The Art of Dance Level 2 – Control
Lesson 2-1: Pacing (Thursday, January 16, 2020)
Operational Definitions:
Control: move or develop (something) at a particular rate or speed / take into account (an extraneous factor that might affect results) when performing an experiment.
Pace: do something at a slow and steady rate or speed in order to avoid overexerting oneself. / move or develop (something) at a particular rate or speed.
Rap: – Rhythm & poetry
Inflection: a change in the form of a word (typically the ending) to express a grammatical function or attribute such as tense, mood, person, number, case, and gender / A change in form to express
Cadence: rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words / the flow or rhythm of events, especially the pattern in which something is experienced
With the base understanding of both rhythm and technique one can begin to control how their dance is portrayed and perceived, how it affects people, and especially how the music is interpreted.
PEOPLE LIKE SEEING MOVES THEY LIKE
PEOPLE LOVE SEEING PEOPLE THEY LOVE MOVE
(This is why it is important to have character, meaning tapping into who you are as a person and bringing your own flavour, and most importantly…
EXPRESS YOURSELF!
In the context of our body as an instrument (or to make the analogy even clearer, think of your dance as rapping, singing, giving a speech, or even just having a conversation), you now posses the basic notes/words (this is the form/motion or inflection of your movement) as well as a base understanding of how to present them/when to say them (this is the timing, and rhythm or cadence). If one utilizes both Inflection and Cadence they will be able to both express with free will AND have it perceived how intended.
(Interesting inflection vs cadence read https://wikidiff.com/inflection/cadence).
When someone speaks a language, on a topic, or has an argument, one can tell how knowledgeable or how they feel about what they are saying through FAR more factors than just what the words are they are saying. (Some studies say communication is 7 percent verbal, 38 percent vocal and 55 percent visual, meaning its not what you say but how you say it and how it is perceived).
Remember that at the end of the day dance is both a language and a form of communication. The goal for the upcoming unit is for you to gain a clear understanding of what it is you wish to say, and more importantly, to be able to CONTROL HOW you’re going to say it to really get the effect you want, and affect people how you want. Controlling “the what” is easy, controlling “the how” is what is difficult and shows that you really know what you are saying.
The first step in doing this is learning how to pace your dance, and control your Cadence.