How to block dance

How To Create AMAZING Blocking And Staging For Your Dance Team

When you're choreographing for a performance, making a piece is only part of the process. Blocking and staging your piece with formations, holds, ripple effects, and modified choreography is where you can get really creative! But you have to make sure that the blocking and staging complements the piece/music, not competes with it. Really good blocking and staging pulls us the audience in, plays with their focus, and works with the choreography to enhance what’s there. Here are some tips on creating the best, most flattering blocking and staging for your dance team's performance!

Let's start with some examples:

Two incredibly dope, yet very different sets with completely different staging that complement the choreography. When you think about meaningful staging and blocking, it’s important to examine what you’re going for in terms of feeling or aesthetic. Have a blueprint of what you want your house to look like before you start to build it!

If you’re making a themed set, its probably important to incorporate blocking that moves the story along and builds atmosphere.

See Related Article: STEEZY Picks: Favorite Themed Sets Of All Time!

Play with numbers of people on stage.

Direct focus towards important plot driving sequences.

Experiment with how many people on stage are dancing vs. accenting movement.

In the Cookies set above you’ll see a lot of people on stage but they’re not always dancing. Near the beginning you only have 6 people dancing but the set feels busy because everyone else is walking around in the back. In the couples piece you have 18+ people on stage but the vibe is still intimate because the blocking forces you to only focus on a few couples at a time.

Watch the set again with an eye towards when people exit and enter the stage and what effect that has on the feeling of the piece.

Don’t be afraid to play to your strengths too. If your team is incredibly clean, large numbers of people on stage all doing original choreo can look pretty badass. Sometimes simple is better.

Experiment with where you’re drawing focus on stage.

People tend to hone in on certain dancers (usually the ones in the middle). Figure out ways to disrupt these patterns. Use strategic movement to draw focus across the stage.

GRV and AOV are really good at doing this when they set up their blowups.

Alternatively, it’s also a good idea to play with macro effects.

Remember back when every team was really into iso pieces and the whole stage would just look like one really trippy picture made up of arms and legs? That was awesome.

Think about how the whole stage is going to look.

It’s really interesting to watch a set that moves your focus from a narrow spectrum and then expands to the entire stage because it keeps your eyes from getting bored.

Your mind is the most incredible tool for creating blocking and staging for a performance, but here are some things that may aid in the process!

Playbook

As seen in Brotherhood’s Body Rock 2016 opener, Playbook is a useful app when blocking a piece.

It lets you use dots to plan out dance formations for your sets without pen and paper.

See Related Article: 11 Apps Every Dancer Needs To Download NOW!

Use Objects

Instead of drawing dots on graph paper, try using coins or chess pieces or pieces of Play-Doh (my old director used to do this) to help visualize your blocking and staging.

Using these small objects helps you visualize the pathways that your dancers can take to change formations. Color-coordinating certain parts can help you see what a hold or effect would look like (for example, placing blue Play Doh dots in the center, yellow on the sides, red in the back).

Look At Shapes

You can find inspiration for blocking and staging anywhere. Like, anywhere.

Look through a kaleidoscope and use some geometric shapes and patterns!

Watch how the waves on the beach crash against the shore, and use that for a transition off stage!

Notice how leaves sway on a branch, how children run around a playground, how birds fly in formation in the sky.

These shapes and pathways of movement can give birth to the dopest, most unique blocking and staging for your choreo!

Overall, what really matters is what you are trying to convey through the blocking. Are you trying to re-create a movie on stage? Are you just trying to do something that looks cool? What feeling are you going for? How does this look from an audience's perspective? Once you’ve got that figured out, all that's left is to experiment with what works, and what doesn't. Do you have any additional tips for creating meaning blocking on stage? Add a comment below to add to the list!

How To Create Meaningful Blocking And Staging

Let’s start at the top: creating meaningful blocking. I’ll assume most of us can at least tell the difference between seeing really amazing blocking versus blocking that’s just there. Really good blocking pulls us in, plays with our focus, and works with the choreography to enhance what’s there. We might as well start with some examples:

Choreo Cookies Bridge 2010

GRV World of Dance 2012

Two incredibly dope, very different sets with completely different modes of blocking that complement the choreography.What works for one set will not necessarily work for the other.When you think about meaningful blocking, it’s important to examine what you’re going for in terms of feeling or aesthetic.You don’t start building a house without a blueprint and you don’t start blocking a set without a general idea of how it’s going to progress.

Setting The Mood

If you’re making a thematic set, its probably important to incorporate blocking that moves the story along and builds atmosphere.

Play with numbers of people on stage.

Direct focus towards important plot driving sequences.

Experiment with how many people on stage are dancing vs. accenting movement.

In the Cookies set above you’ll see a lot of people on stage but they’re not always dancing.

Near the beginning you only have 6 people dancing but the set feels busy because everyone else is walking around in the back.

In the couples piece you have 18+ people on stage but the vibe is still intimate because the blocking forces you to only focus on a few couples at a time.

Watch the set again with an eye towards when people exit and enter the stage and what effect that has on the feeling of the piece.

