AV ST C v4 SD22 E

♪ (intro music) ♪

Hello, dancers!

It's a pleasure to see you again.

Caitlin and I are really excited

to continue on
with the choreography today,

learning this Part C.

This section has a lot of detail
and a lot of new movements to learn.

So we're going to dive right in,

as soon as we're aware that
we have lots of space to move freely,

aware that if we're dancing with others,
we have enough space between us.

Fantastic.

So, let's think back
to where we finished the last phrase.

We had been reaching up in space,

and we took a drop, a safe drop,
on count 8.

Softening the knees,
softening at the hips,

and releasing down to the floor.

Now as usual, I want you
to feel really confident

and comfortable in your body.

So for you, the drop could be

soft knees, soft hips, looking downwards.

For me, I'm going to go right down
and bend my knees deeply,

so that I'm really
in close contact with the floor.

But I'm going to leave
that option up to you,

how low you decide you can go,

feeling comfortable and safe in your body.

So the next thing we're going to do
is a step,

and as we do the step,
the palms are facing downwards,

and there's a little sense

that the palms are pushing down
with each of the stepping feet.

So as I step my right foot,
my palms will push.

And as I step my left foot,
my palms will push.

And I'm alternating as I'm walking.

Now, you have 2 options
of the speed of your step.

Caitlin is going to show
8 beautiful steps in 16 counts.

So Caitlin's going to go:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,

9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

I'm going to show
16 steps in 16 counts.

So I'm going to go on each beat:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

Alright! If you're dancing in a group,

make sure you know
which version you're going to follow,

either 8 steps or 16.

So remember, I'm going to take
my body nice and low,

and we're going to move
those steps in the space.

Now, we talked at the beginning
of this choreography

about how we were making
connections to land.

And part of that is knowing
the cardinal directions of our space,

knowing our north, south, east, and west

And in this moment of the dance,

even though for most of the dance
we can choose which way we face,

we can choose our front,

for this moment of the dance,

the choreographers have invited us
to have everyone face east.

So in my space, the east is this way.

So I'm going to take my 16 steps
to walk a pathway unique to myself,

to turn my body to the east.

OK? So let's try this together.

16 counts, either 16 steps or 8 steps,

finding your facing.

Ready?

Getting low: 5, 6, 7, 8,

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,

9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, finish.

Alright? Hopefully that went well.

If not, give it a pause, try it again,

make sure that you're moving
through the space without bumping

or having interactions with any obstacles.

All right? Let's continue on from there.

Let's pretend-- I'll face towards you--

we'll pretend I've just
arrived facing the east.

The next thing we're going to do
is a scoop.

The arms come behind the body,

and they reach forward
from just below our ribcage

and out in front.

We do that again.

Behind the body,

and reach it front.

Beautiful! So those are 2 scoops
with 4 counts each.

And 1, 2, 3, 4,

and 5, 6, 7, 8.

Fantastic, dancers!

When we're doing this movement,

you're also welcome to
use your upper body,

not just your arms.

If I'm going to use my upper body,

as my arms go back,
I'm curving my body forward.

As my arms come forward,

I'm going into
what dancers call a "high lift",

which is the center of my sternum
opening and reaching up for the sky.

Let's try that again.

Curve forward as the arms go backwards,

high lift as the arms reach forward,
palms up.

Beautiful. Let's continue on!

This part of the phrase has lots
of really fantastic arm movements.

The next one is a swim.

I'm going to swim one side:
1, 2, 3, 4,

and swim on the other side:
1, 2, 3, 4.

I end with 2 arms in the front,
palms down.

Try that again.

Right arm swims:
1, 2, 3, 4.

Left arm swims:
5, 6, 7, 8.

Fantastic!

And same thing, you'll probably notice

that your body naturally
sort of turns and twists with your arms.

So as my right arm goes to the back,

I'm going to turn my torso
and look to the right side.

