We started off class by exploring the movement qualities of the Norwegian dance the Halling; strong, soft and sharp! The students practiced making these strong, soft and sharp shapes, and then moving in that quality. We even tried combining strong
and soft together, the students didn’t think we could do that. I showed
them a video of a man dancing his solo in the Halling, we pointed out that he
was strong and smooth, and even had sharp accents, a combination of qualities they initially didn't think could be done together. We then went back out into the space and re
explored the movement. When I brought
the students back to the video I showed them the end of the dance when the man kicks the hat off the stick. They all thought it was really cool! We talked about how to kick the hat and I shared my experience
of the first time I tried to kick the hat and missed! We decided it was okay and that if that happens we will just keep trying. Initially some of the girls were really shy
and didn’t want to try kicking the hat, which was a response I wasn’t expecting. Mrs.
Giles was able to encourage most of them to try and once they saw their friends
doing I they also wanted to join in on the fun. After practicing kicking the
hat I tried to bring back the movement we explored before by telling them they
needed to first dance their favorite quality and then kick the hat. However it
didn’t matter how many times I said that they needed to dance they still just went to kick the hat,
even if they told me before hand what style they were going to dance. Then I
gave them a more specific time limit and said they had to dance for 4 seconds
before they kicked the hat. That went over much better.
This was my last lesson with the students! I really was sad
to say good bye to them, because they are such a joy to work with. I’m so
grateful for the chance I had to teach them and be inspired by them.
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