Farewell!
8/24/14 This will be the final post for my summer apprenticeship with Denita and Desueño this summer, and I am ending on an exciting note. Denita has decided that Mi Bongo, the piece we’ve been working on, will be a duet. It didn’t feel like a great time to push all this new choreography onto the ladies, especially since everyone has been working hard to learn the bachata. Denita saw this as a great opportunity […]
The artist’s intent in Latin dance choreography
8/17/14 As we continue to work on the bachata choreography at Desueño practices, I love feeling the steps become more familiar. Unlike Llego, I was able to learn this choreography from the first day it was taught, which makes it much easier to commit to memory. Today Denita added arms to the choreography, so there’s more to think about now. Last week I noticed some funky, broadway-like influences in this choreography. There are cheerful kicks […]
Mapping it out, slippery foundation
7/3/14 This week I got to make my own energy flow chart for the mambo piece I would be helping create! After listening to Mi Bongo, the mambo song we’d chosen, over and over several times, I made that horizontal line that represented the length of the song and divided the song into sections based on changes in rhythm, tempo, or instruments. There was a section where the instruments built up in intensity, seeming to […]
Creative Methods
7/27/14 Earlier this week I met with Denita and she walked me through her process for creating choreography. After selecting the song, she creates an energy flow chart for the song to map out what she envisions the dance will look like based on the different sections of the song. For a salsa song for example, you could plan an intense footwork section at the climax of the song toward the end. This process requires […]