Dance Like Nobody's Watching Catalyst Quick Start May 2012 1 Everyone is a Dancer The Dance Like Nobody's Watching workshop was inspired by the transformation of one person. We help anyone experience the joy of discovering their own dancer. This workshop was designed to help people get out of their heads, into their bodies, and simply enjoy their own unique way of dancing. The LXD: Legion of Extraordinary Dancers If we can inspire others with a simple workshop, so can you! This guide covers the basics involved in putting together fun experiences opening your friends to a new, happy relationship with dance. Dance Inspiration People are attracted to dancing and are eager to have the freedom and courage they see in a dancer - it's a source of inspiration. Participants want a spark and may be counting on you to light that spark. Any passion you bring to the table, with a genuine interest that they have fun learning to open up to music and dance, is very beneficial. 2 Bring your enthusiasm and belief that this workshop produces amazing results. Tell stories of people who've turned over a new leaf that makes them think "wow! I want that!" Be someone they can count on to provide a safe space - they have nothing to be embarrassed about and are free to make mistakes and be plain silly. Lead the group with confidence. Be effective inviting participants to do things they may otherwise never do on their own. Helping people cross boundaries makes people feel uncomfortable at first and it's your job to help them feel okay about it and feel like they're expanding, learning, and growing. Make the experience infectious. Your energy rubs off on the group and creates new leaders who, just like you, will want to give the gift of dance and music to others! Just Dance Producing a workshop consists of the following steps: 1. Choosing a Date and Time 2. Securing a Space 3. Confirming Participants 4. Designing Your Agenda 5. Running Your Workshop 6. Following Up 3 By when? Simply saying when your workshop will happen is very powerful. Choosing a date and time, how many people will participate, for how long, and where it's going to happen is the beginnings of a successful workshop. Be imaginative and envision what might happen when the workshop is complete! Place matters. One of the wonderful things about dance is it can be done anytime, anywhere. You can be resourceful by throwing a workshop in public in the middle of Golden Gate Park or you could choose a more private space - it's a tradeoff. Think about your targeted audience and how safe of a place you want to provide. If you decide to go indoors, choose a place without mirrors. Remember, the goal is choose a space your friends feel like nobody’s watching! Gathering Interest Reach out to your friends and get them excited about why you love dancing. Your enthusiasm alone gets people interested and if they are not, it’s ok - sometimes dance is the art of letting people be. Let them know about the date, time, and place you have chosen and get a clear yes or no. If they are not ready to make a decision or have to clear some matters first, be sure to get a time to check in. 4 Experience Design The fun part is you get to say what's going to happen and it's time to fill in the details! The first step is to map a sequence of exercises to a timeline. What you see below is a suggested framework where each category represents a "bucket" of available exercises you may choose from. Refer to Appendix A for details behind each of the sample exercises listed below: Sequence # Category Sample Exercise 0 Opening Introduction 1 Grounding Being a Tree 2 Boundaries Energy Spheres 3 Expression:Music Talking Hands 4 Integration:Body Body Isolation 5 Style Dance Dimensions 6 Integration:Style Multi-Dimensions 7 Character Dance Personas 8 Expansion Dance All Out 9 Closing Completion ∞ Freedom Open Dance Sound of Music It is possible to lead a workshop without music. Music is a tool available to help you guide the experience and has the added benefit of keeping you on your desired timeline. If this is your first workshop, we recommend you use music and be aware how the music you choose affects the experience of your participants. As you gain experience, you'll soon discover ways of leading without music. 5 Sensitivity to Others As you choose your exercises (and associated music), be aware people can be in two very different places: 1. Ready to burst and be excited at a moment's notice. You will find them extroverted, wanting to socialize and engage and in many respects, ready to party! :) Let them contribute to your workshop. 2. Very mellow, wanting to chill out, have their private space. You may find them introverted and very selective in their interactions with others - they may just want to watch. It's important you let these folks focus more on discovering themselves. They accepted your invite for a reason. Showtime! The big day has arrived! Arrive at the designated place early and prepare the space to be inviting. You’re welcome to make a first impression as the host of your event. Have the agenda you designed with you in case you need to refer to it. However the workshop unfolds is perfect. Genuine Connections First, it helps to reduce distractions. Your friends will thank you for it. Don't just eliminate for distraction’s sake. Eliminate those that will help them feel like nobody is watching. Some recommendations: 1. Close window shades if indoors. 