Summer Term week 5

Don't forget, it's half term next week.

Tonight was the last of the "Combinations" technique sections. After the half term, we'll be working on how we can use these combinations to help us improvise when dancing at a party, say, or when you can't remember a choreography! 

I was basically repeating the lesson from last week, because only one person was there. 

We started with the Veils, recapping the Neck Drape and Angel Wings, and I brought in a couple more options, for posing and for working the veil.

I was repeating the Forward Back Combinations from last week, for the technique part of the lesson:

• The FB only combinations were:
• A Reverse Pivoting Variation. This is a Forward Back step (R foot leading) for count of 6, then for the Back step cross the R foot behind you, to pivot backwards (turning 90° to your R). In four goes, you'll have turned all the way around.
  (You can do a fancier version by turning 270°, which looks very impressive and difficult, but I don't expect you to try this one!)
• Forward Back step (R foot leading) slow count (1234), tip toes (for speed), fast count (1234,1234). Sorry it doesn't make much sense written down, but watch the video!
  
  
• The FB plus other moves combinations I had planned were:
• Forward Back step (R foot leading) for count of 4, Hip hits R x 4
• Forward Back step (R foot leading) for count of 6, side step RLR (on 7&8)  to R, repeat with L foot leading and travelling to L.
• Forward Back step (R foot leading) for count of 4, cross step (R to L) & lunge to L and up again.

You might have seen these from last week's video.

Summer Term week 4

My plans got a bit of a change, when there was only one person there! I'm editing this post to be more true to reality.

We started the Veil work today with a recap of the Neck Drape/Angel Wings from last week. I added a couple more Angel Wings options, but we didn't have as much time, so we didn't cover everything I had planned. Not to worry, we'll do it next week!

I was sticking with my Combinations for the technique part of the lesson, working with the Forward Back Step as our starting point:

• The FB only combinations were:
• A Reverse Pivoting Variation. This is a Forward Back step (R foot leading) for count of 6, then for the Back step cross the R foot behind you, to pivot backwards (turning 90° to your R). In four goes, you'll have turned all the way around.
  (You can do a fancier version by turning 270°, which looks very impressive and difficult, but I don't expect you to try this one!)
• Forward Back step (R foot leading) slow count (1234), tip toes (for speed), fast count (1234,1234). Sorry it doesn't make much sense written down, but watch the video!
  
  
• The FB plus other moves combinations I had planned were:
• Forward Back step (R foot leading) for count of 4, Hip hits R x 4
• Forward Back step (R foot leading) for count of 6, side step RLR (on 7&8)  to R, repeat with L foot leading and travelling to L.
• Forward Back step (R foot leading) for count of 4, cross step (R to L) & lunge to L and up again.

However, again, we didn't have so much time available, so we didn't do all of these. We'll go through them all again next week. So this vid is a bit of a spoiler for those who weren't here!

Summer term week 3

Sorry everyone, this week has been a bit extra. I wasn't quite as prepared as I would like. So with apologies for the delay, here is the Week 3 post. 

We used the Warm Up dance as a chance to practise the Hip Hit combinations from Week 1 and the Circle combinations from Week 2.

The Veil work started with a bit of a recap of the Walking and Wafting from week 1, and the Twirls from week 2, as it's always good to practise what you know, and reinforce your knowledge and skills. We then moved on to a technique I'm calling the Neck Drape and Angel Wings. It's a way to drape the veil in front of your neck and down behind your shoulders, so that you can get on with some non-veil-related dancing, safe in the knowledge that you can get the veil back into action very easily. Alternatively, while your veil is in the neck drape, you can pick up the edges and swish them around like wings. 

The step combinations today were brought to you by the Hip Drop.

• Using all hip drops
• Hip drop R x 4, then Drop Kick (R) x 2. These can be done swapping sides every time, or every second go, or randomly, it's your choice!
• Double Hip Drops (sometimes called Swings) RR, LL, RR, Drop Kick L. Then LL RR LL, Drop Kick R.
• Drop with a Dip. This is done over a count of 4 rather than 8. Drop RRR, then on 4th beat do a hip drop R with a dip. 
• Using hip drops combined with other moves
• Hip Drop with Single Sided Hip Circle. Hip drop R x 4, then on count 5678, single sided hip circle (horizontal) on R. If the music count is quite slow, you can try doing 2 circles in the 5-8 counts. 

Summer Term - Week 2

We recapped the combinations from last week in the Warm Up dance, so you could see how they can slot into the music, which is really the whole point of me teaching them!

Tonight with Veils, we were working mainly on Twirls, which we started last week. We practised twirling the veil in both directions, and brought in some variations on the basic twirl: 

• Half twirls, changing front to back & vice versa, or changing Right to Left & vice versa
• Incomplete twirls, with wafting opportunities
• Possibly Twirling and walking (typing this in advance, I don't know if we'll have the time for this, it's not as easy as it sounds!)

As last week, I took a basic move - the hip circle - and put together some movement combinations using different circle variations. 

• Using all circles
• Beg, Medium, Small circles
• Varying the speed of the circle, front half quick in 2 counts, back half slow in 6 counts OR the other way around
• Hip circles with stops - front half smooth, back half (stops on 5,6,7,8)
• Using circles combined with other moves
• Hip circle x 1½, hip push x 2
• Hip circle x 1½, forward back step

You can do these combinations with any music with a basic 4 or 8 count. You just need to find something that's the right speed for you.

Here's the video:

Try practising the combinations this week. Start with just one or two, and really try to get them into your muscle memory, so that you can do them without having to think about them.

If you're feeling brave, see if you can create your own combination, maybe starting with one of the combos I've set out here, and changing part of it.