2ND November (Cunningham Flat Back)

In this exercise we should be working on extention of the arms through our torso twists which also works our torso flexibility. We should be working on control through our flat backs and not nose dive! Tension of the legs when straightening our flat backs. Alingment when lifting into our stretch out pose. Spotting when torso twisting to the back. Energy through the speed of the extention exercise.

Throughout this exercise I lack energy and my tension is terrible!  However at 0.04 my clarity and arm tension is good. At 0.06 I am having a serious nose dive, which shows I have low control levels of my flat back, to improve this I need to be more aware of where I am placing my body if a wiggle my hands and can see them out of the cornor of my eye I am doing it right, of course on a performance do can't do this but whilst doing the exercise it will improve and eventually I will just know where to put my body. At 0.21 though my flat back looks much more controlled which shows I can do it; it is just being able to do it continuously that I need to improve.

At 0.26 when turning my arms are far too back, this shows I need to improve my alingment; to do this I need to not fling my arms so much and place them more. At 0.30 I move too quickly which shows my memory was not working that day! To improve this I need an early night so my brain works the way it should! 

From 0.34 onwards my energy is awful, I lack tension and enthusisum; However at 0.52 my alingment in my extention of the leg is good, it just needs to be more of a right angle; to do this I need to improve my flexibility, learning the splits could help..

My strengths in the exercise are when controlled my flat back however if I lose control of it it could become a weakness so I need to be careful of that. When extenting my leg my alignment is good however I need a bit more flexibility to improve this I will attempt learning the splits.

My weakensses in this exercise are tension and energy; I was clearly tired in this video as usually my energy and my tension is good so to improve this I need more sleep! Also I need more control; I need to place myself rather than plonk myself.

Targets:

• Engergy- Get some sleep !
• Control- Need to be less heavy in myself and place myself better.

2ND November (Cunningham Bounces in Parallel)

In this lesson we extended on our Cunningham exercises, we done this as it helps us make our dance more various and also work more parts of the body. In this exercise we are working on our alignment by extention of the arms and legs. We are also working on control through our bounces which also helps our back flexibility. We work on the use of 'Headlights' (keeping hips still) throughout the exercise your hips face mainly to the front & in our extention of the exercise we work on our control through twists which also helps with spotting and finally we work on elevation through our pushing off the floor.

As we have done this exercise a few times now I feel we have all improved. However this doesnt mean to say we dont still have things we need to improve on. In this video you can't see me clearly till around 0.45 where I can see that my parallel needs to be wider and my curve could be bigger and more clear; although my arm shape is good which show my tension and clarity in my arms has improved.

On the extention we extend our arms and they are meant to be in line with our shoulders at 1.01 mine are not. To improve this I need to check where I am extending my arms too. When pushing off the floor my point is good at 1.02. After this point you can't see my feet but my although my arms are in the wrong place the shape is good as is my tension.

In this exercise my strength are tension in my arms; when I first did this exercise my arms didnt have any tension so this is a good improvement. My next strength is my toe point this has better tension and rises of the floor more.

In this exercise my weaknesses are Alingment in the arms to improve this I need to place my arms in line with my shoulders, also clarity; my moves need to be clearer and when holding a position it should look like a still image. Finally my evelation could be bigger.

Targets:

• Wider Parallel- Check my feet are in the right position before starting.
• Alingment in Arms- Again checking before Istart; place my arms dont just put them anywhere
• Clarity- I think this will improve when I become more confident with the exercises (also the loose top doesn't help!)
• Evelation- I need to push off more !

2ND November (Cunningham Plies)

In this exercise we should be improving/working our back flexibility through upper body twists; which also improves control. Our leg tension by plies in first. Arm tension in plies. Leg flexibility/tension through lower plies. Foot extention through raising feet whilst doing a plie. Tension and control when hold foot rise in plie.

Throughout this video I am hard to see however at 0.05 you see that I need to put my bum in. At 0.09 you can see my upper body twist, I look focused and the twist is controlled and held for the right amount of counts. At 0.13 my arms are too far back to improve this I need more control in my shoulders. At 0.15 my arch is good however my plie could be bigger/lower. At 0.17 my plie is good, I have control and am focused and I am also well tensioned and low. At 0.22 my twist is agin well controlled and spotted well.

