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improving lines
I performed silks this weekend and watching my video, my lines are still mediocre at times. Are there any tricks to improving? I’m fully aware but I still seem to struggle. Toe point is meh too. Here’s the video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uAU2dhrr7EM
I do get nervous when performing and I think slowing down and being more purposeful would help. I feel like it needs to be more automatic and it isn’t. Argh…
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12 Replies
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You did beautifully! The combo starting at 315 .. The lay back to leg hangs were awesome.. Sorry I don’t know names 😉 and the slow descend at the end , brilliant!
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aw, thanks! I did a quick search function here, so I have some ideas in how to straighten everything up. I also booked a private on lyra with one of our wonderful teachers. Lyra lets me focus on the lines and not necessarily the move, so I think it will translate.
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I thought it was lovely!! What did you find when reading some threads here? I really thought it was great! And…I know what you mean, I get nervous and speed up too and critical of how I know I could do better…
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I’ve lost track of where the advice came from, but I saw a series of leg lifts, concentrating on pointing really hard, making sure inverts come from multiple muscle groups and not just quads, etc., working on the point itself through flexion exercises, and then video, video, video!
I appreciate the compliments. I’m a pretty tough critic for any projects I work on. I just about killed my coauthor on my last book, or at least made her want to kill me, haha.
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Ok…as a dancer, I have a question. Why did you choose that music. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it, mind you. I just wondered why that piece? Do you treat your performances as skill move to skill move or as a unified dance piece. What I saw seemed to be more an effort to get from skill to skill. And your line in that opening move, the arabesque?, was lovely once you got there. The key to line is to treat the entire piece as ine fluid event, so that each move, from twisting the silk around your foot, to preparing the the silk for you to move through it, to climbing…all of it is part of the show. And by focusing on line there you will naturally extend that to your skill moves.
So here’s my two bits…USE the music…use the fullness of each count and each phrase. Fill it up, not with busyness, but with energy. Use an energetic stillness that fits the music to do your prep or take a rest, if a phrase has eight counts FILL the 8 counts.FEEL the music and FILL the music.
i hope that makes sense. -
Thanks for the comments. My only background for dance is belly dance, but I hear what you’re saying. This is my second choreographed piece. The first one I tried to fill the entire song and it ended up way too busy and choppy. Silks don’t always cooperate. And there was a point in the choreography I really wanted to do a swish backbend with the music, but honestly, I get up high sometimes and get a little cold feet and I’m sure that comes off stiff.
Silks is highly sequenced, so I’ve noticed it’s a bit hard to dance to. All the circus folks I know that prefer dance lean toward lyra.
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I also chose very simple sequences to go with the song in hopes I could move a little more freely to the music. Clearly I failed, lol
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I totally get what you’re saying. What I’m referring to when I say “fill the count” or “feel the music” isn’t about adding lots of steps or lots of moves, but rather allowing each move to fill the entire account that you’re using it for. I’ll give you an example: in one of my Zumba classes, I do an 8 count hip rotation in a circle and I try have my students slow it down, because they will race to get back to the front and be standing there for the final three counts rather than allowing the movement to fill up the entire count sequence. without fail when they use all eight counts perform that movement then the line that they create is much better, movement is also more satisfying and better muscle work.
I’m working on some other things in my pole classes with musical timing and body control trying to help my students to establish the body strength that allows them to use music and timing to complete the different skills.
I thought your opening move and your slow decline at the end were just lovely! And for only your second choerographed piece? Imagine what you’ll be doing in a few months! -
Oh no! You did not fail!!! Truly!
My comment was aimed at encouraging you in your goal! Line is really hard, ballerinas, queens of LINE, train for ages from the time they are tots to get something even aproximating perfect line…and even then so much depends on intepretation of the music! Say…have you considered maybe taking a ballet class? That would certainly ground you in some technique that would translate well to silks! -
I definitely get filling the music with movement. It’s something we do in belly dance, and I had a professional troupe for many years. I just don’t translate it well it the air. Especially for silks. Lyra is much, much easier. I think because the moves within Lyra lend themselves to dance. There is so much more involved with silks, it’s hard for me to make it less mechanical. And to be honest, I’m not very practiced at making it pretty. More often than not, a silks class is all about learning skills. Lots of memorization in those silly pieces of fabric.
I did take a few ballet classes, but I just can’t fit it all in. I’ll continue working on the lines. I’m also new to performing silks, so they make me especially nervous. This is also the first time I’ve done this choreography. I’m hopeful the more I perform and the more I work with choreographed pieces, the smoother and more fluid it will all become. As far as the lines, I’m just going to have to drill them so they’re more automatic.
Thanks for all the input! I really appreciate it.
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Jivete, that performance was very impressive. silks seem like they are soooo hard. that must be very challenging to stabilize your body on something that is not stable at all. haha! your very brave to come up with your own routine and perform it. that is so scary and nerve-wracking. love that descend at the end!!! wow!!
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Thanks, Phoenix! I really didn’t mean to make this a discussion about my performance. I’ve never performed pole, but I’m sure the issues would be similar.
Since I’m sure this is something many of us without a dance or gymnastic background struggle with, I’ll lay out my plan of attack.
-Drills to improve straight legged inverts (with video)
-Exercise to improve toe point
-Not just working on skills and moves, practice “dancing” and make sure to video. For me, this is all about the acrobatic stuff. Spins and dancing around the pole come more naturally to me.
-Additional classes focusing on quality of movement and not just learning new skills. I have a private set up with Mariel a la Mode http://www.marielalamode.com/#home next Tuesday. Here in KC we have an amazing resource of aerialists. Not as much pole, but I know it does translate.Just like improving my flexibility, if I want to improve my ability to perform aerial, I need to dedicate time to working on it! Fear in moves does make me curl up, so to speak, but I’m betting the more I “dance” those moves, the more natural they’ll become.
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