Vernacular Jazz Improv for Beginners
Вставка
- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Support my channel by visiting / lauraglaess
If you want to dance without doing choreography or copying someone, you need to improvise! Improvisation is also an important commonality in African diasporic music and dance. However, improvisation can be VERY INTIMIDATING if you're a beginner. The decision making process is hidden, and frequently moves and phrasing can be so stylized that it's difficult to recognize anything. Hopefully this video will demystify some of the decision making that goes into improvisation at a beginner level. Hope you have fun!
MUSIC:
Intro / Outro: Six Cats and a Prince, by the Brooks Prumo Orchestra
Jump Jack Jump, by the Brooks Prumo Orchestra - brooksprumoorch...
Broadway, by Floyd Domino's All-Stars - www.floyddomino...
MERCH:
Prints: www.etsy.com/s...
Other: lauraglaess.th...
50% of the money made from this channel is donated to organizations that support African Diasporic art forms, because Lindy Hop is a Black dance, and preserving and cultivating Blackness is very important to its identity. My current charities are:
Black Lindy Hopper's Fund: blacklindyhopp...
National Jazz Museum in Harlem: jazzmuseuminha...
"It's not a move but it feels good." 100% can relate.
"You don't want to look like the next move scared you and you weren't sure what was going to happen." Well, I feel called out. 😂 Always happy for more transition content, wooo!
Ha! That's hilarious 😂
The internal monologue sounds like mine, this external execution is much better. lol Time to practice.
Ha! Me, too! Always time to practice!
This is brilliant, Laura! I'm an experienced dancer trying to put into structure what I'm doing instinctively for years and your video is super inspiring. You are a very talented teacher, thank you for your content!
Very useful, inspiring, and funny, many thanks! Loved the "Big tranky sham" 😁. Always some much joy and energy in your dance 🤗
Thanks so much for putting all this out into the world!
תודה רבה על הנתינה💜🙏
It feels sometimes that a lot of teachers treat improvisation as an advanced concept, which is a shame.
What I found most useful to teach improvisation is teaching them how to differentiate the odd from the even beats, which helps them to find the 8 or the 1. In addition they need to know what the emphasis of a step is (contemporary jazzbox highlights the odd beats while the shim-sham step highlights the even beats).
I would love to see how you help people find the 8 or 1.
Thanks for the video, I hope to see more Solo Jazz improvisation on the socials after the pandemic is over!
Totally. Those transitions can be really tricky. Here's a video I have on it. Put it out back in March and, wow -- things have improved since then. Might need to redo it :P But for now, is this sort of what you had in mind?
ua-cam.com/video/OAlZAnuRsC8/v-deo.html
@@LauraGlaess I would say that improv for beginners is something different, as beginners don't know all these moves here yet. Who knows these moves and can do them to music, is not a beginner any more. And, of course, all these moves here are a result of improvisation. So beginners should learn improv by doing simple decisions first, like doing steps on every beat, and then like only on the downbeats, and then make up combinations of such QuickQuicks and Slows. Not learn complex moves first, but learn how to listen to music, learn about musical structure and make up simple moves based on that. My opinion...
@@mariuswrobel Hi Marius! I think this is also a good way to tackle improv as well, though - it's funny - I have asked my advanced students to use improve in this way. I think improv is one of those things that goes on forever, so, no matter where you are, you have the ability to work on something challenging whether it's stepping on beat or transitioning between fall off the log and tack annie.
I would argue that beginners should know these basic moves, though. They probably wouldn't know any line dances beyond the shim sham, but I don't think we should define "beginner" as "one who knows nothing." I haven't gone to that many tap or hip hop classes, but the beginner classes I've gone to are STIFF. As a tap beginner, you need to know flaps, shuffles, paddle n' rolls, and all sorts of moves. Actually - the class I went to was Tap 101 -- PRE BEGINNER.
I think it's important to hold Lindy Hoppers to a higher standard of knowledge and dance. Lindy Hop is beautiful and complicated. You're not going to graduate to "intermediate" after two classes, and you shouldn't expect to. As teachers teaching a low standard, I think we lead beginners to expect that this is an easy dance.
@@LauraGlaess Actually you have a video "6 Count Basic - Learn to Lindy Hop from the Ground Up", I just saw it later, where at the beginning you show exactly what I said - so this is great! I mean for me, dancing is first about the music. A beginner for me is someone who does not know yet about bars and phrases, but at least can focus on hearing a regular beat. Yes, maybe this should be called "Pre-Beginner", but at that moment, no one does :)
So I think for the Pre-Beginners, it would be useful to focus on what you show in the other video from time 2:26 ( ua-cam.com/video/U9yKEnewTas/v-deo.html ) and be clear about that this is already a fully valid partner dance. You are experiencing musicality in your body and watch at the same time, what your partner is doing, you can do it with hand contact, or without. That's all the most important things about partner dancing!
