Dari Pfeiffer - Loop

Twist, thread, and press are the three pieces of my loop that I wanted to work with at this time. I chose these parts because I am playing with commitment to direction and creating opportunities to build or subside momentum. I  wanted to give myself options to play with moments that were out of my predictable and usual pathway. I spent several sessions noticing what I ‘expected’ and gave myself time to consider alternatives to where I was inclined to go, asking myself to pause and see what might happen if I changed a small aspect of pressure or which part of the body led or followed to give in to the flow. Several sessions were videoed before I felt like I hit my stride in creating a freeing and less restricted aspect of looping for myself. One of my challenges is to arrive gently from one level to another. Coming up from the floor and back down used to feel like pain and fear, and I made sure to offer myself the chance to contemplate and take the opportunity of coming at least part way up and back.  I did capture that process of level change while changing tempo and swishing along for fun.  

I spent some time moving and getting warm and sweaty, with the family cat who seems to always join me when I’m in floor flow mode. Maybe it’s the sound of my feet or pants sliding on the floor that attracts her. I know that I sometimes prefer the sound of my movement for contemplation, as much as I enjoy some good music, and I chose the ambient noise of the space rather than playing anything. I brought my focus to the twist as I made my way down to the floor, gently coming from one facet or plane of my body to another, and then swishing my legs with lesser energy and then building a bit. Asymmetrical twisting gave me many options which made flowing easier. The process of acknowledging the refinement of my movement continues to be as soothing and informative as it has been since starting FFTT prep last June. I found that this looping session was less work and more joyful, and using my kitty as an object to incorporate into my loop was amusing. I had a lot of fun with this session.

I am not sure that I would do anything differently with this mark in time. I see that I've come a long way from the body that was fearful of lowering to the floor and of coming back up again. I will continue to challenge my sense of what I think I know about my capabilities as I have found that I am able to do so much more with my body than I had believed. I am bringing this philosophy and Flow concepts of movement to my students now, and will continue to encourage them to experience what they feel in the moment, respecting and appreciating what they can do, even as they are making it up, and growing their own joyous experience of Flow, flow, and flowing in and out and around the floor.

Liza Constantino - Loop

FFTT Final Project Reflections:

1.     What are the easy to remember ingredients of your loop?

Leg lift + turning over/ flipping over of the torso + movement initiated by the eyes/ head

2.     Describe the process. How did you choose the parts? How was your experience leading up to filming this? What did you need to do to get in the right state of body/mind/spirit to flow?

I began by choosing music that resonated the most with me throughout this journey of floor flow exploration. This music is called, “harana.” It is a traditional courtship/love song played with a Philippine guitar. This genre of song always seems to put me in a contemplative mode, which is quite conducive to slow movement. Since I am now living in Canada – about 13,000 km from the place I call home – moving to this music also brings me a sense of comfort and nostalgia.

3.     What felt good (or provided a health challenge) in this video loop experience?

First, it felt good to do this under the heat of the sun. (Okay, it’s not the tropical heat, which would’ve been very nice, but it’s the heat I am blessed with as I write this.) Second, it felt very good to move my head, neck and pelvis. These are the parts of my body that have been affected a lot by a change of work conditions during the pandemic, and I am sure that I am not alone.

4.     If there is ONE thing that you would do differently, what is it?

I’d like to be more mindful of relaxing my shoulders, which have also tensed up a lot over the past couple months.

5.     What did you learn from this experience that you will apply to your own training or teaching?

So much of my approach to movement – as I have discovered during this pandemic and this training – seems to be aligned with somatics practice. Not only is this something I have begun to explore, but this word, “somatics,” is actually relatively new to me. Even though I have only scratched the surface of it, I still learned a lot from this course that I think are “staples” that I’d like to keep when teaching floor flow: breath awareness, gratitude for what the body can do, and engaging in movement as a way of responding to pain or fear.

Line Winther Hansen Alnes - Final Project

1-3 Sentence summary

The last few years dance/movement classes have moved outside of traditional dance studios with hardwood floors. I took a deep dive (literally) into how the texture of different floors influenced my experience and the quality of my movements.

