Unit 13 and 14 - Contemporary Workshop with Danielle Gardner from "The Garage" Norwich - 11th January 2023

Swinging Sequence 

This exercise develops balance, strength and coordination. Our arms and legs must work in a cohesive way, while maintaining a controlled balance and support our bodies using strength in our legs, arms and core.

I think I was successful at allowing the arms and legs to coordinate nicely and therefore maintaining a smooth swinging motion using momentum. To improve, I’d like to use gravity to fuel my movements even more and fully give in to its force, as using and giving in to gravity is a key element of contemporary dance. I’d also like to experiment more with supporting my body with my arms and becoming more confident in my arm strength. 

This sequence develops many contemporary skills, such as floor work, giving in to gravity, and the transferring of weight.

 Floorwork Swinging Sequence 

This exercise helps to develop flexibility and strength. It develops and improves flexibility in the hips and the legs and requires good core strength and control. 

I think I was fairly successful at this, my toe remained on the floor as I swung my legs so I maintained a proper stretch. At the end I had good core control as I slowly lowered back down into the starting position. In future I’d like to work on bending forward and brushing my palm against the floor in more of a hinge-like way and by using my core to fully control each movement. I would also like to eventually swing my leg up closer to my fingers without my toe leaving the floor. 

The contemporary dance skill that is developed through this sequence is floorwork. It allows us to become used to working with the floor and having different limbs and parts of the body supporting our weight. 

Spine Sequence

This exercise develops the physical skills of strength and flexibility. We develop flexibility in the spine by stretching each vertebrae, through the plank we improve our core strength, and through the press-ups we increase the strength in our arms as they are supporting our body weight. 

Successful elements were that I maintained a strong core and arms when I did the plank and reached up each side. To improve I’d like to achieve a deeper press up to improve my arm strength more, and I’d also like to focus on slowly and intricately articulating each vertebrae more. 

This exercise develops the contemporary skills of working with the floor and weight transfer, as we shift the weight from our legs to our arms throughout. We support our body weight with different limbs.

Unison Sequence