Energy 2.1

In this lesson, we use
the Brain Dance as a warm-up.

The Brain Dance is a series of movements

based on the developmental patterns
that babies go through

in their first year of life.

So can you tell me
what's the first thing you do

when you're born?

- Ava?
- (Ava) You cry.

What do you do just before you cry?

- You breathe.
- You breathe.

A one-week-old, two-week-old,

they startle-- they open
their bodies like this.

And when you put them on their tummies--

have you ever seen put
a little baby on its tummy?

It's called tummy time!

Yeah, tummy time.

They'll curl into a ball.

They'll bring their knees up.

So babies will move their arms,
and they'll move their legs.

But when they're really little,
like four or five months old,

they're not usually crawling yet.

- (children) Yeah.
- Yeah, so they're not crawling yet.

And then they'll move one side,
and they'll move the other side.

This is all while
they're on their tummies.

They can't quite figure out
how to get them going at the same time,

but they'll move one side
and they'll move the other side,

when they're lying on their tummies, yeah?

And then, all of a sudden,
they start to learn how to use

their right and left side together.

So what we're going
to do when I say, "Go"--

you're going to stand up,

you're going to find
your own spot in the room,

and we're going to do
a little Brain Dance warm-up

of all those little movement patterns.

When you get there, freeze.

So we're going to alternate
between smooth movements

and sharp movements,
as we do this Brain Dance.

So we're going to start by breathing.

(deep breathing)

You're staying in one spot,
but I'm moving.

(deep breathing)

Good, now you're going
to give yourself a little massage,

a little rub, a little scratch,
maybe you have bug bites.

(child making sounds)
Doesn’t require talking.

Good, you can give your head
a little scratch, your neck,

your shoulders, your chest,
your sides, your back,

and all the way down your legs.

And then come up
and give yourself a little massage.

This is more sharp movements.

♪ (music) ♪

Give your shoulders a little rub--
oh, that feels good.

Good, now we're going
to those opening and closing movements,

and we're going to make them
as smooth as we can.

Ready? So we're going to go

open, open, open, open,

smoothly close, close, close, close.

And open, open-- you can do
whatever you want,

you don't have to do what I'm doing.

And close, close, close, close.

And open, open, open…

You can use any contrasting
movement patterns to do this warm-up.

In this warm-up, we used
sharp movements and smooth movements,

but you could use
any two contrasting movement ideas,

and you could do it on a chair,
you could do it on the ground,

you could do it any number of ways.

You could do it
as a hip hop warm-up-- anything goes.

But the idea is that we use
these developmental movement patterns

to shape the warm-up.

Now we're going to do those
top and bottom movements.

You're going
to cut yourself in half this way.

Oh, I forgot one,
we've got to do our spine.

So we're going to do a slow spine,

you're going to move your spine slowly.

Wiggle your imaginary tail.

- (student) Can I sit down?
- (instructor) Yeah.

Alright, now we're going
to cut ourself in half.

Nye-oun!

Good. Now you're going
to move your top half sharp.

Sharp movements in your top half.

Like a robot.

Like those popping and locking guys.

Yes, very good Ajitesh.

Good, now you're going
to do smooth with your legs.

Smooth with your legs.

Smoothe your legs.

Smooth with your legs.

Smooth like syrup.

Smooth like chocolate milk.

Smooth like whipped cream.

Ready, now you're going
to cut yourself in half

this way, with a vertical line.

Good, on one side of your body,
you're going to do sharp, sharp,

sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp,
sharp, sharp. sharp, sharp, sharp.

Keep going-- sharp, sharp, sharp,
sharp, sharp, sharp, sharp.

Good, now on the other side--
you're going to do smooth, smooth, smooth.

smooth, smooth,

smooth, smooth.

Good, now you're going to make
a big "X" with your body.

You're going to take the right side
to the left side,

using sharp movements.

You're going to do sharp movements
right side to left side.

It can be at the back.

It can be kicking.

It could be crawling,
if you wanted it to be.

Now you’re going to do it smoothly.

The same thing, but smoothly.

♪ (music) ♪

You could do it on the floor.

There you go – that's cool, Jaleel.

Good, now you're going to spin.

Spin. Spin-- just to get
a little bit dizzy.

Now you're going to stop!

Now spin the other way.

Spin, spin, spin, spin,

spin, spin, spin, stop!

It's important during this lesson

to continue dancing
and moving with the students

to validate their risk-taking
and their choices,

and to encourage them
to try different movements.