That’s not to say that having a bunch of accents and stillness on stage is the best way to block a piece.

Don’t be afraid to play to your strengths too.

If your team is incredibly clean, large numbers of people on stage all doing original choreo can look pretty badass. Sometimes simple is better.

Where Is The Audience Looking?

Experiment with where you’re drawing focus on stage. People tend to hone in on certain dancers (usually the ones in the middle). Figure out ways to disrupt these patterns.

Use strategic movement to draw focus across the stage. GRV and AOV are really good at doing this when they set up their blowups.

Alternatively, it’s also a good idea to play with macro effects.

Remember back when every team was really into iso pieces and the whole stage would just look like one really trippy picture made up of arms and legs? That was awesome.

Think about how the whole stage is going to look. It’s really interesting to watch a set that moves your focus from a narrow spectrum and then expands to the entire stage because it keeps your eyes from getting bored.

I realize that a lot of these points are quite vague. I also know I haven’t talked about the strength of a pyramid or the effectiveness of using a diamond or long diagonals, and that’s because results will vary. Like I said, what works for one team is not always going to work for another. What really matters is that you put some thought into your blocking. Are you trying to re-create a movie on stage? Are you just trying to do something that looks cool? That’s awesome, but try to think big picture: what feeling are you going for? How does this look from an audience perspective? Once you’ve got that figured out, all that's left is to experiment with what works, and what doesn't.

Do you have any additional tips for creating meaning blocking on stage? Add a comment below to add to the list!

How to learn to dance twerk - Lifehacker

November 21, 2020 Likbez Sports and fitness

Butt size doesn't matter!

Iya Zorina

Author of Lifehacker, athlete, CCM

Twerk is just a super sexy dance that will pump your plasticity, and at the same time load your abs and back muscles well. To begin with, we will learn a few basic movements, and then we will diversify the dance vocabulary and analyze the main mistakes. And at the end you will find a bonus in the form of a playlist with suitable music. nine0003

If you have problems with your lumbar spine, exercise with caution, or better yet, consult your doctor.

Learn how to do basic elements

Booty pop back

Stand with your feet wider than shoulder width, toes slightly apart. Bend your knees and place your hands on your hips, turning them inward with your fingers, bend your lower back.

From this position, twist the pelvis down, and then, due to the deflection in the lower back, return it to its original position. Imagine that you are trying to reach the top of your head with your pelvis. nine0003

It is important to fix the upper back and work only on the lower back. You can not strain the gluteal muscles, otherwise the movement will turn out to be clamped.

If difficulties arise, try the lead-in exercise first. Place your hands on your hips so that your middle fingers rest on the protruding bones of the pelvis in front, and your thumbs - behind, closer to the sacrum. Bend your knees, move your pelvis down and then up, controlling the movement with your hands.

When you feel more confident, remove your hands and connect the movement with your knees. When the pelvis goes down, the knees bend, when it rises, they unbend. No need to lock the knees at the extreme point, they should remain slightly bent. nine0003

The pelvis moves back not only due to the straightening of the knees. The lower back must work.

Front booty pop

This movement is very similar to the previous one, only the emphasis is on pushing the pelvis forward rather than backward.

Set your feet wide and point your toes slightly out. You can put your hands on your hips to better feel the tilt. At the same time, bend your knees and sharply move your pelvis forward so that your butt goes down, and then bend your lower back and bring your pelvis back. nine0003

The emphasis is on the first phase of the movement, when the butt goes down. It is important at this moment not to pinch the buttocks, but to change the position of the pelvis due to the tension of the abdominal muscles.

Try other twerk moves

Double

This element repeats the usual booty pop, only the movement of the pelvis in it is double: down-down, up-up.

Suffle twerk

Stand with your feet wider than shoulder width. At the same time, turn one leg with your toe and knee out and transfer your weight to the opposite thigh. Then, with a small jump, switch sides. nine0003

First try to move slowly to get the point, then speed up. Jump relaxed.

Up down twerk

Arch your lower back and push your pelvis back. On the count of “one”, simultaneously round the lower back, bringing the pelvis forward, bend the knees and bring the shoulders forward. On the count of "two", bend your lower back and take your ass back in a semi-squat.

On the count of three, straighten your knees, round your lower back, and roll your shoulders forward. On the count of four, arch your back in the thoracic region, straightening your shoulders. nine0035

It turns out that at the lower point you bend in the lower back, and at the top - in the chest.

Wobble

To feel the movement, start moving slowly. Place your feet shoulder-width apart, place your palms opposite the pelvis. In turn, touch the palms with one or the other bone of the pelvis. Accelerate gradually.

You can wobble while standing upright or bent over. Practice slowly bending over and back up as you move. Important: you should not pinch, otherwise stiffness will occur and no shaking will work. nine0003

Zig zag

Get into a twerk stance, lower your right thigh first, then your left thigh. Then, one by one, lift them up to their original position. At first, perform the elements slowly, with fixation at each point, and then gradually accelerate.

