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 all converge together. There was another section that emphasized fast-paced percussion that I marked as a footwork section. There is a drop toward the end of the song cut that Denita said she was glad that I had caught, and of course I got really excited that I was hearing the same things in the music as she was. The difference was that she had an idea of what she wanted to do with that drop in the song, and could visualize real movements in her head. She said she wanted to make that section “earthy,” and immediately I knew that that was a good fit and would give the dance more depth. Still, I would be able to describe dance as earthy if I saw it, or “funky” or “classical,” but I don’t have a foundation of salsa moves or footwork patterns I can draw upon to flesh out this idea in my head called “earthy.” It’s like trying to speak a language through tones and inflections without having mastered the grammar.
When I’m social dancing, it’s easy to get creative with styling and shines because I’m really connecting with the song and its rhythm, and I can somehow directly connect the song’s pace or feeling with my steps. It feels natural. When I’m choreographing, on the other hand, I feel like I should know this language of widely used and accepted footwork patterns, and that my creative project should build on this pool of “official” movements. My task was just to create two 8-counts for this Sunday, and I was amazed at how quickly Denita was able to find a motif in my two 8-counts, and apply it to eight more 8-counts in the song right after. This motif would help make the dance cohesive.
