ST SE 5 v4 SD22 E

♪ (intro music) ♪

Hello, everyone, and welcome back.

Cherise and I are so excited
to see you back dancing with us

for this 5th section of the choreography.

You've done a fantastic job at learning
all the material up unto this point,

and we're excited to share
the last little bit of the dance

with you today.

So just be sure again

that you're always starting
in a place where you're comfortable,

all of the space to move
is available to you,

you're keeping distance
from your neighbours

if you're dancing in a space together.

We're going to start off this section.

We had finished before
with this sense of "hah!", a reach,

an enthusiastic reach out to the space

with a slight contraction of our body.

From here, we're going to take our arms
into a gathering movement.

I'm going to gather with my right arm,

feeling like I'm bringing
the air in towards me.

Gather with my left arm.

And then almost like rocking a baby,

I have this sense
of holding one arm in the other.

This is almost like
a figure of eight movement

that I'm doing with my elbows.

Good. So we do one, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

Then all that energy you gathered in,

I want you to send it out into the space.

Expand.

If you're standing up,
you could be travelling in the space

to a new place.

If you're seated, you're just exploring
and giving with your arms.

Then we repeat that:
one, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

And you can travel, if you like,

reaching out, feeling a sense
of offering with the arms...

seven, eight.

Beautiful!

That phrase is repeated twice through,

and then we go a little bit faster.

We pick up the pace,

and we slightly change
our travelling step.

So now we go one, two, three, four,

release the arms, make them soft and fluid

and shake the shoulders,

and we're going five, six, seven, eight.

It is truly impossible
to do that without smiling.

In fact, the choreographers have asked

that in this moment,
we make a moment of connection.

So if you're dancing with us by yourself

and make a moment of connection with us,

if you're dancing
in the space with others,

look them in the eye, smile at them,

and then give the little wiggle.

Shake it all out.

Good. I hope that it's really fun.

It's supposed to be a moment

that's really joyful,
that's full of release.

You can smile.

But, of course, we're translating
our ideas through our body language,

so we're not really making sounds

as much as we're enjoying
this opportunity to shake.

Okay? So let's try that again.

This is the faster part.

We go one, two, three, four,

shake it out five, six, seven, eight.

Fantastic!

How about we try those two parts together?

So our slower gather with our exploration

and our faster gather with our shake.

Alright, five, six, seven.

Gathering one and three

and five, six, and seven.

Explore the space,

one, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

Gather one and three

and five and seven, eight.

Reaching one, two, three, four,

five, six.

Quicker one now:
going one, two, three, four,

shake it out six, seven, eight.

And one, two, three, four,

shake it out six, seven and eight.

Fantastic!

There's really no way
to do that without smiling.

Now we come to one of the last movements
in the dance. Woo-hoo!

So our right hand is going to come across
to touch our left shoulder,

and left hand come across
and touch your hips.

So right arm on top,
left arm on the bottom.

Both arms cross the body.

We're going to pull them wide-- one,

switch the tops and bottoms-- two,

and switch it back.

Good, so there are
four movements, four beats.

One, cross.

Two, open.

Three, switch.

Four, put it back.

One,

two,

three,

four.

One,

two,

three and four.

Bravo, well done!

So still keeping that sense
of pulse and freedom

that we've been maintaining
throughout the dance, okay?

So try that coming across the body on one.

Five, six, seven and eight.

On one and two

and switch and switch.

Across on one and open

and switch and switch.

Bravo. From there
we're going to double time.

So one count per movement.

One, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

If you're still with me,
we're going to double time again.

One and two and three and four

and five and six and seven and eight.

And... on the last count, one,

we're going to pull everything in,
take a deep inhale... (inhale)

and then release that energy down.

(exhales)

We're going to take that moment

to find that connection
again to the earth.

So just as before, you can connect
to the earth with your feet

and through your hands
pressing into your legs,

or you can fold even further at your hip

and connect to the ground
with your fingers or hands.

Make sure whatever choice you're making,

you're keeping yourself stable
in your chair.

And remember that this moment
of connection to the earth

is an opportunity to remember, recall,
and be grateful

for the traditional territories
we're dancing on today.

So we're going to feel our feet expanding,
reaching down towards the earth.

Feel ourselves connecting to the ground.

Soften our heads, soften our gaze,

or maybe your eyes close.

And we'll take a moment to be mindful,

to be thankful,

to appreciate the opportunity
we've had to dance together

in our community.

And then we gently roll up
when we're ready.

And then you can take an exit,

similar to how we entered
the space at the beginning.

So taking your own moment, your own time.

We're no longer following
the beat of the music,

just following our hearts

and exiting the space.

And that's the end of the dance,
believe it or not.

But let's go through
this quick part one more time.

So we do two sets slow,

two sets medium.

and then four sets fast, okay?

Let's count that through.

We do one and two

and three and four

and five and six

and seven and eight.

Two sets faster: one, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

Go one and two and three and four

and five and six and seven and eight.

Go one...

and then release.

Fantastic! Really nicely done.

Okay, so let's review quickly
this 5th and final section.

We have us gathering the energy,

gathering the energy,

holding the energy close,

and then sending it out, twice through.

Then we do quicker:

gather, gather, sweep,
sweep and shake, twice through.

Then we finish with this fast
or increasingly quick movement,

and then as the music fades

create our connection
with the floor, okay?

So let's count through
this 5th section together.

We'll do it through with our own counts.

Then we're going to think back,
reflect back and see

if we can connect Section 5
to Section 4, okay?