Written summary of project

1. My process. How did I choose? Why did I choose this method?

I was struggling to figure out how to integrate FF with my other interests. My old muggle job was in research and Environmental Chemistry, so I didn’t initially see much overlap there. But after thinking about it for a while I decided I wanted to apply a more methodological approach to studying floor textures. I thought it might be fun, and maybe I would even learn something to share with you - I got excited about that! I settled on a loop sequence I was familiar with, and did it in different environments paying attention to how I felt and how I wanted to adjust my movements based on the new relationship to the floor. I also let myself move freely in whatever way I felt called to, to try to tease out what movement style feels most inviting in each environment. I did hardwood floors, plush carpet, a concrete tennis court, water, and grass.

2. What felt good (or, healthy challenge)

I felt really good to challenge myself to think outside of the box. The water test turned out to be my absolutely favorite. Being upside down, as well as near weightless, made it incredibly challenging to remember my loop pattern. Without gravity/momentum/support from the floor it was hard to grasp directions (up/down/left/right). Moving a limb would also move the water around me, so it was challenging to keep myself stationary resting on “the floor”. But, all these challenges made my brain work super hard to understand where my body was in space. It was extremely fascinating because I wasn’t ancored, so every movement happened in relation to myself.

Challenge: The technical aspect was unfamiliar to me and an extra hurdle. I needed to figure out how to edit together a video, comment, as well as capture footage from the right angle to see clearly (I gave that up in the end, and settled for authenticity, haha)

3. What does your project offer the viewer

I hope it makes the viewer stop and think deeper about their relationship with the floor. Due to Covid a lot of movement classes relocated outdoors (often in parks or parking lots). Also, Zoom classes are still popular where participants may be located in a variety of environments with different floor textures. Even though it may be obvious that floor matters, I hope the project sparks some new ideas and reinforces the point that texture and environment is enormously important when teaching classes (especially when the participants are not all in a dance studio).

I also hope the project inspires the viewers to think outside the box. The water test may have been my favorite experience and I had a ton of AHA moments, even though I originally tried it just on a whim.

4. One thing I would do differently?

There are probably a million things I could have done differently. I could have tried more surfaces (the beach springs to mind), and I could definitely have done a “better” loop. For consistency I used the same loop as my loop submission, but it has a lot of rotation and did not feel as natural on grippy surfaces (then again, that was part of the point of the experience). All in all I learned something and feel good about that. It would have been super fun to do this project in way more detail and create a more professional looking video summary, but since I don’t have unlimited time I think it still managed to get the main points across.

5. What did you learn from this experience that you will apply to your own training or teaching?

I knew that different floor surfaces would influence my movement, but I had not realized just how much of a difference it would make. When paying attention and tuning in I realized the “vibe” of the space also directs my movement to a surprising degree. I am going to pay much more attention to how the floor/atmosphere makes me FEEL, because that gets translated into my movements.

I also think variety is good and interesting, I want to make a conscious effort to explore more different surfaces moving forward.

Finally, when trying to execute the same loop in different environments, I noticed it was VERY easy to do the same pattern in a new way. That can be used to our advantage to break out of familiar patterns and foster creativity. If I ever feel stuck working on a phrase, I will do the same thing in a different space and see what new treasures appear :)

Mélie Naja - Final Project

2A Project guidelines:

Hybrid way to do FF for busy (put anything you want 😅like mum, business people, people living in countryside or anyone who can’t be to a studio every weeks)

Insight:

- one WS a month about a specific theme (in real or in visio)

- homework :

- 3 quick videos ( something like 6 minutes FloorFlow)

- 1 to 3 audio guided session of movement

⁃ optional submission of the loop for feedback

Different themes:

- pandiculation

- 4 éléments for moving

- sticky or sliding ground

- rock n roll on the floor

- give it time and space

- XV and variations

- FF and moving between 2 pole or around your pole

- floor combo (meaning : doing your pole combo slowly as possible on the floor before doing it in the air)

2B. Written Overview of Your Process:

1.Describe your process. How did you choose your project? Why did you choose this method?

I choose this project because I struggle to get regular time for practicing Flow, Pole dancing or freedance. I still practice a lot in shorter times and when My moving planning allows it

Lot of people are missing time and want to spare time for their passion. They can’t always plan or being available when Workshop are planning at their studio.

In other hands, some people are working flow once and doesn’t work it regularly.

The goal is to permit to work on Flow, with Floor Flow in a long and regular way (by tiny bits but often)

Sharing with the teacher and others learner is great and valuable. It’s the reason why a monthly session is great…

I choose this method because it’s an huge game changing.

