Teach / Watch Phrases

"Practicing as a group makes musical concepts much more approachable."

This is one of the most rewarding parts of teaching music for dance. Prep the students a few classes before this one to pick one of the short phrases they have created. Have them each be able to cue up the piece of music they used to make the phrase. Poll the class and arrange it so that there is a pretty even number of them teaching from each of the meters and open time. Figure out an order for everyone to get at least one chance to teach a phrase. Maybe ask some of the people working in slower tempos to go first so the class has a chance to warm up.

Each student will lead the rest of the class through their phrase. Some people will be quite excited about this practice and some will be terrified. Always continue to cultivate a kind and open hearted environment in these classes. This is not a time for feedback about pedagogy, choreography, technique, but a time to learn phrases and lock in with the music chosen. I recommend making time after each phrase to write down their thoughts. This exercise, even with small class sizes, usually takes two days. Save all the thoughts for the last part of the second class.

"Do you prefer to make movement with or without counts?"

If you are working alone or have a small class size, try to share and learn as many of the phrases each of the students have created. If time permits, do as many of these phrases with the students as possible. Practicing it as a group makes the musical concepts so much more comfortable and approachable.

With a good amount of time left in class, hold a discussion on everyone’s experience. I definitely would not call it a “feedback session”...or solicit any type of group criticism. Ask them to talk about why they made what they made. What meter did they feel the most comfortable in? What meter/non-meter do they want to work on? What tempos did they enjoy the most? Which tempos do they feel they want to explore more? What do they think about rhythm now after going through these practices?