 At 0.34 my arch back is too far back; to improve this I need more control of my shoulders. At 1.01 my arms are just slightly too far back to improve this I need to work on my control. At 1.16 my arm tension needs to be alot more. At 1.22 my plie could be alot lower; learning the splits will help my leg flexibility. At 1.29 my foot could raise alot more, to improve this I need to work on my foot strength.

In this exercise my strength are my lower plie control and tension is very clear as you can see in the picture I have screen shot. My upper body twist are well controlled and I have focus through out this exercise which shows I have made an improvement.

In this exercise my weaknesses are my accurcey within my arms to improve this I need to work on my spacial awareness. Although my plies are good I need to work on getting them a bit lower to therefore improve my lower flexibility. I also need to make sure my lower half has better tension (keep my bum in)



Targets:

• Lower tension- Keep my bum in!
• Spacial Awareness- More control of upper body
• Get my piles lower- Lower flexibility.

2ND November (Cunningham Duets)

In this lesson we worked in pairs to create a duet that had to have Cunningham's technique in it. I worked with Chloe and our theme was the arguement stage of a relationship where you feel like your at a constant battle and you have to keep fighting. The routine had to include a twist, a tilt, a curve and an arch. By doing this types of routine we inprove our back flexiblity and control. This was the first draft of our dance so it's good to recorded it as it makes it easier to improve it.

Me and Chloe come on at 0.31. At the moment our routine looks more stage movement than a dance so therefore this wil be a first improvement! We start with me in an upper back curve at 0.32 my arch IT is done well although I need to lift up and over more. At 0.34 Chloe's arm extention is good as it is followed right through to the finger tips. With this dance as at the moment it does tell the story as it is just basic stage movements so we need to be careful not to lose the story when making it more of a dance routine. At 0.35 it is clear Chloe is in control of the dance and I am the weaker character. At 0.41 both mine and Chloe's alignment need to be better; we need more tension in our legs and they need to be higher, if we took turns to extened our legs then we could lean into eachother therefore making the lift bigger. At 0.45 my turn needs to be more controled, to do this I need to spot. At 0.49 both mine and Chloe's tension is good as she pushing me to the floor and brings herself up. At 0.49 my tension is lost and the move looks weak to improve this we could maybe place a jump in its place so i jump then fall. At 0.53 we finish however I think we need a still image to show this better.

In this rotutine we need to improve our tension and make the routine more of a dance.

Targets:

• Add more to the routine to make it more of a dance
• Improve our tension throughout
• Have a finish.

17th November (Cunningham Foot Exercise 2(Gleesays))

In this lesson we was working on our Cunningham Gleesays we do this as it helps us with lower body control and also works our foot point. Throughout this exercise we have to use 'Headlights' to keeps our hips focused. By doing this exercise we build up a clear strongth lower body strength.

In this video I am the one in the flowery top; throughout the exercise you can see my left leg is a lot stronger than my right. To improve this I need to work more on my right leg to get the balance right.  At 0.00 my point is extened well however I am slightly un balanced to improve this I need to focus my headlights more.

At 0.02 I feel I really pull through the floor which was one of my targets so this is a big improvement! At 0.06 my right leg is not extended enough and needs to be straighter. At 0.10 again on my right leg I seem to avoid the floor completely, I need to break down the movemtn on my right leg to get it up to my left leg standards.  At 0.17 I lose my tension in my left foot and it appears sloppy to improve this I need to build up my foot tension. At 0.20 my right foot has no point as iIwas getting ready to plie I must remember to compete this exercise before rushing to finish.

In this exercise my strengths are usually my point apart from a few points where I'm sloppy, my left leg is the stronger leg also.

In this exercise my weaknesses are my right leg is noticeabley weaker than my left, to improve this I need to balacne my body more, maybe through yoga and foot tension, to improve this I need to do more foot exercises. 

Targets:

• Better body balance- Make my right as strong as my left
• Foot tension- Make my foot strength a lot stronger.

