Putting the Pieces Together

Yesterday was a pretty incredible day. After meeting with each group once or twice over the last two weeks, we had an hour and fifteen minutes to put the pieces together, help each group decide how they wanted to end their piece, and get all of the groups’ dances to fit within the music they had chosen. I had been looking forward to this day since getting here, but was nervous to see if everything could actually come together.

We never could have done it without the other teachers. With two of us working with each group, we all led the dancers through the layout of their piece, helped them clarify and connect sections, and helped them fit their piece into the music. I had only worked with the green group, the youngest kids, one time, so I spent the majority of the time helping them put their piece together. Marty also came to the studio and took photos during this time, so I do have some amazing ones to share with you.

The process wasn’t without it’s fair share of drama. Some of the older dancers would get in arguments and refuse to work together. The middle group disagreed on music…half wanted salsa and the other half wanted lyrical. The youngest group kept changing their choreography and even wanted to switch music right before they presented. As long as I kept some basic guidelines in order: you have to stay in your groups, you have to keep the music you originally picked, you can dance however you want to but everybody has to participate…each group came up with an amazing piece.

After 45 minutes of this work, believe it or not, they were ready to present their dances. Even though the show isn’t until Friday, I wanted all of the groups to see each other dance, so that they could see that they were all a part of this amazing creative process. So, the youngest group led the way, and they all showed their pieces to each other. You have never heard a supportive crowd until you have seen African kids watch each other dance. They were cheering, clapping, and hooting for each other, and it was very exciting.

I had explained that this was just a rehearsal, but was important because they needed to see that their creations were just as substantial as everything else in the show on Friday. I think they were pretty overwhelmed by the opportunity to express themselves as a group. When I told them what a great job they had done, they cheered and howled around me like you wouldn’t believe. It really was a fun day.

In a very quick contrast, I led the cool down on this day. I had selected really beautiful music, from Slumdog Millionaire, another movie called War Dance, and the beautiful pas de deux from Chris Wheeldon’s “After the Rain.” I led the whole room through half an hour of stretching and my favorite yoga practices…mainly breathing exercises. The whole room was quiet, listening to their breath, and it was very calming compared to the hour before. I ended by massaging the neck and head of each dancer who wanted to be touched (the ones who didn’t put their hand on their heart.) The physical contact was something that none of the other teachers had tried in the cool downs. I think it was a nice way to end the day, but I guess you’d have to ask the kids if you wanted to know for sure.

Today we finalized everything for the show tomorrow. I’ll tell you about my piece for the yellows, and about how everything goes, once we get on with it.