9/07/18
Cheer leading!
Today we explored cheer leading, We learnt some traditional cheer leading movements and made some of our own cheers! We had lots of fun and even managed to share some England support by cheering along to some football chants (Ready for the world cup game that evening).
16/07/18
Parachute fun!
Today I had brought in a rather large prop for us to use, a Parachute! We explored a range of movements using the parachute, played some games and made a short routine which was a lot of fun. After the session we discussed our thoughts around using the parachute here were some of the thoughts;
‘Fun, takes me back to my childhood’
‘Unity- We all were forced to work together so we supported each other in the games and dance’
‘Exciting- I’ve never felt such a big grin on my face from playing children games’
‘Happiness’
‘Freedom- Nothing was ever wrong’
23/07/18
Gestures!
Today we explored Gestures. With a few new people joining the group I thought it would be a fantastic chance to re-do some of our getting to know each other tasks. The first being the classic ‘Find 3 facts about your partner in 3 minutes’ task. For this I gave each pair 3 minutes to find out their partners name and 3 facts about them. The catch was that they had to remember them all! We then went round the circle and each person had to share their partners name and their 3 facts. With a little prompting from time to time we had all managed to find out and share our partners name and facts. I then asked each partner to think of 1 or 2 movements or gestures that will explain that person and one/ two of their facts. The group struggled a little to create movements/ gestures from these facts but after some prompting and ideas being shared we all manged to create at least one movement for each person. Each movement/ gesture explained their partner perfectly. We then added each together and made a short routine using all of them.
After this task I decided to choreograph a short piece using some key dance skills and movements including turns, kicks, basic rhythms patterns and opportunities to change direction and levels.
We learnt and danced this piece through a few times before I set the next task.
In groups of three I asked the group to use their own gestures ad movements as well as the choreography I have just taught them to make a short piece. The piece should be based on them and should use their movements and gestures along with some of my choreography to bulk their choreographies out.
Once the movement and guesters were compiled into a chorography I then asked each group to chose their own music-I explained that This should be reflective on them or assist or add to their dance. The music sections were fantastic we had ‘Pretty Women’ By Roy Orbison, ‘Lucky’ By Kylie Minogue and ‘I wanna Be Like You’ From the Jungle Book. Each very different.
When we watched each piece to their chosen music it was fantastic, The participants came to life and were clearly fully immersed in their chosen music and their dances that they had created. The music complements the movement and their themes perfectly.
As we had so much fun in these tasks I decided to set them a task for the next two weeks which will involve the groups continuing with these dances but bringing and using something from home to help them add on to their dances. This could be a book, photograph and toy or teddy, Anything!
This task will be carried out over the next two weeks whilst i’m not their. Volunteers will be supporting these sessions and I can not wait to see the finished products when I return to the sessions on Monday 13th.