Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Ari and Whitney's Blues Connection Workshop



Ari Levitt and Whitney Evans gave a workshop in Portland on June 9 that explored the blues connection. In an afternoon they went through a series of exercises that took the dancers from moving in groups where individuals connected with and allowed other members to affect their movement (a little like contact improvisation) to where at the end of the session partners were moving together, with the energy from the music flowing from one dancer to the other, both sharing the lead and follow. Attached is a video of a demo Ari and Whitney did at the dance Saturday evening. Notice there are no basic blues patterns but the character of the dance is more in the connection between Ari and Whitney then in the particular moves they are doing. The patterns are borrowed from other dances like swing and salsa. Catch Ari and Whitney the next time they are to Portland. They give a great workshop.



No comments: