On dancing the way your body actually moves

Another partial weeknote, because this week had so many notable things that I wanted to give each of them their own space.

This sounds exaggerated, but is actually honest: If...I could live within a workshop...it would be Tasha Barnes's Cypher Killa workshop last week.

Almost every dance class I take is fun, yes.  But, Tasha's workshop was so....mind-blowing in the sense of how each of the "shifts" she made/ taught in approaching dance...were also life lessons O_O

I couldn't believe how much that two-hour class reshaped how I viewed my motion, and my trying (house) dance.

I wish I could take notes WHILE dancing, but I just tried to write right after.

What I wanted to remember:

(I feel like there were more, but I was also focused on dancing, and had to choose what to hold onto in my brain)

1. "Community of origin"

This resonated with me a lot.  Because, in terms of writing and reading, I already value this consistently, but for community-building, I need to work on this.

Tasha's point was that house dance has evolved into a global interest, but that the practice needs to acknowledge the actual communities, individuals, and experiences that brought it about.

It sounds really basic, right? But, I've also seen house dance taught more from a commercial "LA"-point-of-view, then re-taught to places with no acknowledgment of the context or point of the movement.

I've also seen dancehall classes (minimized) into the sensual, hip gyration aspect of it. By people who, again, have not mentioned or referred to the "how" or "why" of the movement.

And, you know, I do recognize that people must be thinking - but it's dance. Can't you take a cardio, Zumba, or bellydance class at a fitness gym with no need to recognize the roots of it?

My understanding so far is, for the most part, I can see that it sounds like overkill.  But, in a situation where you have global brands (and influencers) profiting of a performance art style (I can imagine how much money the views bring in), especially when that style evolved from an experience of being ostracized or rebellion against restrictive structures, we should make an effort to understand people "closest" to the source of it.

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For me, it's the culture version of when I was first learning about Human Factors and user experience (UX) design, I always tried to look for source material and the original writers, and not the derived posts and thought leaders.  I also mentioned those original sources in the times that I wrote or spoke about their concepts.

2. "Collect and release"

I wish I could have visually saved the imagery of Tasha moving to this phrase, when she demo-ed how House and the African-American dance styles it's rooted in (jazz, line dance) are really about that rhythm or cycle.

It was also awesome that she was able to explain that (this next part is paraphrased) the power of the movement comes from the "release" or opening motion, but that only follows how the dancer "collects" the energy first.  She said (and did) it so much more eloquently.  I can only wish there was an audio recording of her class haha.

3. "Play with the way your body actually moves."

Again, another "section" of the workshop that I wish was even audio-recorded or transcribed.

Tasha shared how she discovered dance at 27 years old, and how she had to discover and move through her own way of doing floorwork, since the way that her body healed after an accident actually didn't allow her to move in the typical way.

Beautiful way of showing how to be honest about your strengths and limitations, and maximize both of them. Again, she expressed it so well, and I can only write to remember.

Dance-related shifts that helped me understand house much better

(I'm still intimidated by it, but Tasha was able to show it in a way that made me feel like it was more inclusive and forgiving):

4-5. "Gather under your hips" + "The movement comes from the weight"

Tasha hit the nail on the head when she was answering someone's question about how to do a move that she taught.  She said that people think house is about footwork O_O

"The movement doesn't come from your feet."  It comes from your weight – which she showed by doing the basic line dance move she asked us to do at the start, which was... [I'll just try to look for a video, though I can try to describe it even if it'll probably be weird/not enough] placing your foot forward, but sliding it back lightly, and alternating sides.  Which meant that to do it, you had to shift your weight and hips from left to right and back smoothly. 

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The "gather under your hips".  Was... – a blog post is really not the ideal way to communicate all this.  But, this made me realize why I feel so "wrong" sometimes, when I'm dancing "up"/off the ground.  That's what I didn't like about the fast footwork styles like jive, swing, or Colombian salsa. Or house.  And, even when I'm in hip-hop or contemporary class, I'll feel wrong and tripping over myself, when I feel detached or floating.

The ask to "gather under the hips" pushed you to be grounded. She said that gathering your feet under your hips gives you a better base from which you can move – which, if you started dancing from a ballet training perspective, is such an interesting shift to feel.  Ballet forces your legs into an unnatural position – stuck together while being trained to face out, like balancing on a spindle, butt tucked under your hips, while you picture a string pulling the top of your head to the ceiling. All sorts of tension all at the same time.

This "gather under the hips" was different. It made me realize that I can bounce without discomfort, with steadiness. And every time I felt like I was "too *float-y*" or scattered, I would just whisper "gather" to myself while following the bassline, for both gathering under the hips and gather-and-release.

Again, I wish I could have written down everything you said, Tasha. Thank you, for that wonderful workshop. And, thanks to the Cypher Killa team for bringing it all together!!!