17th November (Cunningham Flat Back (Extention))

In this exercise we work on our flat backs, torso twists, alignment and also our control. We work to improve our flat backs through control trying not to nose dive! We worked on our torso twists to improve our spotting and our back flexibility and finally we worked on our alignment by evaluating our legs to make a right angle. By doing this our body flexibility will improve.


At 0.04 my arms are too far back to improve this I need to be more aware of the space around me. At 0.05 my body shape is clear and my arm tension is good. At 0.09 my arms are still well tensioned however my parallel needs to be wider. At 0.12 I come up too soon. At 0.20 my arms are again far to far back! Need to be much more aware of where I'm putting my arms. At 0.24 my plie is good and my shape is clear. At 0.28 my flat back is good. At 0.32 although my arm tension is bad my focus is good. At 0.41 my twist is well focused. At 0.47 although my arm shape is clear it needs a lot more tension. At 0.49 my evaluation is good however it could be bigger and more clear. At 0.54 my arm tension is weak and my arms look floppy. At 0.59 my leg extension is very good my leg seems to go up more than before so that is good!

In this exercise my strengths are my leg flexibility towards the end and my focus; before my focus was lacking so this is a good improvement.

In this exercise my weakness's are my flat back, I need nose diving, to improve this i need to be more focused in my arms. My arms tension is weak especially in my torso twists, to improve this I need to do more arm exercises.

Targets:

• Arm tension- My amrs need to be tensioned at all times
• Flat Back- STOP NOSE DIVING!!

17th November (Cunningham Plies)

In this exercise we worked on back flexibility by extending our arms and making a circle by moving our torso area. We worked on our balance through holding our plie which also works our core strength. By doing this exercise our stamina will also improve as will our focus.

I feel I have improved in this exercise quite a lot as I have a lot more tension and I seem to pull up more. At 0.07 when circling the torso my arms need be straighter however my torso is clear and well extended. At 0.15 my arched back could be more arched to make the movement more clear. At 0.24 I pull my top down I need to not fidget in between moves.At 0.43 my second parallel turn out has improved and I am more in line with my lower body. At 0.53 my bum is out and I need more tension also my arms are too far back therefore my alignment needs to improve; to do this I need to spot more. At 0.59 my head is facing the floor and should be up and my bum is sticking out; to improve this I need more focus. At 1.06 my arms need a lot more tension. Again at 1.09 my bum is out -.-. At 1.14 I realise and straighten up. When doing my plies at 1.17 I would like to be able to go lower to do this I need more flexibility; learning the splits which I am trying to do will help this. I am trying to do this by stretching out over pillows and slowly taking away pillows to lower myself; this also helps with my balance. At 1.27 my foot extension is good. Throughout hold the plie in a foot extension my balance is fairly good however at 1.35 I start to wobble just before we release. I recover well and pull up nicely to finish showing good focus and tension.

My strengths in this exercise are my lower body tension which before was quite weak so this is a good improvement. Also my realisation on my mistakes i.e. when my bum was out I realised and pulled it in and straighten up. Although at some points I didn't notice I have shown improvement by realising that time.

My weaknesses in this exercise are the flexibility when holding a position (arched back) to improve this I could try and learn to do a crab from standing position. Being able to keep my bottom in place ! I need more tension in that area to keep it still.

Targets:

• Keep bum in (Lower body tension)
• Learn splits (To improve leg flexibility)
• Learn backwards crab.( To improve back flexibility)

17th November (Cunningham Foot Exercise)

17 November ( Cunningham leg exercise)

My Beautiful Street Dancing Skills (Attempted One)

In this lesson we look at dances we don't usually do and then went on to research about them and how they can help us as a dancer. I chose street dance as it's a lot faster than my normal style and also it is a alot looser than contempoary.
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As you can see this style of dance needs alot of improvement!
Although at a first glance it looks as if i am not able to do street at all. I do have some strength through out; My alingment is good in most of the routine which is good because it shows i can copy movements acreactly and in street dance when working in groups freeze movements need to be totally presise.
My next strength is Good Structure Shape: This is important for freezes in street dance so show claraitiy, again if working in a group you each need to be clear in your movements to help you blend in.
My Final Strength is...My feet are grounded. Throughout the routine my feet tend to keep the dance together however as they are so grounded when doing jumps or lifts they didnt elevate much so therefore i now need to work of quick elevation.

