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Jookin – Feet in the Air

feet in the air, jookin

Lil Buck is a mover and a shaker, the self-titled “ambassador” of Jookin – an intricate footwork dance style. Jookin evolved from Gangsta Walking, popularized on the streets of Memphis TN, about 30 years ago.  Lil Buck learned to dance with his sister in his living room, moved onto classical ballet, and then onto street performing in LA. These days, his freestyle footwork impresses onlookers beyond the street.

On stage at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Lil Buck took four beautifully exaggerated steps in slow motion. He was improvising to a string quartet. The well-heeled audience had probably come for Yo-Yo Ma but they gasped when Lil Buck accomplished a signature move, gliding smoothly across the floor as if levitating. He moved so that the notes seemed to vibrate up his body, his sneakers squeaking as he pirouetted.

“I think he’s a genius,” Mr. Ma said after the show. A video of their duet to Camille Saint-Saëns’s “The Swan” went viral in 2011; they have since performed it around the world — “one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Mr. Ma said.

http://news.yahoo.com/katie-couric-interviews-lil-buck-214704149.html;_ylt=AwrBT7Ur8DJUiGsA9QpXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzanF0azdvBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDMwNF8x

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/arts/music/lil-buck-expands-jookins-world.html

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Dapper Dancers – Feet in the Air

feet in the air - dapper dancers

Two tuxedoed men seem to shatter the laws of physics, forcing time to slow and speed.  Their bodies curve in ways that would stagger Newton.  Theirs is a playful, gravity-defying dancing duet.

Virgil Gadson bounces and bends as though he has replaced every bone with licorice sticks. And, Julius Chisolm slips across the floor more smoothly than the slide on a trombone.

Improvisation is what they call “their natural science”.  Chisholm says, “Music takes control of me. I’ll be chilling, and a beat will come on. I understand life when I’m dancing.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/theater/virgil-gadson-and-julius-chisolm-in-after-midnight.html

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Sky Dancing – Feet in the Air

feet in the air high altitude dance

Aeriosa, a small Vancouver-based dance company is not studio-bound. Julia Taffe and her group of dancers use mountaineering skills and climbing hardware to work with gravity, rather than against it. No pointe shoes, no skirts of tulle and feathers. Instead, they have carabiners, pulleys, mechanical braking systems, climbing harnesses, rope and running shoes.

With gravity as a partner, the company creates vertical dance – awe-inspiring spectacles on the sides of buildings, or on sheer cliffs of rock; performances that are strange, disconcerting and breathtaking at the same time.

Quoting:  http://www.vancouverfoundationstories.ca/story.php?recordID=332

Photo Source:

http://www.aeriosa.com/files/media.html

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‘Dolphin Arches’ – Feet in the Air

feet in the air - Bolshoi ballet

Born in South Dakota, dance luminary David Hallberg is both the principal dancer in Russia’s Bolshoi and a member of the American Ballet Company.

Hallberg’s elegant physique and presence effect nobility. The New York Times intones: “His physical majesty fluently evokes the class distinctions of the European societies for whom ballet was developed, as do the courteous graciousness of his stage manners and the unforced distinction with which he carries his head. And in one particular respect — the dolphin arches of his feet — he’s phenomenal.

He comes into his own when jumping; the air is his home domain. He not only soars, but he also cuts a radiantly proportionate shape, tipped by the arcs of those stretched feet.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/arts/dance/david-hallbergs-dancing-develops-via-russia.html?_r=0

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Unbridled FIFA Footwork

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As World Cup fanfare reaches a fever pitch, the beautifully orchestrated game offers fantastic images of fancy footwork… Feet flying, kicking, passing, blocking, handling, stealing, dribbling, shooting and saving. Feet are dexterous and dazzling on the world football (soccer) stage. 

When feet move from executing a goal to celebrating in dance, there is a lift-off of spirit in play. Whether choreographed or spontaneous, feet deliver the message of “joy”.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/sports/worldcup/world-cup-2014-goal-celebrations-in-soccer-are-always-colorful.html?_r=0

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https://www.google.ca/search?q=david+gray+reuters+photo+world+cup+colombia+team&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=h3WxU9riMNCPqgaOyIG4Dg&ved=0CC8QsAQ&biw=1228&bih=546

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TO-ing and FRO-ing in the MIDDLE EAST

 

 

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“Abbas Takes Defiant Step, and Mideast Talks Falter.”

 

 

 “Bill Clinton sticks his foot in Syrian quagmire.”

 

 

Going out on a limb, Pope Francis met to pray with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The Rev. Thomas Reese, a veteran Vatican analyst for the National Catholic Reporter noted “In the Middle East, symbolic gestures and incremental steps are important.”

 

 

“Palestinians to walk away from peace talks.”

 

 

“Powers seek ‘first-step’ nuclear deal with Iran in Geneva talks.”

 

 

“Rouhani’s victory in 2013 is the Iranian equivalent to Obama’s victory in 2008: an electorate that voted overwhelmingly for hope and change, understanding that the process will be a marathon, not a sprint,” said Reza Marashi, research director at the National Iranian American Council in Washington.