It’s a great tool for building trust for moving Shy people might experiment Floor Flow at home with support and build a healthy routine for body, mind and might have improvement in their movements practice

2.. What felt good ( or provided a healthy challenge) in creating this project?

It felt so good to find a way to provide FF learning for busy people or for people who are uncomfortable for experimenting FF with others at first

3. What do you think your project offers the viewer/participat? (Tools for accessing a Flow state. more awareness of the floor, etc.

Tools for building habits, for building trust at their own pace

Moments for connecting to their body, and other moments for connecting safely with others Floor Flow trainees

Many different ways to experiment Floor Flow (with monthly themes)

4. If there is ONE thing that you would do differently, what is it?

The main difficulty is to find the good rythmes of practice (1 six minutes practice a week and an optional voice guidance?) and a way to engage every student in their building FF habits

5. What did you learn from this experience that you will apply to your own training or teaching?

Practicing often makes magic

Floor Flow is a great way to build confidence in movement

For me, it’s game changing for reset after a busy day and a creative way to have “recovery”days

It’s one of the best way to build awareness of the body

2C. 1-3 Sentence Summary of your

project.

What did you do? Why should anyone watch it?

Hybrid practice of Floor Flow :

How to build an habits and how to practice everywhere

For busy people, for shy movers, for all people who would like to build awareness in there movement practice and more

Mélie Naja - Loop

1 . What are the easy-to remember ingredients of your loop? (this could be movements/actions/images)

Laying on the ground

Pandiculation, twist on the side

Rolling in closed position to X shape

Sitting

2. Describe your process. How did you choose the parts? How was your experience leading up to filming this? What did you need to do to get in the right state of body/mind/spirit to Flow?

It is something I did in my daily 5 minutes Floor Flow

It’s a kind of recovery time and it’s refreshing mind.

It allows me “to oil my joints” and to give what my body crave (pandiculation, twist, hips mobility, softness)

3. What felt good ( or provided a healthy challenge) in this loop video experience?

Taking time to connect on the ground to my body and to progress slowly and mindfully to more movements

4. If there is ONE thing that you would do differently, what is it?

Adding more hips mobility or spinal waves

5. What did you learn from this experience that you will apply to your own training or teaching?

I made it very easy and progressive.

It let me enjoy sensation and big movements

Anca Bloch - Final Project

PART 2B – Project Process Overview

DESCRIBE YOUR PROCESS

The session was diveded into two parts :

A.    In the first part we explored a body-mind awarness portion, cueing the movement as a mix of two differents methods which are well known and used (also) in the mouvement meditation sessions : the « Open monitoring » and the « Focus attention ».

a)  The « open monitoring »is a commun meditation tehnique that involves observing what /how the body , without making any judgement.

b)  The « focus attention » is another well-known concept which is used in mouvement meditation (but not only !) and which is helping to become more efficient in the movement, as it improves the concentration and helps to increase the awarness of sensory feedback of the nervous system. As a result it improves the motor control in the same time as the posture and movement.

We also focused the attention on the breathing patterns and the impact had on the mouvement.

B.    In the second part I chose to teach (using imagery) « Hip leading side body waves » and « Head leading side body waves »

As a last part I proposed a « call names » game where I cued the participants through the game, using the 3 elements explored during the session .

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR PROJECT OFFERED THE PARTICIPANTS ?

I wished to offer the opportunity to experience a mind-body awarness moment followed by a second part where I aimed to explore a creativity moment after learning simple mouvement patterns.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THIS EXPERIENCE THAT YOU WILL APPLY TO YOUR OWN TRAINING AND TEACHING ?

I learn that two most effective ways to teach and to cue are simplicity and clarity.

As about my training, I learn that without no doubts, the « FLOW » is the answer to the «flow » and to the improvement in general !

WHAT FELT GOOD ABOUT THIS PROJECT ?

Felt good to experience myself the body- awarness moment while leading the session, tuning to my senses and breath.

IF THERE IS ONE THING YOU WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY WHAT IS THAT ?

I would try to use even more « simplicity » and « clarity » in my cueing.

Anca Bloch - Loop

PART 1 B- Overview of the Loop

EASY TO REMEMBER INGREDIENTS :

Stand/ Kneeled/ Prone (layed on the belly)/ Supine (layed on the back), Reverse and Repeat

DESCRIBE YOUR PROCESS/ HOW DIDYOU CHOSE THE PARTS ?