You can do this movement a little higher. In this case, start with a stance on straight legs in an incline. In the same way, lower the right and left hips in turn, bending the knees, and then raise the hips, straightening the legs. nine0003

Stripper shake

Rise up on your toes and turn your heels in and out a little. Arch your lower back, try to relax your hips as much as possible.

This element can be performed in a straight position or bent over, moving both legs at once, or one at a time.

Roll

Stand with your feet slightly wider than your shoulders, point your toes forward, tilt your body and rest your hands on your hips. Rotate your pelvis, lowering and raising it as you go. nine0003

You can do this either in a bent over position on your hips or standing up.

Happy twerk

Start in a twerk position with your toes pointing forward. Do one regular booty pop in place, then another with the toes and knees turned out to the sides, and then the next one with them returning to a straight position.

Continue turning your toes and knees out and back, tilting your pelvis as you move.

Flash

Place your feet shoulder-width apart, rise on your toes. Pull your pelvis back a little. Move quickly from foot to foot, trying to relax your buttocks. nine0003

Twist

Raise your right leg to the side, turn it with your toe and knee inward. From this position, simultaneously transfer the weight to the left thigh and turn the raised leg with the toe outward. Return your foot to the floor and repeat on the other side.

Try moving in other positions

Twerk can be danced not only while standing, but also while squatting, on all fours and even upside down on your hands, with your feet resting against the wall. Try different positions - this will help diversify your dance. nine0003

Squatting

This is the same booty pop, only squatting. If you don't have enough stretch to move freely in a deep squat, work on your hip mobility first.

Offset to one side

Good stretch is also required for this option. Otherwise, you will not be able to relax and move freely.

On all fours

First practice the standing element to get used to it. Raise one leg on the toe, turning it with the knee outward and at the same time leaning on the opposite thigh. Then smoothly switch sides. nine0035

Now place your palms on the floor, arch your lower back, bend your knees and lift your heels off the floor. Perform a familiar movement in a new position.

This is enough to get you started. Try, combine the movements with each other and, if something fails, correct the mistakes.

Understand why you don't succeed

There are three main reasons why instead of twerking you get some bullshit. And the size of the priests has nothing to do with it.

1. You lack flexibility

To twerk well, you must have good mobility in the lumbar spine and hips. If flexibility is lacking, you can improve it by doing stretching exercises.

Choose stretching exercises 🤸🏻‍♀️

50 exercises to stretch the muscles of the whole body

2. You work your upper back and shoulders

All basic movements require arching in the lower back. It is due to the lower spine that you feed the pelvis back and forth. But if during booty pop you bend in the thoracic spine and connect your shoulders, the movement will not look like a twerk.

3. You're too tight

This is probably the biggest beginner's mistake, which results in a tight, wooden pelvic movement instead of sexual shaking.

Don't push yourself too hard, relax your buttocks and thighs, shake off tension from your arms and shoulders. All elements should be carried out easily and without clamps. The best way to relax and feel the movement is to turn on the music.

Pick up the music

We found a cool audio compilation that makes you want to dance to and not stop. The description on YouTube has the names of all the tracks.

And another big selection, this time from Yandex.Music. There are some great tracks too, and some of them are pretty slow paced so you can learn the moves in a relaxed and casual way. nine0003

Let us know how your twerking progresses in the comments. It turns out?

Great dance experience happens in lockdown

Dance mix

11/08/2022
From AnnaChim

08 Nov

nine0002 You would think that the lockdown has put an end to a lot of dance related activities, and in some cases this is true.

In-person dance classes cannot take place and people cannot meet for a dance or go to see a dance show. But that doesn't mean there aren't some big dance experiences happening during lockdown - they're a little different than what you'd expect!
#Roofseries with Robbie Fairchild
Robbie Fairchild is best known for his time as a dancer with the New York Ballet and more recently for his participation in the Broadway version of Cats. So while he may not be able to perform at his usual venues during the lockdown, he has found a new way to connect with people and show off his dancing skills. nine0035 Named #RoofSeries, Robbie took over the dance. The couple delighted fans with their dancing and showing them on Instagram along with messages of support.
American Dance Theater
If you're a fan of Alvin Ailey's revelations, then you can experience it in a whole new way during lockdown. American dance theater combines dancers performing live from their homes with sections from shows that have already been recorded.

The result is an exciting combination of dance, a tint look into people's homes, and a fun lockdown experience. nine0035 Mikhailovsky Ballet with Ivan Vasiliev
It is very convenient during lockdown if you share your home with a friend. And this applies to Ivan Vasiliev from the Mikhailovsky Ballet in Moscow. He and his wife Giselle have enjoyed a fun take on the ballet along with their daily lives, streaming on Instagram with Giselle plots in their living room, a Cinderella who really can't walk next to a ball and other classics with the turn of the lock.
Watch training with Francesca Hayward
Francesca Hayward's debut at Swan Lake was supposed to be one of the big ballet events of the year until the coronavirus hit. But you can still get a fascinating look into the training and life of a ballet dancer with her regular Instagram videos.
With her partner Cesar Corrales, the short videos are a great snapshot of their life in lockdown and a chance to see some amazing ballet moves.