 

 

[U.S. Secretary of State John] Kerry told reporters he was flying home to Washington to meet with President Obama to reassess the peace negotiations and whether there was a path forward. “There are limits to the amount of time and effort that the United States can spend, if the parties themselves are unwilling to take constructive steps in order to be able to move forward.”

 

 

“Syria chemical arms: ‘Global red line’ crossed – Kerry”

 

 

“For U.N. Chief, a Dance of Diplomacy Is Halted by a Misstep. Ban Ki-moon… choreographed a precise diplomatic sequence on Syria that relied on others to perform their roles equally precisely. The choreography did not go as planned, and Mr. Ban stumbled under the spotlight.”

 

 

Women in Saudi Arabia: Unshackling themselves

 

 

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Footwork Patterns in Dance: The Slow Waltz

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The Slow Waltz is famous for its ‘box step’. Dance partners create a square footwork pattern on the floor, counting ‘1,2,3’- ‘1,2,3’ as they move together, one going forward, one going backwards, to form the box. Once mastered, other graceful moves can be added.

Basic box steps for the man:

  1. Step forward with the left foot
  2. Right foot step sideways to the right
  3. Bring your left foot next to your right foot
  4. Step back with the right foot
  5. Step back sideways with the left foot
  6. Bring your right foot next to your left foot

Box steps for the lady:

  1. Step back with the right foot
  2. Left foot step sideways to the left
  3. Bring your right foot next to your left foot
  4. Step forward with the left foot
  5. Step forward sideways with the right foot
  6. Bring your left foot next to your right foot

At each step the dancers rise on their toes. They balance themselves by throwing body weight from one foot and then on the other. Despite the relatively slow tempo, The Slow Waltz is transformed into a dynamic dance by its turns, its step variations and its elegant poses.

Think Fred and Ginger.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_Boston

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltz_(International_Standard)

http://www.dancing4beginners.com/dance-steps-for-waltz.htm

Photo Source:

https://www.google.ca/images?hl=en-CA&q=waltz+images&gbv=2&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ei=uB6bU4jwIsmlyASf6ILwCQ&ved=0CBMQsAQ

 

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Footwork Patterns in Dance: The Twist

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The Twist is a rock and roll dance named after the smash-hit song “The Twist” by Chubby Checker. Super popular in the 1960s, it was the first major rock and roll dance style in which the couples did not have to touch each other while dancing.

Faced with explaining how to do the dance to the youthful audience of the era, a member of Checker’s entourage came up with the following description:

“It’s like putting out a cigarette with both feet, and wiping your bottom with a towel, to the beat of the music.”

http://www.the60sofficialsite.com/Dance_Crazes_of_the_60s.html 

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Footwork Patterns in Dance: The Moonwalk

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The Moonwalk is a dance move that presents the illusion of the dancer being pulled backwards while attempting to walk forward. A popping move, it became popular around the world after Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk footwork during a performance of “Billie Jean” on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever on March 25, 1983. The Moonwalk became his signature move.

The Technique

A Moonwalk dancer creates the appearance of gliding backwards. Initially, his front foot is held flat on the ground, while his back foot is in a tiptoe position. His flat front foot remains on the ground but he slides it lightly and smoothly backward past his tip-toe back foot. He lowers what is now his front foot and raises his back foot into a tiptoe position.  He repeats these steps creating the illusion that he is being pulled backwards by an unseen force while still trying to move forward.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonwalk_(dance)

Photo Source:

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Footwork Patterns in Dance: The Foxtrot

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The Foxtrot is a smooth dance characterized by continuous, flowing movements across the dance floor, usually to the sounds of big band music. Similar in its look to the Waltz, (though the rhythm is in a 4/4 time not 3/4), the Foxtrot reached its height of popularity in the 1930s.

The basic elements of the Foxtrot are walking steps and side steps. The long walking movements also involve a rise & fall action, more subtly than the Waltz. The Foxtrot has a slow, slow, quick, quick rhythm. The slow steps use two beats of music and the quick steps use one. 

Instructions:

Partners stand upright with your feet together. Face each other, lady puts her right hand in man’s left. His right hand is on her left shoulder blade; her left hand is on his right arm. 

Basic Steps – Gentleman

  1. Step forward with your left foot (slow step)
  2. Step forward with your right foot (slow step)
  3. Sidestep to the left with your left foot (quick step)
  4. Move your right foot to your left foot (quick step)
  5. Step backward with your left foot (slow step)
  6. Step backward with your right foot (slow step)
  7. Sidestep to the left with your left foot (quick step)
  8. Move your right foot to your left foot (quick step) 

Basic Steps – Lady

  1. Step backward with your right foot (slow step)
  2. Step backward with your left foot (slow step)
  3. Sidestep to the right with your right foot (quick step)
  4. Move your left foot to your right foot (quick step)
  5. Step forward with your right foot (slow step)
  6. Step forward with your left foot (slow step)
  7. Sidestep to the right with your right foot (quick step)
  8. Move your left foot to your right foot (quick step)

 

http://www.dancing4beginners.com/foxtrot-dance-steps.htm

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