Photo by Pole Ninja Photography.
1. Choose three breathy songs with minimal lyrics.
(Suggestions from the December Playlist are listed below.)
2. Assume one of the following positions: seated, supine (laying on your back) with feet on the floor (start of a hip bridge), quadrupedal (all fours), or sitting on your heels.
3. Practice breathing at a slow comfortable pace.
4. Then, follow the rhythm of the music as you...
Arch and Curl / Expand and Contract
As you move through the song, focus on moving from your pelvis. Gradually, incorporate body parts you didn’t incorporate before: use your head, your arms, your fingers, and toes. Emphasize the lengthening on the front side of your body as the back side shortens -- and vice versa. When you find spots that offer more resistance, explore them more.
Can you curl so small it is barely visible? Can you make it bigger than you believed it could be?
Song suggestions:
Track #3 - Kareful, "Backwards"
Track #4 - Ash Walker featuring Zeb Samuels, "Blue Veins"
5. Either remain in that position, or change positions for the next song as you...
Side Bend / Side Rock / Side Sway
Isolate the movement to one part of the body; sway the hips, arms, or head as the rest of the body rests. Then gradually, move your head and pelvis together in a side bend. Swish to the other side...like a snake or a cloth in the breeze. Work out the kinks as you follow your breath.
Song suggestions:
Track 5 - Handbook, "Sixteen Lights"
Track 6 - George Fitzgerald, "Full Circle" featuring Boxed In (Bonobo Remix)
6. Finally,
Circle / Stir
for the entirety of the third song.
Can you do it only with the thighs, the head, or the hands? Feel the floor beneath you and the space around you as your circles become strong and continuous. Reverse your circle and see what it offers.
Song suggestions:
Track 7 - Bluetech, "Phoenix Rising"
Track 8 - OBESØN, "Friend To An Enemy [NEST HQ Premiere]
Do these movement explorations however you interpret them.
As you repeat the patterns over and over again, you may drift into new positions. This is ok!
Focus on moving as a result of your breath. Begin small, subtle and easy. Gradually express full range of motion as you move.
There are no wrong answers, as it is an exploration. You think you look weird? Great, you are doing it right. Keep going. You feel sexy? Fantastic, exactly. You feel stiff? Beautiful, move through that.
Heightened focus brings greater results, so focus IN, and feel the space around you.
Enjoy, and share your discoveries....
“I don’t do balls,” I used to say.
Like many other dancers I knew growing up, I formed an identity around being a dancer with no interest in activities involving balls, pucks, paddles, etc. (unless I was dancing with it).
In high school, I almost failed P.E. class because I flat-out refused to participate in any sports activity. As a result, in later years, whenever someone would throw me a ball I’d duck away rather than catch it, or if I did attempt a catch, it would be in a stiff and panicky state. It was embarrassing.
Ki’ilani (seen in the video) changed my relationship with catching. She loves balls more than anyone I’ve ever met. Every trip to a large store includes a visit to the sports aisle to feel balls. She even keeps a ball in her pocket for comfort tossing. One of our quarantine activities has been ‘dance catch.’