2. If you are holding your workshop in a location that has access to the Internet or the cell phone, kindly invite people to turn their devices off. 3. Start the workshop on time even if others are late. instincts. 6 Follow your best Delivery Tips Your attitude as a workshop leader is critical. We recommend you review the Dance Inspiration section before you lead and follow these quick tips: • Stay positive - nothing anyone does is ever “wrong” • Don't ever “correct” a participant - invite them to notice how things feel and whether something is working for them • Be unabashed and visibly enjoy the exercises • Be definitive in instructions (not too vague) and make sure you're not commanding, keep your sense of play! Pay It Forward So you've delivered the workshop and it's time to let your participants take their discoveries into "the real world" and see what happens. You'll find some people don't even know what they discovered and others who just can't wait and are bursting at the seams to keep dancing! Some people will come back to you sharing how wonderful the experience is and how they would want this for anyone. Others may need your reaching out to them and asking them how things are going and helping them see what they might not notice. The best recipe is to let people be and you'll soon discover people will naturally ask if there will be another workshop and may even ask if they can help you lead a workshop for their friends. This is your opportunity to share how easy it is, listen, and support them in making it happen! 7 Now What? Thank you for Dancing Like Nobody’s Watching and being part of a vision everyone has a chance to explore themselves and interact with others playfully and with freedom. This guide is made possible in thanks to all the volunteers of the Dance Labs community who share your passion for building community through dance. It is people like you who take the time & effort to get people excited about what's possible around dance that allows us to provide what you have in your hands as a gift to you and your friends. After the workshop is over, you may discover you and your friends overflowing with ideas where this workshop might go next. You may feel a natural inclination to adapt it in countless number of ways. We put our work in the Creative Commons to make it easy for you & your friends to adapt, modify, and build upon. We ask you (1) request permission if you decide to adapt our work for commercial use (2) ensure you give credit, and (3) give others the same ability to adapt what you come up with in return. Whether you add your own ideas or not is great - do what works for you! We’re excited to hear all your amazing stories big and small and when things don’t seem to be going in the direction you expect - we want you to know we are here for you. Please don't hesitate to reach out to us at <catalyst@dancelabs.com> or pick up the phone and call our “Dance Hotline” at +1 (443) 4-CHALAT. We have a ton of resources to support an exciting new journey as a “Dance Catalyst.” A warm welcome to our community and if you’re having fun, you are most certainly doing it the Dance Labs way! :) The Dance Labs community http://www.dancelabs.com 8 Appendix A Details Behind Sample Exercises 9 INTRODUCTION Category: Opening Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes Music: optional background music Conversation • “It’s time to get into your body. We’re going to discover and revel in your inner dancer.” • “Over the next hour, you will explore how you move and reinvent who you are as a dancer.” • “‘Dance’ for some people is a loaded word. Who can share one word that describes how you relate to dance?” • Have a few participants volunteer. Be prepared for anything from “life” to “scared” to anything in between. • If participants focus on just positive words, invite them to share negative words! • “Some exercises may land for you and others may not. It’s ok - wherever you are is great. Give the exercises your 100% and see what sticks.” • “No judgment here, no one is evaluating if you’re a ‘good dancer’ or are ‘looking good’” • “Be responsible for your well being and those around you” • “drink water if you need to - it’s okay to take a break and step out of the workshop” • “Let’s get started!” Contributions: Ted Ko BEING A TREE Category: Grounding Preparation Time: 5 minutes Music: none Steps • “Stand in a relaxing position” • “Loosen shoulders, head” • “Visualize you are a tree. How does it react to wind?” • “Imagine energy going through a tree from its roots up through its trunk and out through its branches into the sky” Inquiries none (be in your body, not in your head!) ENERGY SPHERES Category: Boundaries, Grounding Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes Music: optional Steps • “play with energy between hands” • “feel weight in one hand” • “flow from one hand to another” • “create an energy sphere” • left leg • “imagine moving sphere down left leg” • thigh, knees, calf, ankle, foot, out through toes • right leg • “recreate sphere” • repeat above sequence with right leg • space for oneself • “recreate sphere” • “expand/stretch sphere larger than self” • “step inside your sphere” • “be aware of your own space” • “round out your space” (don’t forget behind you!) Inquiries “Consider the value of creating your own space - a space that works.” Contributions: Arete Center for Excellence TALKING HANDS Category: Expression:Music Preparation Time: 5-7 minutes Music: [3 or 4 