I have many weaknesses which I hope to improve as the weeks go by my first weakness is my lack of tension. When freezing positions in street dance as much as the style is quite lose I still need tension in my arms when extending.
Throughout my routine my head is down; this is because I was unsure still of what I was doing and being filmed is always a bit awkward! Once i feel more confident my head will be up high :)
My elevations need to be alot bigger and more like a firework as in street dance the jumps are like a bomb has exploded and the whole company will be in time with the lift and the fall; I need more of a spring in my step.
My headlights (Hip Focus) was not used at all. I think I thought 'well the dance is lose so therefore i must be' I was wrong !!



Targets:
Tension
Headlights
Spring in my Step
Head up !

Contractions

Technique (Analysing) 24th Sep 2011

In this video we looked at Standing Contractions, Twiddles, Core Training and Jumps in this video my timing was all over the place and I wasnt very focused however my alignment was good throughout and I am very proud of my flat back :)
0.16: Leg needs to be straight
0.17: Good bend
0.30: Flat back is good but my arms need to be straighter
0.37: Lack of energy
0.39: Good alignment
0.43: Too quick
0.49: Bit slow
1.00: My lovely flat back :D
1.08: Head needs to be down
1.15: Too slow
1.17: To quick
1.25: No energy
1.28: Touching my face
1.38: Nice plies
1.40: Good Alignment
1.43: Good plies
1.50: Arms need to be straighter
1.56:  Itching my nose
2.02: Back could be lower
2.04: Lack of energy
2.10: Good alignment
2.31:Too Slow
2.36: No clue what i'm doing, I'm just flopping around
2.39: Good Twiddle
3.12: No energy
REMINDER: DO NOT STAND BEHIND RAY!!
4.09: No energy
4.14: No balance
4.27: My leg is in the wrong place
5.10: Just Chilling
5.36: No effort
6.18: Flopped
6.34: HATE SIT UPS!
7.15: Need to straighten legs
7.26: Given up
7.53: Bums up
7.57: Need to go lower
8.16: Given up totally
Anything after this i am so dead!
8.57: Cool Down
8.56: So weak :(
9.03: Need to straighten my leg
9.06: Own moves
9.10: Last one :D

Need to improve:

• Stamina
• Focus
• Situps!

Martha Graham Technique 3( Analysising) 23rd Sep 2011

In this lesson we practised Martha Grahams Technique I felt through this video i had lack of energy and need alot more tension. I am out of time quite a bit too.
0.34: Arms need more tension
0.42: Good posture but my head needs to be up
0.45: Need to put my bum in
0.51: Head needs to be up however my foot is well flexed
0.57: Playing with hair
1.03: Need to stay still
1.07: Not tense enough
1.10: Floppy arms and my bums out
1.11: No tension
1.14: Contraction is okay; room for improvement though
1.16: Tripped
1.21: Have no energy!?
1.36: Out of time!
1.59: NICE flat back :)

Need to improve:

• Tension
• Stamina
• Strength

Cunningham Technique 1 28th September 2011(Analising)

In this video we experimented with Cunninghams Technique we learnt about:

• bounces in paralell
• torso twists
• plies
• food exercise
• glise
• torso twists (developed)
• shoulders

Bounces in parallel:

Focus Points:

• Shoulders relaxed
• Arms engaged for whole exercise
• Elbows not drooping in 2nd
• Sucking in

Torso Twists:

Focus Points:

• No bum out.
• Back straight
• Knees over toes

Plies:

Focus Points:

• Hips stay centre
• constant energy
• engaging all muscles
• flat back
• engage stomach muscles

Foot Exercises:

Focus Points:

• No floppy feet; point at all times
• Balance
• Energy from all body points
• Stright back
• Bum in

Glise( Pushing foot through floor to point and bringing it back):

Focus Points:

• Work your foot for the whole exercise
• Engage your leg
• Balance

Torso twist developed:

Focus Points:

• Energy for the whole thing
• No baggy limbs
• Put effort in to all movements
• Look to the back to stretch spine

Shoulders:

Focus Points:

•  Engaging finger tips
• Strong Core strength
• Control every movement

My arms need more tension and extention also i need to go lower on my plies and keep my head down. However at 1.10 i have good focus the group is in time and our movements are clear. My flat back is good too. My releves need to be higher and my abdomial muscles need to be more engaged.
1.25: decided to pick my eye. I need more energy and need to not burn out. Keep my hips still, remember my headlights on my hips.
2.11: My feet are nicely in parallel
2.20: I need to be sharper, my points need to be more pointed and my leg needs to be much more extented and my floor work is terrible.
3.20: Closer legs are needed!
3.30: my timing is good. and then i lose it and get out of time.
3.44: need to keep my hips still!! Arms need more tension and i need to place my movement and not bounce them. Need much more control.
4.27: HIPS NEED TO STAY STILL !!
4.56: NEED TO POINT!
5.08: Need to twist back more
5.09: Need more focus
5.35: Need to slow my roll down; go through the spine.
5.51: Bums up need to put it down
5.43: Good strength in my arms :)
6.32: Arms are good just need my palms straighter, relax shoulders and put arms closer together.
6.38: My plank is better here than in rehersals.
In this technique i need to:

• Keep my hips straight
• Bum in/down
• And Focus!

George Balanchine

George Balanchine (1905-1983)

George Balanchine was a contemporary ballet chorographer born in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1905; one of the most famous 20^th century chorographers, Balanchine helped develop ballet in the United States and was also a co-founder and ballet master of New York City Ballet. In his life he choreographed more than 400 ballets, thirty-nine of which where choreographed to music by Igor Stravinsky. He expressed music with dance and will always be remembered for his musicality. He died after years of illness aged 79 in New York City of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.

Balanchine grew up with a large family of composers and soldiers, his father a Georgian composer Meliton Balanchivadze helped initiate the Georgian Opera. His brother is also a well known Georgian composer. His mother had a love for ballet as did his sister. He first auditioned for Imperial Ballet School with his sister aged 9 years old and was later accepted into the Imperial Ballet School. There he was a student of Pavel Gerdt and Samuil Andrianov (Pavel's son-in-law). In 1921 he graduated with honors. However during the Russian Revolution in 1917 Balanchine played the piano for food, at cabarets and silent movie theaters, this gave him another talent which he fell in love with and after graduating went on to study advance piano, music theory, counterpoint, harmony, and composition at Petrograd Conservatory. Whist studying he worked in the corps de ballet at which he continued to dance with until 1924. He graduated from the Conservatory in 1923.

Balanchine choreographed his first work still in his teens a pa de deux named ‘La Nuit’ which means ‘Night’. His next duet was called ‘Enigma’ which is another word for puzzle; this piece was performed in bare feet. In 1923 with the dancers he formed a small ensemble ‘The Young Ballet’ however the chorography proved too experimental for the new authorities. Balanchine arrived in the U.S in 1933 which he stayed until his death in 1983. America made him who his was. He moved there to establish a ballet school to develop dancers who had the strong technique and style he wanted. In all of his pieces we see how strong his dancers body strength was, especially their upper body strength and foot work. Balanchine work was all about flexibility of the lower half, in most performances dancers legs wouldn’t look attached to their bodies. In 1934 Balanchine formed his first ballet company ‘American Ballet’. By 1938 the company had moved to Hollywood in which the company soon became known as the ‘American Ballet Caravan. The company toured North and South America. Unfortunately the company collapsed after several years however Balanchine quickly formed a new dance company and named it ‘Ballet Society’. Many successful performances later, the company became resident company of the New York City Centre for Music and Drama. In 1948 ‘Ballet Society’ was renamed ‘New York City Ballet’ which is still performing today.

He’s biggest influence was Fred Astaire, Balanchine described him as "the most interesting, the most inventive, the most elegant dancer of our times... you see a little bit of Astaire in everybody's dancing—- a pause here, a move there. It was all Astaire originally."

By Ellouise Champion

Martha Graham

Martha Graham (1894-1991)

Martha Graham is an American dance goddess, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Form an early age she had a major passion for dance and started her training in the 1910’s at Denishawn School of Dancing & related Art at which she stayed until 1923.