As my left arm goes to the back,

I'm going to turn my torso
and look to the left side,

to finish with a little forward curve.

Let's try putting our scoop high lift

and our swim-swim together.

I'll count you in:

Ready, 5, 6, 7,

scoop and lift, 2, 3,

again you lift, 2, 3,

and then we swim,

and swim.

Good! Very, very nice!

From there, your arms
are going to float up.

So arms float up--

my arms are going to come
right up over my head,

but you also have the option
of just floating up from your elbows

with wrists coming up as well.

For me, my arms are going to come up.

Caitlin will show you
floating up from the elbow.

From there, we're going to soften our body

and cross our arms over our head.

(naming movements) Lift, switch!
And soften and cross on the other side.

Yeah? So our body
has a sense of releasing,

and releasing.

Releasing, and releasing.

Like a lot of the dance,

continuing that
really fluid pulse feeling.

OK? So the arms overhead go:

(naming movements) cross, cross--

or the arms in the front.

Fantastic!

Why don't we add that into our phrase
from the scoops?

5, 6, 7, scoop back.

On 1, 2, 3, scoop back,

on 5, 6, 7, swim,

1, 2, 3, and the other side,

5, 6, floating up to switch,

and switch, good!

To finish the phrase,
open your heart to the ceiling,

eyes to the ceiling, see the sky,

release your hips
and the head comes down last

as you roll down again towards the floor.

OK? So that's the end of our phrase.

Another high lift moment:

going to lift my eyes, lift my sternum,

open my arms,

bend the knees, soften the hips,

and ripple down through my spine.

Beautiful!

OK, we're getting there.

This is one of the most detailed parts
of the choreography,

and you're doing a really fantastic job.

So let's practise this arm section
one more time,

allowing the torso to flow
with the movement.

Alright? Here we go! Ready?

5, 6, scooping back,

to go 1, 2, 3, 4,

and 5, 6, 7,

swimming 1, 2, 3, 4,

and 5, 6, 7, breathing,

cross, and cross,

and fall, 6, 7, 8.

Beautiful, dancers.

So, leading into this moment,

we had our 16 steps,

and then we move into this beautiful
port de bras arm phrase after that.

How about we give that a try?

So choosing whether you're doing
slow steps or fast steps,

we finish the last section reaching up.

5, 6, 7, dropping 8,

go 1, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, 7, 8, finding your east,

4, 5, 6, 7, scoop,

on 1, 2, 3, scoop again,

on 5, 6, 7,

swim your arms, 1, 2, 3,

other side, 5, 6, 7,

float it up to switch, and switch,

release it all the way down.

Great! Hopefully that went well.

If not, oh, you can always rewind
and try this section a few times through.

I'm going to move on now,

and continue with
the next part of our dance.

So we've gone down to the floor, again.

And now I want you to have

a unique and individual sense
of party and play.

So your body is going downwards,

your knees are bent, hips are bent,

and you're going to find 4 counts
of low, individual movement,

and you can do this moving in the space,

once we really learn the choreography.

But for now, on the spot, low,

then switch it up high,

then switch it down low,

and switch it up high!

Beautiful!

So you can decide what that party
looks like and feels like,

the music will really
inspire your movements.

And again, like I said,

eventually we'll want those movements
to move through the space.

But for now, on the spot,
let's try that one more time.

I'm going to cut off
the last count, though.

At the end, I want you to go:

5, 6, 7--

on the last count, 8--

we're going to have one hand
on our heart, on our ribcage,

one hand on our abdominal wall.

Alright, yeah? On your belly.
That's great.

So, let's try: 4 low, 4 high,

4 low, 3 high, so that we can
arrive together on count 8.

Alright? Ready?
5, 6, starting low,

low, 2, 3, take it up,

high, 2, 3, take it down,

low, 2, 3, take it up,

1, 2, 3, and grab!

Fantastic! Did you do that with me?
Are we all together?

Let's try it one more time,
just to be safe, finding that 8.