very different types] • All I Need – Air [start 0:20] • Let’s Get Retarded – Black Eyed Peas [start 0:28] • Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ - MJ Steps • Express with just hands • Point out different kinds of music • Point out different ways people interpret same music Completion “If you discovered something new in how you like to express music, acknowledge that now so you can keep using it!” Contributions: Ted Ko BODY ISOLATION Category: Integration:Body Preparation Time: 10 minutes Music: [ Fun, upbeat, no vocals ideally ] • 1: One O’clock Jump – Count Basie • 2: Cantaloop - Us3 [start 0:10] Steps • 1: Isolation • Feet • Knees • Hands, fingers • Elbows • Hips • Shoulders • Head • Chest • 2: Integrate (upper body, lower body, everything) Inquiries “Notice if something is not moving. It’s ok if it isn’t, but if you’d like it to, just focus and isolate that for a bit until you feel you can integrate it with the rest of your body” Completion “If you discovered something new in how you like to express music, acknowledge that now so you can keep using it!” Contributions: Ted Ko DANCE DIMENSIONS Category: Style Preparation Time: 5 minutes Music: [steady instrumental] • Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas [start 0:15] Forever – Chris Brown [start 0:06] • Steps • Invite participants to distinguish textures as they listen to music: 1.big vs small 2.smooth vs jerky (analogy that works w kids: “water vs robots”) 3.fast vs slow Contributions: Tamalpa Institute MULTI-DIMENSIONS Categories: Integration:Style Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes Music: [steady instrumental] • Closer – Ne-Yo [start 0:16] • Groove Is In the Heart - Deee-Lite [start 0:04] Steps Lead just like Dance Dimensions and layer multiple textures together: 1. big, jerky and fast 2.small and smooth 3. big, smooth, and slow 4.etc. Completion “Was there a style or dimension that felt particularly good? Acknowledge yourself.” Contributions: Ted Ko DANCE PERSONAS Categories: Character Preparation Time: 5-10 minutes Music: reference each persona below Steps • Select a persona below and play associated music • Invite participants to take on the persona, feel free to exaggerate and have fun! • Repeat with each persona. Persona Example Music Dance like your most masculine self Disturbia - Rihanna Dance like your most feminine self Disturbia - Rihanna Dance like your 4 year old self Paper Planes - M.I.A. [0:10] Dance like you’re a movie star Here Comes the Hotstepper - Ini Kamoze [:04] Dance like the world is full of possibility Orinoco Flow [0:15] Dance like there’s no one else here Just Dance [0:04] Contributions: Gayle Karen Young, Ted Ko DANCE ALL OUT Category: Expansion Ingredients Time: 3-5 minutes Music: [high energy, positive] • You and Me Bottle – BBVD Steps • “Put on music, run around and do whatever you want full out, but for only 5 seconds.” • “You only have a few moments to get all that energy out, express how great it is to be alive.” • “Dance, run around, hop up and down, whoop, yell, grunt whatever! We encourage to play with all of it!” • Freeze when music stops • Have people go all out for 5 seconds, then 10 seconds, then 20 seconds, etc. Completion “How did it feel to put everything out there? Consider whether you held back at all even though you could be sure no one was looking at you. If it felt good and free, remember that feeling in your body” Contributions: Landmark Education COMPLETION Category: Closing Preparation Time: 3-5 minutes Music: none Steps • Let everyone settle down • Ask how everyone is feeling • “If you’re feeling good, relaxed, loose, remember that and remember that for a bit of time there you were fully out there, expressing whatever you felt without thinking anyone was watching” • If you’re done early, tell everyone we’ll be providing some more dance music. • “We’d appreciate it if you could share how your experience was today. You can:” • “Sign our DanceBook,” or • “Leave 10 seconds video feedback before you exit the room.” • “If we may follow up on your experience, please leave your contact info.” • “If you are interested in sharing this experience with your community, please take a copy of our Catalyst QuickStart Guide.” • THANK THEM for their awesome participation and playing the game of LIFE! Contributions: Ted Ko OPEN DANCE Category: Freedom Preparation Time: open (10-20 minutes) Music: [fun, upbeat dance tunes (eg. Classic 80’s)] • • • • • Everybody Dance Now – C+C Music Factory Just Dance – Lady Gaga Turn the Beat Around – Gloria Estefan Livin’ La Vida Loca – Ricky Martin Don’t Stop the Music - Rihanna Steps • Start the music • Invite everyone to freestyle with themselves and with others. • Celebrate and express what it is to be free! Completion Let participants be! Let them acknowledge their own transformation as a direct result of being themselves. <EXERCISE TEMPLATE> Category: <choose a category. See Experience Design> Preparation Time: <length of exercise> Music: <optional: suggested music> Steps • <insert steps to lead exercise> Inquiries <optional: anything leaders might want to consider asking participants to notice while you are leading this exercise?> Completion <optional: anything to complete the exercise before moving on?> Contributions: <...> All images contained in this document remain property of their respective owners. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. +1 (443) 4-CHALAT catalyst@dancelabs.com