A reminder about our weekly classes…
Logistics are covered here, at http://mihaib.com/dance/boulder/weekly
Calendar is always updated at http://mihaib.com/dance/boulder/calendar/
- And includes the next Dancing with Emptiness event at Naropa, on March 2nd.
If you’re curious, watch my personal video blog check-ins on dance finance and Denver classes.
What can you expect when you come to class?
The distinction “conscious technique 7-8, embodied storytelling 8-9″ has been working well lately.
Here is what we’ve covered in the recent past:
- Conscious technique classes…
- Textures, aka Easy Creativity. This class deals with how to move, not what to do. We contrast between tall/grounded, quick/slow/super-slow rhythm, big/small, sharp/smooth. First solo, then partnered. We combine two textures, then three.
- Conscious Vocabulary. We usually get to three moves (cape/waterfall, bluesy texas tommy, pimp walk, L, spins, etc.) and a lot of the technique behind them. With sequencing, which helps a lot. I even became a square-dance-like caller!
- Walking In Rhythm. You might think that stepping exactly in rhythm for a whole song is easy and boring. Not true! As long as you’re committed to dancing with the rest of your body, it’s actually difficult to stay balanced, and quite interesting.
- Four Physical Skills. An overview of my advice on balance, relaxation, strength and clarity.
- Embodied storytelling classes…
- Meditation And Dance. In the spirit of Dancing with Emptiness, we just sat, then danced. A powerful experience words fail to describe.
- Hugging Lab. We practiced variations of hugging. I had some ideas about group discussion of what works, and even started to write them down… Ended up dropping those ideas and just surrendering to the group experience, which took all of us over.
- Steve Cope’s Class. For the first time ever in Boulder, I invited a guest instructor to teach. I don’t even know what he said and did: not much, that’s for sure! I just know that by the end, I followed Susan for one of the 4-5 best follower dances of my life.
- Falling Lab. I brought some curiosity: what happens when we think of dancing as falling? What other verbs come to mind? Do lead and follow have to fall at the same rate? I had to ask the Contact Improv dancers in the room not to go all the way to the floor. =)
- Intensive Training… This is an invite-only program, but I invite you to express interest!
- Peer Feedback. We used a structure I learned from the Portland lindy hop community years ago.
- Drills. Someone asked for an exercise. Someone else didn’t want it to be too heady. So I dusted off my “appreciation / increasing connection” exercise, which is my most well-received exercise ever. I asked for volunteers to lead it, and Fabio led the second round.
- Just Dancing. We had some yummy dances. Everyone who showed up is pretty devoted and a pretty decent dancer already.
- Community-Building. I love that most of us went to a “tea party” afterwards. I definitely want to prioritize authentic relating for this group, in service of tighter bonds, more trust and ultimately better dancing.
- DJ Training. I’m so excited that people wanted to learn more about blues dance music! It’s a passion I so rarely get to teach. Also, on a practical level, the primary reason I don’t organize more dances is that I no longer want to be up until midnight every week to DJ. The more people who are able and willing to DJ, the more open dancing we can have in Boulder.