Day 12: Invigorating

Today was a lot of fun. It was a reminder of why I do what I do. 


I woke up and went to the Scottish Dance Theatre's Master class with James McGillivray. It was in Brodie gym, and although I absolutely HATE Brodie Gym, the class was not bad and I was pretty content even with the horrible atmosphere. To start, we had partners massage our bodies. Ryan was my partner, and it was a great way to wake up in the morning. Then we did a few center warm up combinations to release the spine and wake up the whole nervous system. We spent a lot of time thinking about our awareness with others in the room, which to some may not seem like a big deal- but in actuality, as a performer its a huge deal. Connecting with others around you, either in class, with your rehearsal director, or the audience- the people you perform for- making that connection is everything. He made such a big point about this that he actually made us do a few combinations in the center where we had to hold a conversation with the people around us. It was interesting how much we all loosened up when we became regular people doing dance moves as opposed to dancers trying to be perfect. 


Then afterwards I went to Elisa Clark's class, also in Brodie. It was her standard class warm up in the beginning, but halfway through class we started learning this Robert Battle phrase from Rush Hour. It was so much fun! I loved that piece of Repertory. It was all about being precise with the movements and counts ( what Robert Battle piece isn't about that). It was also a depiction of Robert's feelings when coming to New York from Florida. Elisa is such an amazing person. She is so genuine and she is so knowledgeable about dance, I mean she's practically danced for everyone out there. I'm glad I have the opportunity to learn more from her here at ADF.


Brown University Performing Rush Hour:

Then after Elisa's class, we had a break and then I headed over to the Improvisation Jam at the Ark. It was PACKED. I got there 30 minutes late, and there were so many people there. The fans were on, if they weren't on, I'm positive it would of been some sort of "heat hazard" to everyone. I watched for a few minutes and then got integrated with the rest of the group. However, it was a lot different from the Improv Jams that I participate in with Deep Vision Dance. Because there were so many people there it became a little overwhelming for me. Sometimes I felt out of place, or felt like I needed to step back, but I also however made a lot of great dancing connections with those around me. Improv Jams to me are just so soothing. I love the feeling I get after just doing whatever it is I want to feel without judgement of others. It's such a liberating environment. I wish everyone in the world could participate in an Improvisation Jam.