5, 6, 7, 8,

take it down, 2, 3, 4,

take it up, 6, 7, 8,

take it down, 2, 3, 4,

take it up,
6, 7, bring it 8.

Bravo, dancers! Good job!

So that is our next movement, and again,

we'll let that move in the space
once you're ready to give that a try.

From here, we're almost
at the end of today's section.

We have our hands on our sternum,
on our abdominal wall,

we're going to do 3 deep breaths.

So we're here on 8, going in first:

breathe out (exhale),

and in (inhale),

breathe out (exhale),

and in (inhale),

breathe out (exhale),

and in (inhale),

now release that breath again,

this time releasing your body (exhale).

5, 6, 7,

I'm going to wind up
my energy a little bit,

so that on 8 I can do a
(strong exhale) "huh", yeah?

The arms are going to throw forward.

(strong exhale)

That's it! My torso is going to contract.

(strong exhale)

Good--and maybe even my foot
is going to stomp,

to help me get nice and low.

(strong exhale)

Good! And very final thing:

I want you to say, (yell) "Hah!"

A nice, big, strong yell.

From the centre, very specific
and very precise,

not a long yell, a "hah!"

Alright, so let's try that
from the breathing.

We did 3 breaths on the spot,

before doing 5, 6, 7, "hah" on 8.

5, 6, 7, arrive 8.

Go 1... breathe,

and 2... breathe,

and 3... breathe,

release, 6,
get ready, go (yell) "hah!"

Fantastic, dancers! Really nice job!

How about we try putting our party section

and our "hah!" section together. OK?

We'll go a little bit
under tempo, a little bit slow.

Starting with low party for 4:

5, 6, 7, 8,

party low, 2, 3, 4,

party high, 6, 7, 8,

party low,
2, 3, now just 3,

5, 6, get ready on 8,

go in, and out,

in, and out,

in, and out,

release, 6,
get ready, go "hah!"

Bravo, very nice work!

OK! So now, let's put together
everything we've learned today.

Like I said, this is the
most detailed section

of the choreography,

and you're a really fantastic job
learning these new movements today.

So let's think through the phrase.

The phrase starts with 8 or 16 walks,

to take us to the east.

It continues with
the scooping port de bras,

twice through,

the swimming port de bras,

twice through,

and the switches,

to take it all the way down to the floor.

We do our 4 counts to party low,

4 counts to party high,

we repeat low,

we cut off that last count

so that we're ready
for our breaths on 8.

3 beautiful breaths,

and a release to throw.

OK? So let's count through
this whole section together.

Slightly slower than the music,

so that we have a chance
to really think about the sequence

and how we transition
from one part to the next.

This time, I'm going to move
my party in the space,

but you by yourself or you with your group

decide if you're ready to do that,

or if you still want to dance
facing the screen.

Alright? So, starting from our drop.

We're reaching up,
1, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, 7, dropping 8,

walk 1, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, 7, and 8,

9, 10, 11, 12,
13, 14, getting ready, scoop,

on a 1, 2, 3, again,

on a 5, 6, 7, swim it,

1, 2, 3, other side,

5, 6,

bring it up to go switch,

and switch,

release and 6,

get ready, party down low,

2, 3,

party up high, 6, 7,

party down low, 2, 3,

party up high,

get ready with your hands, in,

and out,

in, and out,

in, and out,

release, 6, 7, (yell) "hah!"

Fantastic, dancers!

Hopefully that went well.

If you need another rehearsal,

of course, just hit pause, rewind a bit,

and practise it with counts again.

But now what I'd like to do
is try it with the music.

♪ (music starts) ♪

Here we go!

2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, 1,

9,

13.

Scoop, 1.

Swim!

Up, switch!

Low,

high!

Low.

High, 5, 6, 7, 8.

1,

5,

1,

5, 6, 7, (yell) 8!

Fantastic work, everyone!