So I also have to say that I was a little "mm, ok.., why??", as you then switched to introducing the 6-count-pattern, which was almost the total opposite of what happened before: A fix pattern, no more free decision about what to do (so no musicality); both have to do the same thing, so no individuality in the interaction with partner; the pattern is not intuitive in music, which counts to 8, not 6, but you don't explain how to make that fit.... I'd appreciate it more if you had shown how the pattern comes naturally from the basics of musicality and improvisation, also with the effect of understanding naturally what the pattern actually is if seen in the 4 or 8 count structure of the music.
I mean you are such a great dancer! With a grandiose musicality, I love it!! Enjoyed very much your video about musicality, as this is what makes all of my dancing :)) But I see many people who are just doing the pattern and can not do anything else and that's why I'm worried about some teachers constraining the dance to a situation where we are "not allowed" to be musical, to have a conversation as independent individuals, to freely decide what we do, to be the artist, like you said in the musicality video!
Grazie.
Wow, thank YOU!
So inspiring, it get me understand the flow of what I’m doing as a beginner, also I feel I’m not alone when I putting some of “happy silly move” within the momentum confidently lol.
I also like the way you put the contrast comparison so then I can check up for myself as well.
Pls keep up posting with your good vibe!
Thank you! I'm happy it's helpful!
Briliant as always!
I love this! Your videos are so inspiring, it's so needed right now, thanks a million 💕
Awesome!!!
You articulated my brain when at a social dance doing solo hahahaha my safety net is always a 20s charleston
It's a good net! It's where so many things come from!
🙏
Great advices!
Dance in general right? It's all about groove first. Being a "good dancer" can just be someone who keeps a good rhythm. Have two or three "fall back grooves" to rest on, like in parties, be they bounces, or walks... then it's just reacting to the music naturally without thinking, bit of this, bit of that, with the moves you've "trained" to become muscle memory, and so they can be expressed as a part of your natural vocab. As opposed to counting and remembering routines all the time. It can be a hard lesson to learn, to stop "thinking" (especially if you're a thinker, lol). Like you say, when learning and training dance, never forget.. you're "dancing", and not doing aerobics.
Moves themselves, and sets, combos.. are.. tools to help you understand the "components" of the dance you're doing, upon which you then mix and match freely. That goes for any dance, or physical activity in general.
Always makes me think of Sammy Davies Jr, when he said "that's not dancin' that's choreography", at the notion of the young rising stars he saw in his older years, they could "stage perform", but were not "dancers" by trade or in the heart.
There's this wonderful dance off I saw (on UA-cam) between Sammy Davis Jr and Gregory Hines. Hines was doing way fancier stuff, but SDJ would just pack so much dance, personality, humor, and wit into all of his choices. It was a wonderful master class.
It's definitely helpful to know vocabulary - to have something to do. Gives you a greater range of expression. But you can have a big vocabulary and not know how to dance. And you can have no vocabulary and be a great dancer. It's important to invest time into your intuition and feeling - the stuff that, unfortunately, you typically don't get out of class dancing ;)
@@LauraGlaess Right, right. I just think back to the reasons we started to dance in the first place.
People just going to parties, nobody was "born in a studio". People first danced because they were moved by the music. Some people lose touch with that "free spirit" which motivated them in the first place. The dancer they were before they knew names, counts or routines.
In my experience, before I knew the names of any of the dance styles, since I was 4, I just loved moving to music, and I imitated the great dancers I saw, growing up around MJ, James Brown, Gene Kelly, Bob Fosse and others, the aesthetics I liked. I wasn't thinking mechanically.
I try to maintain that outlook, the "I don't really care what I'm doing, I'm having fun" but at the same time "I do care" mentalilty, in regards to being "refined" in the moves I learn. It sounds counter intuitive, until you manage to do it. Lol.
A lot of people find counting really helpful, helps them keep time, but for me I often feel an odd one out in that regard, I'm not a counter, soon as a count, I can't dance anymore, because it feels like my "soul" has left the building. I just hear and feel rhythm and respond to it.
Comment for the algo *rhythm*
Ha!
3:19 Hi, cat!
Wingy says hi back ;)
SORRY WAS COMMENTING ON THE STUPID ADD THAT CAME UP
lollll
NEVER GETS TO WHAT IT IS THAT HE IS SAYING IS THE MAGIC CURE, JUST GOES ON AND ON TELLING YOU NOTHING. . WAY WAY TO LONG , EVIDENTLY YOU HAVE TO BUY SUPPLEMENTS