In 1925 she became Head of Drama at Eastman school of music and in 1926 she opened Martha Graham Centre of Contemporary dance. After 10 years of training her work was defined in the piece ‘Chronide’

In 1938 Erick Hawkins join the dance group they married in 1948 he left her trope in 1951 and they divorced in 1954. Graham danced and choreographed for over 70 years and she was the first dancer to ever perform at The White House. She travelled all over the world as a Cultural Ambassador in which she received the Highest Civilian award.  

Graham was still dancing in the late 1960’s, her last performance was in 1970 aged 76. In her life Martha suffered from depression and abused alcohol to numb her pain, she tried to commit suicide and then in 1972 she quit drinking and went back into the studio, she says ‘dance saved my life’.

Graham will always been remembered for her use of emotions in her dance routines, she believed you could tell some ones whole life story by the way they dance. Her training was a bit like an actor’s, when trying to get a certain emotion across think of a time you have felt that way and use it to show how it felt. She took realism and made it 3D. She trained her dancers to know their body inside and out therefore making the routines more memorable and nothing like before. It helps to prepare them as when you are in a mind set of an emotion it makes you more focused and as a result the performance is more believable. It makes them think of that emotion and as they are attached to the memory they become attached to the dance hence performing it to the best of their ability. 

Her last completed ballet was in 1990’s. She died in New York City aged 96. In 1998 ‘TIME’ listed her as ‘Dancer of the Century’. She was termed the ‘Picasso of Dance’. In her life she choreographed 97 performaces and her dance company is the oldest in America.

By Ellouise Champion

Merce Cunningham

MERCE CUNNINGHAM (1919 –2009)

Merce Cunningham, an American dance extraordinaire, was born and raised in Centralia, Washington. He was the second of three sons and both he and his brothers followed their father’s foot steps in the dance career. However Cunningham did not only dance his also choreographed some of the most amazing dance routines in the world. Unfortunately Cunningham died in 2009 but after a seventy year career his legacy still lives on today.

Cunningham started his first professional training at Cornish School (now called Cornish College of the Arts) in 1937, he continued to train here until 1939 until Martha Graham saw him dance and asked him to join her own dance company where he stayed for six years before starting his own dance company ‘Merce Cunningham Dance Company’ in 1953. Cunningham first performed solo in 1944 in New York with composer John Cage who became Cunningham’s life partner until his death in 1992; whilst alive Cage collaborated with Cunningham frequently. As a couple they joined together to create ‘Walker Art Center’ first performance in 1963, they done many collaborative work for 25 years.

In many of Cunningham’s performances he would use the ‘I Ching’ in order to determined the sequence of his dances; this is when the dancers would get set moves/sequences labeled 1-6 and Cunningham would roll a dice and then the dancers would dance out whatever has been rolled, Cunningham liked to be un-expected and spontaneous. Cunningham himself performed as a dancer until 1990 aged 71. In his life he choreographed 200 dances and 800 events.

Cunningham’s influence on the dance industry is defiantly one of the largest in the world, he was known for his originality and expansion of space, he used kaleidoscopic imagery of city streets, natural processes and animals. He overarched classical clarity, dignity and virtuosity. By elaborating inflections of the spine and varying articulations’ of the legs he made a new style of dance.

Cunningham’s technique wasn’t like other chorographers of his time. In his first years of dancing dance was about emotion and looking fluent. He changed that, many of his dances can appear quite wooden but structured, they don’t have to flow at all. This type of technique helps a dancer to become sharper; the movement has to be perfect as if not it will show. His most famous ‘Dice’  technique prepares a dancer for if something goes wrong, they should always be prepared for the next step, he says 6324 and they will be able to it as they know 1-6 off my heart to an exceptional standard. Most dance company where about expressing movement, Cunningham was about knowing movement, not just knowing though; performing the movement.

In his life he was recognized for his dance skills on many occasions he received numerous awards one being British Laurence Olive Dance award in 1985.

The Perfect Contraction

The Perfect Contraction

Martha Graham believed in her dances that the perfect contraction was key to making the most emotional and heart felt routine. When you contract you need to tense your abdominal muscles therefore sucking them in looking as if you have been punched in the stomach. After you contract you slowly release bringing your shoulders back by one by one vertebrate. 

29th September 2011- First Blog!!