Contemporary dance: general level
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- Course Code: DDM084
- Dates: 24/04/24 - 22/05/24
- Time: 20:00 - 21:30
- Taught: Wed, Evening
- Duration: 5 sessions (over 5 weeks)
- Location: Keeley Street
- Tutor: Orley Quick
Course Code: DDM084
Choose a start date
Duration: 5 sessions (over 5 weeks)
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
You will develop on your previous experience of Contemporary dance. The course draws upon principles of a range of techniques including Release, Cunningham, Graham and Limón. These more codified ways of moving and thinking about dance are coupled with principles of Choreology (Laban-based analysis of movement) and occasionally improvisation techniques with a goal to go beyond the basics to get you to explore a fuller range of movement patterns leading to dynamic and fluid dance sequences in and out of the floor and across the space.
What will we cover?
We will build on alignment, stamina, control and quality of movement through a series of exercises that involve spine, swing and floor work, travelling, musicality, spatial pathways and inversions. Sometimes we will work more creatively or collaboratively, improvising and devising.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
• Identify and apply technical dance terms and technique to your body and movement.
• Recognise better efficiency in moving into and up from the floor.
• Demonstrate increased endurance, flexibility, stamina and range of dynamics.
• Perform dance sequences with more ease and confidence.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
The general level class is for people who already have a movement practice and have had contemporary dance experience. You may have done the beginners course and be ready to move up, or perhaps you are coming back to Contemporary dance after some time and want to refresh. This class would also be suitable for people with lots of dance experience who are working with injuries and want to be cautious.
In order to get the most from the course you will be able to:
• Follow spoken instructions.
• Use numbers to recognise musical phrasing within dance and choreography
• Working as a group and pairs safely.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Group work in a well equipped, modern sprung floor studio with music. It is essential to be ready to start on time.
As part of the course content, your tutor may record your image for initial and ongoing assessment purposes. You are entitled to decline to participate in the recording of your image.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Bare feet is the ideal and most safe way to work in this class. Foot thongs can be useful if you find bare feet uncomfortable. It is recommended to tie hair back if it is long for safety and comfort. Wear a short or long sleeved top and trousers covering the knees for the floor work.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
Stay in this level of Contemporary dance, move up a level or switch dance style to Afro Contemporary, Classical Ballet, Tap dance or Musical Theatre.
Orley Quick is a contemporary dancer who enjoys working within the field broadly: teaching, performing and choreographing among other roles. Recently she has been making dance performance work collaboratively with other dance artists for theatres and unconventional performance spaces, and she is always excited to find new and challenging ways of working. As a late starter to formal training, this has definitely shaped her approach and urgency to teach dance. Orley loves to work with as many different types of people as possible, with a firm belief that everyone should be able to access dance classes, and that there are benefits for everyone to be dancing, even if you don’t want to be on stage! Orley thoroughly enjoys teaching at City Lit, and all the people she gets to move with here. She wants her students to have a great time, let go and connect to their bodies and those around them, whilst working safely, efficiently and consciously. Alongside her teaching work for City Lit, she trains dancers vocationally in FE colleges, runs workshops and co-founded and teaches for BOTH Dance Classes.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
