The name of the class comes from
something our bunch in Los Angeles used to yell at each other during jams and
competitions. The sentiment is shared with love.
In any case, I put the class
on its feet this June and I'm so glad at the response. Students got some ideas
about setting goals, facing challenges, how to deal with the anxiety of
preparation, and how to work together to honor your own values and your
partners. At least that's what I hoped they'd get.
Below are drafts of a few of
the emails I sent to the class. I'll also share some of the homework and bonus
items I gave them along the way.
***
Thanks for being part of the Show Me
Something experience! Today we did a very brief jam and then played with a
head-to-head competition format, with two couples facing off against each other.
Some of the observers volunteered to look for and give positive feedback, either
dance feedback or NON-dance feedback. I gave feedback for some things to work on
to each group.
After that we looked at some sample Relative Placement sheets so
that students could have an idea how to interpret that information.
I finally was able to shoot some footage of the Fizz jam so I’ll be
sharing that here. However I must be firm with a piece of advice, especially if
you have never watched yourself dancing before - PLEASE BE KIND TO YOURSELF!
Certainly you can and should use your footage to give direction to your dancing,
however if you notice that the self-criticism gets rough then I urge you to take
a breath. If you have strong feelings about watching yourself dance, feel free
to reach out to me privately. I’ve added a video from Ira Glass that echoes a
lot of the advice I would give you, so maybe check that out as well!
NEXT WEEK
On Monday I’m gonna give you a chance to try a phrase battle, my hope is that
everyone will jump in and do 8 eight-counts of a song, most similar to the
format of the ULHS video in the playlist. I’ll assign partners and probably give
you time to come up with a plan of attack, and then we’ll go! (If you’re not
sure what you’d want to do with 8 eight-counts, my first advice is to watch some
videos and steal liberally, at least in class you won’t get busted for it.)
Before we finish next Monday, I’d love to hear your questions about exploring
partnerships, how to manage your emotions as a competitor, etc. Anyway, as
always please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, concerns,
feedback, etc. Hope you’re well and see you soon!
***
Hey y’all, Here’s another
check-in email. This one has stuff I’d like you to play with and potentially
prepare before class on Monday. The first chunk is about the format we’re trying
out. Then a note about cameras. Finally a reminder of your homework!
PREPARE TO
BATTLE! I mentioned in my last email that we’d be working on the
phrase/spotlight battle format, with eight 8-counts each turn. Here’s a video of
contest in that format, from Camp Hollywood in 2019. The phrase battle starts
about a minute and a half in.
If you’re curious about the narrative shape of a phrase battle, here’s one way
to look at it in terms of story beats (like acts of a play, or the moments of a
wrestling match):
Beat 0: JOCKEY!
Beat 1: Make your entrance, make yourself
known
Beat 2: Find the pattern, break the pattern
Beat 3: Heighten and explore
Beat 4: Surprise!
Beat 5: Hold the attention as you leave the spotlight
With
this perspective on a phrase/spotlight battle, Beats 1-4 would be your proper
assigned eight sets of 8-counts. Beat 0 is just before you enter and Beat 5 is
after the eight-eights. I have thoughts about how this is applied by various
couples in the CH 2019 video, to varying degrees of success. I’m gonna let you @
me on that, because maybe you should determine what’s fun for you and start
looking at how this works in context of a whole set of competitors. And if any
of you want to meet up and play with the format together, I’m not against that
at all!
PHONES! Aside from the Phrase Battle, I realized that we’re not getting
a lot of footage in class, so please also bring a tripod or other camera
stabilizer, if you own one, so each of us has more time and access to their
videos in class. We’re gonna do a few phrase battles, with the hope that you
watch yourself after our first attempt before we do a second. If you don’t own a
proper phone stabilizer, bring something like a bag to prop your phone up
against. I’m planning to bring maybe a few tripods myself, depending on what I
can carry.
HOMEWORK The homework is listed again below the sig, so I hope you
can spend some time on it! Please let me know if you have any questions and all
that. Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Neil Figuracion
Fad23
***
Hey there!
Thank
you for joining me for Show Me Something! I've been pitching this class for so
many years and I'm glad it finally got a chance to breathe. I appreciate you
being there so much! Last night's class was one that many students anticipated
with anxiety, but I also believe it was a bit of a threshold for everyone to
cross, we did phrase battles!
Well, first we spent a few minutes doing a warmup
dance, thanks to Desiree Roffers for helping me know what the issue was with the
sound last week. If I had my druthers, I'd lead a half hour warmup, and really
get everyone moving, but sadly there's never the time here.
We checked in about
the homework. A few folks really found Alive & Kicking to be inspirational!
I'm not going to unpack all of the comments about the shorter videos (I didn't
take notes) but it was great to see new ideas about how others were soaking that
in.
Next we started our phrase battles! I assigned partnerships and gave
everyone the basic format. Initially folks were were worried about counting out
8 counts of eight. So we did that together as a group, and we noted that if the
music is well chosen for the format, then the lead-in should be intuitive.
So we
created a lineup order, and everyone got a chance to do a phrase of 8 eight
counts, to Minor Swing, by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappeli.
This was followed by 10
minutes of collaboration with the same partner, about what we might do with 8
eight-counts in the imminent future. I set up tripods during this time, so I
wasn't able to interact with pairings. My advice today is that choreo might or
might not serve each of you. Maybe the plan could include some level of
Improvisation, Musicality or Self-expression. The main point is that each
partner could consider their own values, priorities, etc and play together to
find an approach that touches on those!
After 10 minutes of prep time, we got a
second phrase battle.
A lot of the students expressed
some level of anxiety, but in the end it seemed like folks were glad to have
taken the leap!
We had three cameras rolling, so we split up into groups so
everyone could get a look during class. I reminded everyone that we use our
footage as a tool to learn what you'd like to improve rather than a hammer to
hit yourself in the head with. It seemed to me that folks came away with the
beginnings of a plan! Teaching this class has been an honor. I hope that it is
just the next step in your development, and that you have a long and inspiring
journey ahead!
If you would like to send a testimonial about your experience
learning with me, which I might use for promotion, I'd really appreciate it. And
as usual, if you have further questions, concerns, ideas, etc. please feel free
to reach out to me!
Sincerely,
Neil Figuracion
Fad23
***
HOMEWORK
Week 1
Optional - Lance Shermoen on Relative Placement
Week 2
Competition Footage (Watch One Clip a
Day!) -
Documentary - Alive and Kicking
Develop questions about how to partner Prepare for next week's phrase battle!
Watch competitive video and rank dancers. Compare to actual ranking
BE KIND TO YOURSELF!
Week 3
BONUS This video showed up in my Facebook feed from like 20 years ago. LA LindyBinge 2002
And speaking of
other old stuff, this was a contest with me from 2001, the Hal Bal
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