But first, Section 5
from the top, with counts.

Here we go.

Five, six, seven, eight.

Gather in and in,

make it smooth and smooth.

Expand two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

Gather in and in

and reach and reach.

Expansive one, two, three, four,

five, six, seven.

Now quickly go one, two, three,

shake it out on a five, six, seven, eight.

And in, in, shift, shift,

and shake, six, seven, go across.

And one and two,

switch it up,

keep the pulse in your body.

Go across, and you open

and switch and switch.

Again, we go one, two, three, four,

and five, six, seven, eight.

And one and two and three and four

and five and six and seven and eight.

And one.

Release.

Finding your personal way
of connecting to the ground

and finding your breath

and sending it into the ground.

When you're ready,

rolling up through your spine,

recapturing the space.

Beautiful, dancers.

Okay, very nice.

So I think now it's time
that we take a step back,

and we remember what we did in Section 4.

This section has a lot of detail in it,

so we'll take our time
as we walk through it together.

So Section 4 started

where we finished those 16 presses
or walks towards the east.

And then we do a scoop.

So our hands come behind our body, scoop,

our heart lifts up in the space.

We repeat that moment.

Head down on the scoop back,

high lift as we reach forward.

We take a swim with the right arm.

We take a swim with the left arm.

We reverse those movements.

And then two arms come up to the top

to do a switch, switch,

switch.

And we take it up to go all the way down.

That was the first section of Part 4.

Shall we try that one more time together?

Because there's, like I said,
a lot of detail in this section.

So we have thirteen,
fourteen, fifteen, sixteen.

One, two, three, four

and five, six, seven.

Right arm swims front.

Left arm swims front.

Reverse five, six, seven.

Shifting one and three,

five, six, seven, eight.

From here, we do our low party.

One, two, three,

high party, five, six, seven.

Low party, one, two, three,

high party, five, six, seven,
connect on eight.

The slower breaths.

And one and two

and three and four.

Four that are quicker:

one, two, three, four,

release five, six, seven,

find your "hah!"

From there, we continue with today.

One, three, five, seven.

Explore two, three, four,

five, six, seven.

Again, go gather, gather,

shape, shape.

Expand two, three, four,

five, six, seven.

Make it quicker: go one,
two, three, shake it out,

go ha, six, seven.

Again, go one, two, three, four,

shake it out six, seven, eight.

Go cross,

open,

switch.

Ah, keep the pulse, ah,

and switch.

Good, here we go.

On a one, two, three, four,

and a five, six, seven.

Pick up the pace:
one and two and three and four

and five and six and seven and eight.

And one...

and release.

Fantastic!

So that was Section 4 and Section 5.

I think we should do that
one more time connected.

Maybe a little bit quicker,

a little bit closer
to the tempo of the music.

Then we'll try these two sections together
with the music, all right?

So first off, you and me with counts,
a little bit closer to tempo.

We finished our Phrase 3
with those pushes down to the floor,

so we'll do those
on thirteen, fourteen, fifteen,

get ready to scoop.

All right, here we go.

Ready? Eleven, twelve, thirteen,
fourteen, fifteen,

scooping, reach.

Down and reach.

Right arm goes right

and left,

reverse,

and two arms up, go shift and shift

and up six, seven.

Party down, party low.

Bring it up.

Bring it down.

Up for five, six,

gather on the eight.

And one and two and three and four.

A pulse two, three, four.

Release six, seven, "hah!"

And one, gather, sweep, sweep.

Expand and explore,
four, five, six, seven.

And again go in and in

and sweep and sweep.

Expand, see the space, five, six, seven.

Pull it in on a one, two, three, four,

shake it out, ha, ha.

Go again, and a one, two, three, four,

shake it out six, seven, eight.

Go one and two and three and four,

and again go five
and six and seven, very nice.

And faster: one, two,

and one, two.

Go one and two and three and four

and five and six and seven and eight.

And one...

let it go.

This happens in your own time

with your own sense of focus,

with your own thoughts,

connecting to your traditional territory,

the traditional territory that we have
the privilege of dancing on today.

And rolling up.

Fantastic, dancers.

Let's give the Section 4 and 5
a try with the music.

♪ (music starts) ♪

Reach...

and up.

Right arm, right, back.

Shift.

Up, six, seven, eight.

Go low,

and high,

low,

and five, six, seven, eight.

One and two and three and four.

Quicker: one, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight!

In and in,

shift and shift.

Explore.

And in, in.

change, change, explore.

Quicker. Go!

One, two, one, two,

shake.

One, two, one, two,

shake.

Cross one, two.

Get hup.

Faster: one, two.

One, and two, and three, and four,
and five, and six, and seven, and eight.

And one.

Good.

Release.

Find your connection.

This is your time to take a breath,

to find a sense of centred connection.

You don't have to match
anyone else's movement.

When you feel ready, you roll up.

You take in the space

and create your exit.

Fantastic work, everyone.

It's been a true pleasure,

both for myself and for Cherise

to take you through
this beautiful choreography,

created by Starr Muranko
and Aïcha Bastien-N'Diaye.

It's such a pleasure to move together.

And by repeating and dancing
and moving through this piece

over and over again,

you'll deepen that sense of connection

to body and breath

that is so much a part
of this year's theme.

So keep dancing, keep using
the run-through videos

to rehearse and to practice by yourself
or with friends in your community,

and we really look forward
to connecting with you

for NBS Sharing Dance Day 2022.

Bye for now!