Hi folks.
Now that the choreo is out, the bulk of the remaining sessions will be spent on cleaning. For cleaning, there are 2 very very basic foundations we need to work on as a group – Synchronisation and Energy
In a “sort of” sense, a super high energy dance and super synchronised dance will look really really good even if the dancers do not have any dance background. It’s just really hard work and super tiring because you will need work doubly hard at Synchro and Energy to mask any inexperience. So remember these 2 words – Synchronisation and Energy, and chant them to yourself every night before you sleep.
Lastly we may also need to work on the performance factor – being able to let go of any uncertainty, shyness etc and just let it all out on stage and really play to the audience. Make them unable to take their eyes off you.
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Now let’s take a virtual dance lecture with the help of Youtube to explore some example of synchro and energy
(it took me a really long time to find these vids so please watch and gather any lessons you can from them)
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPG9f6GqmxI
No synchronisation and no energy at all. Dance looks terrible. The choreography is excellent but is let down by dancers who look under rehearsed, unsure and uncertain near the start of the dance.
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFmRH5qV1t4
Some attempt at synchronisation but very low energy level. To me, this group of dancers are not shy and doing an okay job of “performing” for the audience. They look like they are having some fun on stage but the energy level is terribly low. Again, this dance doesn’t impress.
3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKqySyXRqTc
Some effort at energy by certain dancers but overall as a group, the dancers seem to be unsure and holding something back and some moves look like they are done half-heartedly sometimes (e.g hands half extend instead of fully extend, moves not executed fully etc) Check out the boy though – while not the best dancer, he is able to exude confidence on stage so you want to look at him at the start. Very commendable
Now lets look at some positive examples:
4) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpKXA3e0G_I
Sychro, synchro, synchro. The dancers are actually dancing to a ballad that has almost no heavy beats at all but look at the synchronisation!! This proves that with synchronisation, you don’t need hard hitting or complicated steps to impress. In fact, you don’t even need dance music.
5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=filE8o1o0zg
Energy energy energy. There is no sound in this video but even without that, the energy level really bursts out right at ya! With such a big group, synchro is very hard but it almost becomes a non-factor in this dance because of the immense energy level of the group.
6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csNeQozw6LE
Synchro and energy. Wow….
Lastly lets look at a bunch of folks dancing to our song. Quite synchro, energy is not the greatest… but most important thing is, they look like they are really having fun.
7) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdTL7Xl3mT4
Class dismissed… now let’s dance!
~Prof Jason
Disclaimer: I’m just using the videos to illustrate the difference that synchro and energy makes – not to put any of those dancers down. Dance is an endless lesson and we are all just humble students.
