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The
Art of Stealing Choreography and Making It Your Own
Linda
Wirtz
This article is provided
for personal use and may not be
reprinted, reproduced or distributed without written
permission.
Feel free to link to it however!
I thought I'd share some notes
from a presentation at DCAC by Debi Vincent and George Kassouf. Maybe
this will be helpful when you're having an uninspired moment!
General Principles of
Teaaching:
1. Choreography should balance use of muscle groups.
2. Choreography should balance use of the leading foot.
3. Choreography should balance use of the body's planes.
Making Someone Else's
Choreography Your Own:
1. Change the DIRECTION in which the choreography moves.
2. Change the FACING wall (the wall which you face).
3. TURN the combination or add turns within the combinations.
4. Change the movement to vary the PLANE.
5. Change the LEVER of the arms or legs or both.
6. Change the RHYTHM or REPETITION of a movement.
7. Add a SOUND to accent a particular movement.
8. REARRANGE the steps to form a different but equally fluid pattern.
9. Change the IMPACT level.
10. Add your own PERSONALITY to the movement.
Tricks of the Trade:
*Adapt a step combination for the floor, and vice versa.
*If the original choreography uses a horizontal step, then turn the
step to vertical and make the movements from this new direction.
*Change one movement in the "stolen" choreography and see
what new movements might flow from it.
*Use only part of the original and splice it with your own movements.
*Insert a movement or series of movements from sports or athletics.
*Join a lead-changing 16-count combination to which your class is
accustomed to a 16-count non-lead-changing piece from another
combination.
*Surprise your class with an "explosive" movement--but use
sparingly.
*Give them a mental break by inserting an easy series of movements.
*Carry a notebook or journal with you so that you can write down the
choreography of the class before and after yours, but--sshh--don't
look obvious!
*At the end of each week, jot down your own choreography, noting what
worked and what didn't.
Linda Wirtz is a Group
Exercise Instructor, Group Exercise Director and Children's Program
Director at Ballston Sport & Health Club and a forum moderator at Vita's
Vibe
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