Feedback, please.

topic posted Fri, February 15, 2008 - 12:16 PM by  Samantha
www.youtube.com/watch

One disclaimer here. It feels a little reigned in to me because the stage was so small that I was afraid I might fall off in some of the larger, spinning moves. I am aware of that. Otherwise, have at it, bearing in mind that I am a student... :-)
posted by:
Samantha
Washington, D.C.
  • I really liked it. You have good musicality. I mean you made me HEAR the music by moving with it well. I really liked your chest work in the beginning and in general you have nice isolations. I heard people in the video saying "wow!" so that always a good thing. Nice job :)

    But there are a things I would recommend working on. The first is your arms. They're lovely and you dance with them well which is why you're doing yourself an injustice by not lifting them up. Get out of first position and "chicken arms" more (which is not to say there is anything wrong with those positions) and lift into fifth. Let your arms take up space above you and frame your body. Keeping them lifted will not only help you keep your upper body lifted into that high tribal posture, but it will also make your hip isolation much more visible.

    Also when you move your arms, use a little more resistance. Push through space like you're pushing through water.

    Also, when you do a series of fast isolations, try making the isolations a little smaller. For example, if you are going to keep with the fast part of the music and undulate up to down and down to up really fast, I recommend trying to do so with minimal involvement in your spine. It looked cool the way you were doing it, but it also looked a tad rushed. I think if you let the movement stay isolated in the front part of the body, it will look more controlled.

    Finally, I think you should try and get some bling for your neck. At least in this piece, with all of the things happening with your shoulders, I think it would have added a little more pizzazz to your costume and overall presentation.

    That all being said, you're a great dancer. Keep it up. ;)


    • Thanks, Mahela. I agree about the arms. They tend to droop sometimes! Oops. :-)

      I'm a professional classical musician so I tend to get totally nerdy about the musical breakdown in my practice! I at least have that going for me! Haha.

      Thanks again.
  • I agree largely with the above poster. You have great musicality and your chest isolations are lovely.

    A few things to work on- in the beginning plie, make sure that your knees are going out over your toes. Not only will it keep your knees in good shape for more years of dancing, it provides a better visual line. Also, when you walk in a circle around mark 1.50 or so, use /intention/ in your steps- it looked a bit pedestrian. Overall, I'd say keeping your pelvic floor engaged will help your movements become snappier when you want to snap, and more controlled when you want to move slowly.

    These are all pretty nit-picky, so of course take with a grain of salt! :> I thought your piece was enjoyable to watch and I look forward to you posting more of them.
  • A minor suggestion. If the stage is small and you feel "reined in", just step off it and dance down on the floor. There is nothing to say "THOU SHALT STAY ON THE STAGE AT ALL TIMES OR FALL INTO A BURNING PIT OF FIRE!" You own the stage and your dance and it shows supreme confidence if you decide, "screw this, my movements are too big for this postage stamp" and move to an area where you can dance as you intended.

    The audience usually loves the interaction and, in this case, it looked like you had a large empty space in front of the stage you could have used...

    Something to think about.
    • I did think about it, Xanthea, but I've seen dancers use that space before & it's not very well lit down there. It's a tricky space. I swear the "stage" gets tinier every time I go in there! Ha!

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