Today kicked my butt. My knee high socks (hand me down from Henry) were too big, too sticky on the marley, and didn’t show the pointing of my toes enough so I’m switching back to my adidas no-shows. My contacts dried up and were bothering me for half the class so I’m switching from Pure Vision back to Acuvue Oasis (<3 Oasis). I got a blister on my foot yesterday too so that didn’t help much. Overall, my turning was off. This was unfortunate because we ended up doing a lot of turns today.
Derek asked the class what we wanted to learn the most. We had only two classes left and he wanted to make sure we got what we wanted out of the class. Of course, our class said we wanted to really get our turning technique down. This was something I really wanted for myself. I need to get the push off, the spotting, the balance, the momentum and the form down. So far, I could do PK turns all the way from the left side of the room to the right but doing any sort of combination messes me up as I found out today.
Our across the floor exercise consisted of: Chaînés Turn, Coupé Turn, PK Turn, Compass Turn, then do the same turning the other direction.
We also learned how to do a Lyrical Pirouette. He noted that it was especially important to get the prep down for this to work. We prepped with a Tendu to second position, Demi Plie in fourth, then Passé. After getting this down, we replaced the Passé with the actual turn. Its pretty similar to what I had in a youtube video from my last posting on the Dance category. Execution was hard for me to do. It was most important to spot. Overally I think I can execute turns fine as long as I have good socks and I take my time. I can’t do it one after another very quickly though =/.
Our Routine: Beautiful Disaster (Live) By Kelly Clarkson
Jeté leap towards the Right
Coupé
Chaînés Turn towards the Left
Rond de jambe right foot towards back to prep.
Floor Roll on butt towards Right.
Passé left foot up
Crouch down.
Dance step right then left foot clockwise from back to front.
Relevé left foot while right foot does a Développé forward.
Compass turn counterclockwise back to front.
Passé right foot up.
Point right foot forward.
Step backwards on right foot dragging left foot pointing forward.
Step backwards on left foot dragging right foot pointing forward.
Today we focused on turns, adding the Arabesque turn. We added on turns to the end of the routine we learned last week.
Our routine: Rush by Ferras
Balancé Right
Balancé Left
Chassé Right
Lyrical Drag Left Foot To Right
Step Right Foot To Right
Lean Down
Lyrical Drag Clockwise
Lyrical Drag Clockwise
Arabesque Left Foot Up
Coupé Plie
Tombé (Typically a beginning movement. For a tombé en avant, the dancer begins with a coupé front and then, after extending the leg from the coupé in fourth position front (or second or fifth back, if the tombé is to be done on the side or backward), switches the weight distribution and leans on the extended leg, which is placed on the floor in a deep plié. This leaves the working leg straightened but lifted slightly off the floor. Often this movement is used before executing traveling steps such as a pas de bourrée.)
Great news from today! I could do PK turns! I practiced turning yesterday and realized what I needed to do to do the turns. I had to bend my back knee to push myself off and give me the momentum to turn. The only thing is that I need to practice spotting as I got really dizzy because I forgot to do so. This is what I used as a guide to learn how to turn:
Hillary, Derek’s assistant, pointed out also that I need to elongate my arms. I find that my arms are clumsy when I dance so I need to work on that as well.
A huge part of learning how to dance lyrical is learning the vocabulary.
Technique:
Picka Turn (Across The Floor)
Chaînés + Chassé (On Floor)
Passé (Next To Wall)
Compass Turn (Across The Floor)
Routine:
Today was the first day we learned a routine. I would’ve left the class very content if it weren’t for my failure in attempting the compass turn which we just learned today and failing to do the routine very well.
Derek Mitchell is an awesome teacher! He is funny and entertaining. He’s attractive and charming. He has technique, he has experience, he has great choreo and chooses the best songs to dance to!
So before I forget, he’s breaking down the class to technique first, then lyrical style, then emotion in dance.
Warm ups were a bunch of stretches. Demi-pliés and Grand pliés. Stretching up and down and to the sides, keeping the body as close to the legs as possible. We did lunges. We did push ups and sit ups. We stretched our feet pointed and flexed up to our bodies as much as we could. This hurt and it just shows me I’m still not as flexible as I’d like to be but at least this class works on it.
He taught us the ballet steps 1, 2, 4 and 5. We practiced sweeping our feet forward, to the side and to the back. Rond de Jambe (sweep) + Tondu (point)
In the middle of the class, we learned to train our tip toes by doing the Relevé (raise on one foot) Passé (point other foot to knee)
We did a lot of going across the floor type learning:
Grand Pliés
Step across and hold tip toe on one foot up.
Chassé
Relevé
Chassé and Relevé (turning with spotting then chassé)
I had a great time at the class. I didn’t even want it to end. I felt good about getting the technique down but still being challenged (especially at the end). I still need to work on my spotting. I’ll be practicing my relevés. I’m really looking forward to next Sunday already!
I finally got the choreo down! I don’t seem to have the energy anymore to pull it off but I wrote it out o.Oa.
Breakdancing Class 2: Superbad by James Brown
First 8 count: indian step toprock front with a kick on the transition.
1 kick over left, step on left foot, 2 kick right foot out, step right foot down
3 kick over right, step on right foot, 4 kick left foot out, step left foot down.
5 kick over left, step on left foot, 6 kick right foot back, 7 hop back on left foot, 8 step right foot down over left.
Second 8 count: hopscotch
1 kick left foot forward towards left.
2 kick left foot sidewards towards left scissor legs open.
3 kick left foot sidewards towards front scissor legs open.
4 twist counterclockwise. kick right foot sidewards towards front scissor legs open.
5 twist clockwise. kick left foot sidewards towards front scissor legs open.
6 turning clockwise around, march step with left foot up, march step with right foot up
7 facing forward, jump with legs shoulder width apart.
8 jump feet together
Third 8 count: Hustle
1 step right foot towards right, bring left foot towards right.
3 kickball change right foot out
4 kickball change left foot out
5 kickball change right foot out
6 “I got soul” left hand from chest towards up.
7 “And I’m Super Bad” left hand down, right hand rises into fist,
8 head nods.
Fourth 8 count: Kick Outs
1 hands on floor towards right side, kick left then right foot up
2 corkscrew right foot to behind left knee
3 jump into squat
4 kick out both feet onto heels then back into squat
5 twist kick out both feet onto toes then back into squat
6 cici left then quickly into squat
7 cici right then quickly into squat
8 freeze
