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| Photo by Maharet Christina Hughes |
Transitions
are the unsung hero in dance.
They’re almost an unseen “missing link”, they are the lines that connect the
dots, stringing together a bunch of separate movements and making them look cohesive. Good transitions add an unending flow, making
our performance look polished and effortless. Sometimes our transitions are
fancy and flowery, other times they’re as unnoticeable as a simple weight
change…but they always need to be there. Without transitions, any dance would
look stilted and jerky, simply a series of stationary movements.
When I first started dancing, the very idea
of transitions totally confused me. Like
many baby dancers, I was focused purely on technique. I didn’t understand the importance of
transitions… and often, teachers don’t fully explain that, either. Many classes focus solely on drilling on
stationary technique, or teach full choreographies to beginners, without stressing
the mechanics of what is actually being done in the choreography. When this alone happens, a student can
perform a full choreography, but might not be able to build a choreography (or
an improvised piece) their own.
The purpose transitions serve are many, and
once you become comfortable with their purpose and importance, they will seem a
lot less esoteric!
Essentially, our dance transitions
are a way of matching our movement and moods to the phrases in the music itself.
Transitions function as a
preparation for our bodies to segue from one movement into another in a
seamless and logical way. Basically, a
physical transition involves making sure that you are in the correct position
to make your next movement. A
transition usually involves all of at least some of the following: weight
placement, body angle and alignment, spatial movement, and embellishment. But
transitions can also convey feelings to the audience. Quite often, the music we
use in performance calls for a change of attitude on the part of the performer,
so the dancer needs to use stage presence and facial expressions as well as
body language to change with the mood of the music. In that case, an emotional transition needs to be made as
well.
If you were to imagine your dance piece as a
classical painting, then transitions would be the place where the colors in the
painting are blended. If you didn’t
have the transitions (or a mixture of
colors in the painting) then your piece of art would be just a bunch of blocks
of color, not a finished work. Well, maybe it’d be Modern Art… but I
digress.
Another analogy would be to
think of your dance piece as a story, or a book. In that case, transitions are the
punctuation as well as the points of separation for new thoughts or idea that
run through the entire narrative, connecting the plot-lines so that the story
makes sense. Essentially, our dance transitions are a way of matching our
movement to the phrases in the music itself, so we can better “illustrate” the
song we are dancing to.
Here are some ideas that will help you out
with incorporating smooth, flowing transitions emotionally and physically.
Weight
Placement
This is one of the most important facets of
transitions, knowing your footing. Without proper weight placement, your dance
is destined to fall apart. In order to avoid performing an odd (and unwanted)
little jig as you move from step to step, or from phrase to phrase, be
hyper-aware of your weight placement.
A good rule of thumb is:
“What Goes Up Must Come Down”.
In other words, if your weight is on your right
foot, in order to make a seamless transition, you will step onto the left
foot…and vice versa. This is especially important
while turning! Drill your weight placement
even if you think you are fine with it already.
Work With The
Counts
When I was a baby dancer, I was confounded
that so many movements could be fit into eight counts… or sixteen, or thirty-two.
I jut didn't get it, and always seemed to finish late, after everyone else was
done. The problem was real, and the solution was simple, but it was assumed that everyone in the class would
understand. What I didn’t know was that the transition in
movement starts occurring one or two beats before
a phrase is finished…and that concept
was never explained to me! No wonder
I was finishing late, I had no idea what was going on.
So, if a phrase is eight counts long, the transition
to the next phrase will start at the sixth or seventh beat, not on or after the
eighth beat.
Look For Clarification In Class Or Rehearsals
Make sure you understand everything you can
about the way a choreography- or a “follow the leader” type of improvisation
works. Don’t be afraid to ask your teacher (or another dancer) to go over
weight placement, phrasing, or a preparation for a turn. If you’re worried about holding up the class
or rehearsal don’t be- chances are, you’ll be asking a question that many are
wondering about them! And even if that
isn’t the case, it’s always better to be performing correctly, so that the entire group looks uniform and together.
Analyze Music
Without Dancing To It
Take some time to get really familiar with
your music. Sit with it, and analyze it; break the entire piece down into
measures of eight counts.
After you’re comfortable with
this, have another few listens and identify the musical changes themselves… you
will start to be able to see how each musical phrase is a “paragraph” in your
musical story.
Of course, do this exercise with the music
you’ll be using in class or for your show, but also with music that you would
probably never use onstage. At first it
might seem like a big daunting task, but after a while, you’ll have that “A-Ha
Moment”, and you’ll have fun breaking your music- or any music- down in this
way.
Feel The Music
The next step is become
comfortable with it, really feeling it and recognizing exactly where the
transitions will come. Remember to look
for changes in the emotional attitude of the piece, such as a bridge that goes
up into a sweeping crescendo, or pauses and full stops in the song.
The music itself will inform
you, but by using your counts and sensing the mood of the composition, you will
know when to physically begin your transition.
With practice, this will become almost
intuitive, ingrained into your consciousness, and you will start being able to
anticipate where and when your transitions will need occur, even if you’ve
never heard that particular piece of music before.
#
Sunday,
October 19th, 2014, Washington, DC
I’ll be teaching
a three hour mini-intensive on this very subject as part
of the Raven’s Night weekend.
“Go With The Flow: Musicality, Sensuality, Texture And
Fluid Transitions” 3:30-6:30pm
Epic Yoga
1323 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
More
information & Registration here:
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