delighted that each performance of the dance may be different based on the surprise (even to the dancers) selection for the evening.

Create sections of a dance that are then performed in a shuffled order unknown to the performers – for more advanced dancers this could be a great challenge encouraging sophisticated memory and performance skills.

Consider an impromptu and interactive segment within your next presentation during which the audience is led through a series of movements or actions. I guarantee they’ll talk about it for years to come!

Try shuffling through your own iPod, creating 32 counts of choreography based upon the music you’ve randomly selected, then put the counts together to form a new piece with completely different music.

Have some students brainstorm their own “mp3 experiment” and allow other students and parents to take it to the public – could be a unique and memorable way to make your studio’s presence known in the community.

Have your class members each select a song, download each song and load them into your player. Shuffle them and create your next class based upon their selections!

These are off the top of my head, what’s on top of yours now that you have been giving a jumping off point? These aren’t necessarily for teachers only. Students, parents… Get Creative!

© Nichelle Strzepek for Dance Advantage, 2009. | Permalink | Category: Blog, Choreographing | Who's talking about this article?

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