Dreaming of A Different Kind of Seminar...

 

In the summer of 2009, Luis and I had an eye-opening experience. Participating in a festival the south of France, one of our courses was a 5-day intensive seminar on colgadas and volcadas. This was a departure from the usual format of assorted workshops over a weekend or 5-hour, one-day intensives we were used to teaching in many cities around the world.

 

We were supposed to teach the same 5-day program twice, with two different, consecutive groups. The first group had a solid upper intermediate to advanced level, so the first five days passed without major challenges. However, the level of the second group was much lower than expected for an off-axis seminar, which requires solid foundations including core control, proper axis, smooth weight transfers and a good walk.

 

The first day with the second group seemed pretty hopeless as we tried to help the students find and engage their core muscles, start controlling their walk better, articulate their spine and hips… all subtle, difficult skills that require a certain maturity as a dancer. We kept trying our best as they struggled to develop new awareness of their bodies. The second day wasn’t much better: we worked directly with each student, guiding them into momentary improvements, only to have them fall back into their old habits again almost immediately. The week seemed headed to disaster...

 

It was only halfway through the third day that we began to notice some changes: all of a sudden, postures were improved, cores were more solid, walks were more stable… and  these improved foundations started making it possible to incorporate some colgadas and volcadas. By the last day, all students were enjoying the pleasant elasticity and floating sensations of their off-axis movements; most importantly, their whole dance was better, more confident and comfortable. It was an all-around surprising and gratifying week.

 

The insights derived from that week as well as from our experience  in more than seven years teaching around the world led us to identify the characteristics of the intensive program we wanted to offer...