A while ago we posted a Blog titled “5 concepts to help you create” to give you some ideas of how to creatively develop your freestyle skills. We hope you found these concepts helpful and found some new ways of moving through trying them out.
If you managed to create new movement, fantastic! If not, keep exploring. Not everything will work/look good, but that’s the whole point of trying new things, because amongst the 100 things that don’t work, one will, and THAT will be a new move YOU have created!
Why use concepts/ideas for freestyle – why can’t I just do my foundation steps?
Sometimes when we freestyle or choreograph, we have a tendency to stick to what we know. We do our favourite steps, start our freestyle in the same way each time, dance to the same parts of the music etc. Stepping outside of your comfort zone and crushing the box in your mind will force you to move in ways you wouldn’t have even imagined before. Your freestyle will become varied, interesting and versatile. It will have meaning, personality and character. It’s all good knowing the moves, but if you do them the same way each time it gets boring. Think, you wouldn’t eat the same dinner every day without any seasoning or sauce! Think of a concept like the seasoning, its what makes your dance interesting!
Some more concepts to try out:
1) Clock face challenge (This one will help you with your footwork)
– Firstly, get 2 dice. Roll either 1 or both and write down the total number. This number will be between 1 and 12.
– repeat this until you have a sequence of numbers (4 or more is a good starting point. The more advanced you are, the more numbers you can add to your list)
– imagine you are standing in the middle of a clock (where the hands meet) have your list of numbers ready
– Using your legs; step, jump, shuffle, slide, kick, etc to the 1st number in your list. (so if your 1st roll of the dice totalled 8, you would create a move using your leg to lift up and land on the number 8 in your clock) Now how can you go from this position to your 2nd number? You can always do a move back to the centre to help you transition before you start your next one
– Try not to just step – get creative, still see if you can use dynamics, other concepts, musicality)
2) Elements challenge (This one will help you develop your variation of textures/dynamics)
– Put on some music, preferably instrumental
– Just listen to the music, feel it and move
– One at a time, use the following words to help guide your movement; Earth / Air / Fire / Water
– There’s no right or wrong, just how those words resonate with you
– As an example, you might think of Earth as round, solid, heavy, grounded, rocky, etc. With the music, you then begin moving with these textures/dynamics.
– Once you have explored all 4 individually, progress onto using 2 in the same dance, then 3, then all 4
3) Cube challenge (This one will help you use different angles and planes – horizontal, vertical and sagittal)
– Imagine you are trapped inside a cube. When you reach out your arms in any direction you just about touch the sides.
– Put on some music, preferably instrumental
– Practice dancing and trying to touch all sides including top, bottom and corners as you move
– Get creative, try not to just use your hands…You can use your feet, elbows, back, head, any body part you like!
Have fun trying these out! At first, these concepts can feel a bit alien and it can be scary stepping outside of your comfort zone. Take it slow and build up. Your movement might not flow at first, but through exploration and practice, you will discover what works for you and looks good.
Let us know how you get on with the above concepts, or if you have any of your own concepts feel free to share!