I focused on two aspects :

A.    Firstly I concentrated my attention to mantain a fluid body movement during the all loop by vizualizing moving all the «octopus neurons » in my limbs.

My main focus was to move and shift my weight in the most fluid way, having a « slow motion » effect (where every cell of the body is waking up andmoves in the most « watery » way possible).

B.    Secondly I was aiming to use « multi-levels » ingredients. So it seemed naturally to chose the ingredients : standing (high-level position), a kneeled (medium-level position) and a prone/supine (low-level position).

WHAT DID YOU NEED TO GET IN THE RIGHT STATE OF MIND ?

I immersed myself into the sound of the music and in order to help me move even more fluidly, I imagined I was an « watery » element. (Definetly, using imagery can make all the difference !)

IF THERE IS ONE THING THAT YOU WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY ?

I would chose only three ingredients and explore more travelling around the space.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THIS EXPERIENCE ?

The best way to become more « flowy » is to be as much as possible in the « FLOW »

Joy Hansen - Final Project

Describe your process. How did you choose your project? Why did you choose this method?

My project is totally based around focused simple games. This concept was totally new to me when learning it in FFTT (the props class was my favorite!) and I wanted to incorporate it more in my work as a pole dance instructor and in radical unschooling my kids.

I’ve learned that I tend to overcomplicate, over-communicate and even create too many visuals while I teach. So my goal in this project was to experiment with focused simple games with myself (who struggles to want to get on the floor while pole dancing) and my kids (who are totally inexperienced in floor work movement and have a short attention span).

With myself and the pole, I gave myself the limits that my feet could glide but could not leave the floor. I also had to factor in the limits of my stage and fight the urge to do higher pole moves; To help with these limits, I preemptively kept on pants and socks, I allowed myself to go off the stage but still do my best to keep my feet close to the floor. I tried lots of variations in weight transfers with standing, squatting, lunging, kneeling and laying on different levels to test if I could keep to the game.

Teaching a simple loop to my kids, I decided to focus on basic moves like the “X” shape, the attitude lift, and the hand sandwich sit up/down. With each move, I had them watch me demo, then I explained how to make it easy, then they tried it. They aren’t used to rolling on a hard floor so they complained quite a bit at first about the pressure on their joints. When we repeated the moves together and there was a light bulb moment where they saw they could do each move and complained less. Their game was to practice one move at a time for 20 seconds each. Then when they combined all the moves together, they pretended they were moles in a wack-a-mole game and had to roll and sit up in the next hole on their side of the room. They did that for one song and had fun but decidedly done doing the moves once the song was over.

2.. What felt good ( or provided a healthy challenge) in creating this project?

Pole: It felt good to see how many different variations were available to me when I gave myself perimeters and just played. It was a healthy challenge to not come off the ground as that was is always my go to.

Kids loop: It felt good to see my kids follow my instruction and smile and laugh as they started to understand their own capabilities! It was a healthy challenge for me to cue them differently when it came to how yucky they felt being on the floor and how smooth landings make all the difference! My oldest son said when he was finished, “Hey it kinda hurt my shoulder when I was on the ground, but now I’m up and walking around any my body feels much better!”

3. What do you think your project offers the viewer/participant?

I think both viewpoints (me with pole/kids) helps see how important our awareness and use of the floor can be. We tend to forget that there’s a whole world of movement when we can connect with the floor and that we can be surprised at what our bodies can do when we trust the floor more than fear it.

4. If there is ONE thing that you would do differently, what is it?

Pole & Kids: I would’ve listened to music on a different device so I didn’t have to record in time-lapse. There were moments of understanding and excitement in both that I wish I could’ve caught on camera.

5. What did you learn from this experience that you will apply to your own training or teaching?

I learned that when teaching pole, allow more games like this to help students build trust with the floor and their own creative capabilities.

I learned that when teaching children, repetitive movement can get boring and so it’s best to give them a count down to know there’s an end in sight and simple focused games to make it fun. Also, I realized I didn’t do very well at explaining weight distribution to my youngest son and in forgetting that detail, he got overwhelmed fast. I would’ve gone back and did more rocking and swaying motions prior to the attitude lift to help him understand where it’s easier if his chest is forward vs. backward.

2C.What did you do? Why should anyone watch it?

Get out of your head, don’t overcomplicate it! This final project is based around simple focused games in two different scenarios: pole dancing without leaving the floor and a simple loop taught to kids.

