Dance Improvisation / Spring 2024

  Unit: The Body Theme: Emotions   I Introduction Emotions can be expressed in dance improv. The dancer can get in touch with his/her emotions to generate gestures and movements that combined can become phrases.  The idea is that the dancer can make use of the stereotypical was of expressing emotions as well as more authentic movements. Because this class encourages the cultivation of the inside-out dancer, the goal is to find expressions that truly express the dancer's emotions. II   Learning Objectives   Understand the connection between body and emotions Explain the creative process involved in the expression of emotions Gain awareness of the use of movement to transition from the word to the emotion Experience ensemble movement when integrating all the emotions Reflect on the creative process at the end of the process   III Warm Up  Stretching   IV  Main Lesson    1 Sesame Street: Emotions through Dance with Alvin Ailey Da...

  Unit: The Body Theme: Body Shapes   I Introduction Body shapes, as a tool of improv dance, is one of the easiest ways of creating movement vocabulary. Today we will cover different ideas to generate body shapes at random.The idea is that the dancer does not stop generating dance movement since all dance is a non-stop sequence shapes. II   Learning Objectives   Understand the connection between body and shapes Explain the creative process involved when using geometric, gestural and other abstract shapes Gain awareness of the use of movement to transition from shape to shape Experience ensemble movement when integrating multiple shapes Reflect on the creative process at the end of the process   III Warm Up  Stretching   IV  Main Lesson   1  Body Storming   2 Videos    SHAPES     Question 1   Write your reflections on the above videos.    3 There are 5 Basic Body Shapes: WIDE NAR...

Unit: Narrative Theme: The Mexico/USA Border   I Introduction Every semester the Improvisation class chooses a significant social event to create an improv dance. Fall 2024 has had already an abundant array of events that can inform the creative dancer. Today we will address the situation in the border between Mexico and the US. as a piece of narrative. Bellow you will see the elements of plot while the link shows the narrative arc. II   Learning Objectives   Understand the connection between narrative and movement Explain the creative process involved in dancing using the border situation Gain awareness of the use of movement when embodying a narrative Experience ensemble movement when creating a dance improvisation Reflect on the creative process at the end of the process   III Warm Up   Stretching    IV   Main Lesson  1   Narrative in Dance Improvisation   Read the Link: Improvisation in Dance   Question 1 Wh...

 Unit: The Body Theme: Animal Movement   I Introduction Humans have always imitated animal movement in dance. Early human societies embodied animal characteristics and behaviors in a symbolic way to empower themselves. Currently, dancers research animal movement in a studio by interpreting the movement qualities of different animals as an aesthetic response. Today, we will see several examples of how this can be done. II   Learning Objectives   Understand the connection to animal behavior through movement Explain the creative process involved in the study of animal movement Gain awareness of the complexities of animal movement when embodying them as a dance Experience the abstraction of animal movement by creating a dance improvisation Reflect on the creative process at the end of the process   III Warm Up Stretching IV Main Lesson   Videos 1 Heron Dance     2 3 Deer Dance     4 I . Watch the Above videos ...