So, before we leave for today,

I would like us to connect

what we learned this time

with what we've learned last time.

So let's do a quick review
of the previous material,

and then we'll do a rehearsal

of our Section B and Section C together.

OK? But first, let's do a little review.

What was Section B?

Section B is where the music begins.

So we did that expansive reach into space,

we pulse for 8
once we hear the beat drop,

still exploring with our eyes.

We feel the sense of connection
in our core,

elbows come in
as we keep the pulse for 8.

We do an expansion for 8.

We come in a second time,
and the last time we go out,

remember we have that fun count of 6,

where we have to just count 6 only,

and then start a new one.

So we're going out for
1, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6,

go 1, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, little circle, and 7, 8.

Then we do our small party for 8.

Small party.

Then we do our big party for 8.

Big party.

Good! Now the scooping action
where we gather something towards us,

so we gather up that fog or that cloud

and we bring it over our bodies.

We repeat that action on the spot,

and we go for a swim,

whether it's 2 swims or 1 swim,

and we flick: high, high,
release, release.

And then we go into the roll up.

And we know that
that's the connecting movement.

That's where we started today.

OK? So let's take this into a rehearsal.

We'll count through
the two sections together,

then we'll dance through
the two sections together.

OK, everyone!

So putting our Part B and C together,

I'm going to turn to face the mirror
so it's easier to follow,

but of course, don't forget

that this dance is to be performed
in the round or in an open space

where we can select different fronts

rather than in a traditional proscenium
or stable front facing.

So follow along with me,

but let's keep in mind
that we have choices

about the directions we're going to face.

And of course, within this new section
we learned today,

we're going have the moment
where we turn our bodies,

all of the dancers, towards the east.

OK? So let's get going
with the beginning of this section

which is where the music joins us.

So we reach out into space,

we're doing that observation,
so what is the space like?

How much room do I have to move,
who's in the space with me?

And then when you hear the beat drop,

you're going to pulse, 2, 3, 4,

continuing to explore, 7, 8,

bring it in, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, 7, 8,

expanding out... from... the fingers...
to see your space,

7, 8,

coming in, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, 7, for 6!

You go out, 2, 3, 4,

ready, set,
going 1, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, little circle on 8,

small party, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, 7,

bigger party 1, 2...

and 5, 6...

to scoop! 1, 2, 3, 4,

feel it falling over you,

again 1, 2, 3, 4,

release and 6 and 7,

swimming, once or twice,

and a 5...

flick it up, going high, high, low, low,

this is 5, 6, 7, 8,

1, 2, 3, 4,

keep going,
6, 7, drop it 8,

and take it 1, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, going to the east,

9, 10, 11, 12,
13, 14, find your direction,

up, 2, 3,

and scoop and up, 6, 7,

swimming, 1, 2, 3, 4,

and 5, 6, 7,

lift it up to go switch,

switch,

and breathe, 6, 7,

party low, low,

and high, face any direction,

going low,

and 3, 6, 7,

grab it, 8.

1... 3... 5... 7...

1... 3... and 5 and 6,

and 7, (yell) "hah!"

Alright, dancers!

Let's give this section
a try with the music.

OK? Finding your feet,
reaching your arms in the space,

waiting to hear the music.

♪ (music starts) c

Bring it in!

Out!

In!

Out for 6!

1...

7, little party!

Big!

Scoop!

Scoop again.

Swim!

4 corners!

5, 6, 7, 8,

1, 2, 3, 4,

reach, 6, 7, 8,

find the east!

Get ready, 1!

Swim!

Switch!

1...

Up!

Low...

High!

In...

5...

1...

5, 6, 7, (yell) "hah!"

♪ (music stops) ♪

Fantastic work, everyone!

What a pleasure it's been
to work with you today.

And Caitlin and I can't wait
until next time

when we get to complete

this 2022 Sharing Dance choreography
with you.

Great work, keep it up,

and see you next time!

Bye for now!