Class last night was a blast. The energy was great. Everyone worked so hard, and it's great to see how much progression there was over the summer!
This week, being one of the last classes of summer, we decided to keep our focus on drills. We were working on figure eights and undulations. I particularly love these movements with the way a dancer's body rolls through each move. They may be basic movements, but even as a simple, strong isolation, they look intense.
Thinking about these movements, I came to realize just how much of my own dancing relies on these foundations. How many of our choreographies use these movements at their core? Something about these beautiful, flowing movements seem to ground each choreography with a lovely element that's easy to build upon.
In our class we focused on just a few of these variations. We did several variations of the figure eight, both horizontal and vertical with the hips, figure eights in the chest, and built this into a sidewinder, which we used as echoed from the chest into the hips. Our undulations focused on the body wave, the belly roll, and the Arabic (as it's known in tribal, but also commonly the camel walk). From incredibly slow and controlled to the general pace these movements are used in performances, we played with these moves and got comfortable with them. It was a great chance to work on the foundation elements of so much of what we do!
At the end of class, as a special little moment, I had the offer to run an arms workshop or special focus class, since beautiful arms are something so many have asked me about. My sister, who has a background in flamenco, has offered to step in and do a special event with a focus on building strong arm postures for class. It promises to be a lot of fun, and I can't wait to announce more information on that!
There's so much to come this year. I can't wait until our official sessions kick off! Our first Friday classes start next week!
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