It’s a lot easier to remember and repeat a movement when it has a name. My rehearsal process starts, literally, with “vocabulary” building. The dancers and I improvise until we come up with moves we like and then we give each one a name. Once we have a bunch of named chunks, we arrange them into sequences to fit a musical structure.

Here’s a video clip from Friday’s rehearsal during our a residency at Vassar College. The newly “coined” partner moves are: The Butterfly, Flags, Over/Under, 1/2 Umbrellas, Rainbow, Comet, Jacks, Spooning and Pacman (variations). I used YouTube’s annotation tool to label the video. You can choose to view the video with or without the labels by selecting the little carrot icon at the right corner of the video player.

I often joke with the dancers about “naming rights.” If you feel inspired to sponsor and christen a move, let’s talk!

2 Responses to “Vocabulary Test”