2D. Cover Image:

Katarina Gasparovic - Final Project

Favourite outtakes from FFTT and implementing them into my movement practice

Summary

In my final project I decided to share my personal favourite outtakes from FFTT and a simple method that I used to help me implement them into my regular movement practice.

In the text below, you will find a written overview of the project and answers to questions from project guidelines. I am also sharing a video with snippets from my movement sessions.

Introduction

I enrolled in the FFTT to learn from Marlo, gain new knowledge and to eventually become a better movement teacher. I have been teaching pole dance and pole dance related classes, but life happened, I moved to another country and stopped teaching. This was supposed to be only for a few months, so I was excited to teach again having gained new insights from the training. Time was passing and it became clear to me that I will not be returning to teaching soon. That’s why I decided to switch my focus from planning how to integrate FFTT knowledge to classes to integrating it into my own movement practice. That is what I am sharing in this project.

Favourite outtakes from FFTT:

-paying attention to contact points

 I was always focused on which muscles I should engage more, thinking about which muscles should I feel contracting and almost completely ignoring body parts that were touching the floor or another apparatus I was using. Focusing on pushing through the floor and paying attention to my contact points (seeing which parts of the body are touching the floor and how can this help me move with more ease and smoothness) made things easier and I felt more connected to my body and the movement.

-slowing the transition from standing up to sitting down on the floor

Never did I saw this particular transition as an opportunity to slow down and explore, I would usually find myself rushing to transition from dancing standing up to dancing on the floor, basically almost throwing myself down on the floor, overlooking the possibilities in between. I learned to enjoy playing with these level changes and to appreciate the opportunities this transition brings. Exploring this especially helped me in learning to enter the floor without thudding.

-pointed feet are not a must, utilize your whole foot

This was huge for me, I come from a background in artistic swimming where it is a big deal if your feet are not perfectly pointed, this was also the case in the studio where I was teaching. Letting go of this ideal that “pointed feet are pretty and nothing else matters” was very challenging and still is, but I feel so liberated now, taking advantage of the whole foot, and using it to help my movement and not worrying about the aesthetic has brought me a whole new awareness of movement. Movement feels less restrictive when I allow myself to use the feet in all sorts of ways.

-rocking is amazing

Bringing the carefree feeling of lying in a hammock to my movement practice has been great. Gently going from side to side is a powerful tool for relaxing my body and mind. It is a simple movement I can rely on to keep me going when I feel stuck in a position or when I just need some time before continuing to another transition.

-there is always space for slowing down

Moving slowly has never been a problem for me but making myself slow down even more helped me and gave me time to notice more things, I could notice where my attention is and direct it, I was starting to notice my breath more often and I could allow my body to lead the movement and find simple and natural transitions.

Method

How did I integrate FFTT concepts and learnings into my daily practice?

Mainly through free dancing/movement sessions. I often do this and really enjoy it, so it felt natural to spice it up and make it more meaningful and intentional by adding small tasks or focuses. I would choose something I’d like to explore, put on a song or 2 and keep moving. Some examples of the tasks/focuses were:

-using a part of a loop we did in class (like half straddle to wild beast), repeating it a few times during the song and connecting it with other moves

-trying to utilize my whole hands when they are in contact with the floor, paying attention to different parts of the hand

-letting one part of the body lead the way and be the initiator of the movement (one leg, elbow, the head…)

To help me remember what I did and how did it felt, I would record those sessions. I find this particularly helpful because I don’t have the habit of taking notes which makes it easier to forget things. So, I try to record them and rewatch them over and over. This also motivates me to move when I don’t feel like it because I remember the sensation and it makes me want to feel it again.

In the video above, I am sharing short clips from movement sessions I did during the duration of FFTT and during the testing period.

Reflection and conclusion

Once again, I realized I am my biggest challenge! The song “Fighting with Myself” by LP comes to mind. It has been challenging to let go of certain expectations like how a move should look like or the expectation of being able to learn something immediately. I just need to give myself time and space because flow is not about pressure.

It felt good to start overcoming those things and to be reminded during FFTT not to take myself so seriously.

Hopefully, I will be able to teach again and share insights from this training with people. Until then, I will keep working on floor flow and playing with the flow concepts myself. Maybe my project can serve as a reminder to just put on a song, move and explore. This has brought me a lot of joy and it felt great to give myself small, doable tasks to focus on while moving to music.

Thank you for taking the time to read and watch!