Improvisation Games for Dance

There are 12 Improvisation Gateways presented here as improvisation 'games' you can use for your home practice.

However, the possibilities are infinite.

You will find that each gateway can be explored on its own. Use them individually to challenge the full range of your dance ability, and fully explore the wisdom each one contains.

Using them together allows you to create a multi-faceted composition. Stunning dance performance has many layers. These improvisation techniques will assist you to identify these layers, and improve your dance artistry.

Eventually, you may find that you are guided into new gateways. You will begin to flow into patterns that are all your own. The boundaries of these exercises will fade and blend into a dance that is unique and fully you.

They are also a check list to assist in the creation of “stunning” dance choreography.

Body Parts

Welcome one body part to the dance
Isolate it
Give it your full attention
Listen to it's wisdom, it's messages
Explore it
Set it free

Feet, Knees, Hips, Spine, Chest, Torso, Arms, Head, Hands

photo courtesy of jubilo haku

Sacred Shapes

Choose a Sacred Shape
Dance it in every body part
Dance it on the floor
Dance it throughout the room

Circles, Undulations, Spirals, Lines, Shimmies, Eternities

photo courtesy of jubilo haku

For more instructions on the Sacred Shapes, click here

Pathways

Journeys
Adventures
Directions
Navigation
Destiny

photo courtesy of vgm8383

From the Center to Infinity
From the Edge of the World, back Home
Through the Wilderness of Life
Into the Essence of Being

Connecting Heart to Heart
Joining Movements together
Traveling from one Destination to another

How many paths and passageways can you create as you dance?

Movement/Stillness

Calm, Tranquil, Peace
Change, Transform, Bestir

In Stillness there is Anticipation
In Movement there is Fulfillment
Create moments of Pause and Reflection
Give purpose to Motion and Doing

Perceive the Stillness within motion,
Be the Movement within Stillness

photo courtesy of jubilo haku

Melody/Rhythm

Give percussion to your hips and heart
Give the song to your spine and hands
(or choose from inifinite possibilities)

Dance them apart from eachother
Bring them together
Precisely

When the melody is strong, let it sculpt your movement
When the beat pulses with power, let it dance you

photo courtesy of Varjohaltia

Be the Vision of the Music

Layering Seeds

In the Garden of Dance
Seeds of Movement Blossom and Grow

Plant a shape in the Garden of your Body
Let it take form
Take another “seed” and layer it into the dance

photo courtesy of Runs With Scissors

Layer different body parts – head and hands dance with chest
Move snaking arms with circling hips
Shimmy-shimmer your waving spine

Make it a game
Make it a challenge

In the Garden of Dance
Flowers of Movement Unite and Flow

Gesture Weaving

Take up threads of motion
Flowing, Sharp, Chaotic, Gentle
Take up threads of emotion
Fear, Serenity, Anger, Sorrow, Joy

Weave them together

photo courtesy of Runs With Scissors

Knit a cloak to Mesmerize
With beads and sparkles of Surprise
Ride a magic carpet into foreign landscapes of Movement
Bring out color and texture and shape

Live the Beautiful Tapestry of a Dancing Life

Heaven/Earth

We all come from Earth and Heaven
Our feet walk while our spirits soar
Our thoughts are lofty while we lay on the ground

As you dance, invoke all realms of existence
Touch the Earth
Gaze Heavenward

Be the Bridge between Worlds
Unbounded, Limitless

photo courtesy of Runs With Scissors

Within/Out

There is a dance that goes on inside of us
the flow of pain into joy
the pulse of heart and spirit
Within

And dance is happening all around us
the Experience of sight and sound, taste and touch
Encountering what exists outside of Self
Out

If we dance only what is “outside”
we risk becoming superficial and invasive
If we dance only what is “inside”
we may become too private, abstract and egocentric

It is our Relationship that gives meaning to dance
(All we do, who we are)
As we share and receive, balance and falter
We dance Within and Out and Between

photo courtesy of jolynne_martinez

WOW

photo courtesy of VelvetJAM

Unforgettable, not just interesting
Inspiring, not just impressive
Dance that stirs to the very core
Dance that takes us our of our skin
and makes the heart quicken

This is the dance we want to witness
This is the dance we want to do
Take a chance, risk it
Shimmy harder
Spin longer
Stretch farther

WOW!

photo courtesy of Varjohaltia

Ecstatic Trance

Trance dance is spontaneity in the purest sense
Wild Abandon
Freedom of Spirit
Ancient Healing

Take the path into the wilderness of your Soul
Move to Let Go
Surrender to the Music
Become Oblivious
Lose Control (just for this moment)

Let the dance move within you, through you,
all about and around you

Motifs

Creating combinations
with 'One-World' awareness

Take a movement learned outside of bellydance
a Spanish, or Hawaiian motif perhaps (traveling step, gesture)
Bring it to your studio 'laboratory'

photo courtesy of timekin

Blend and combine it with other movements you love
Jazz it up, Layer it, Play with it
Find the music that brings it out
Let it become a part of you

India, Asia, Latin, Romany
Peoples of the Coasts and Islands
Peoples of the Mountains and Valleys
Peoples of the Forests and Plains
We all live together on one Glorious Earth

The diversity of Humanity
Honored by your artistry
United in your dance

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