04.29.08
Rhythm and Movement Classes
Basic Rhythms in Word Doc
Sometimes I feel like I’m perpetually moving backwards when it comes to teaching rhythm for dancers. It only seems this way because people come and go (sometimes frequently) and not everyone who puts themselves in a class to learn rhythm or percussion is *completely* enthusiastic about learning the rhythms. I think at some points, when we had to go back to square one with the arrival of a new student in the group….the group usually lost momentum and pooped out.
In my early teaching days I was perhaps a bit too militant. I had a vision, I had a goal and I was going to ramrod those ideals down the throats of anyone who would take a class from me. Then I became too lenient, I just wanted anyone to want to play zils or pick up a drum….I just wanted people to want to play rhythm. For a very long while we would try to have weekly movement and music classes, but sometimes it can become wearisome when there isn’t the kind of participation you would like or expect.
Well, I started up a new Rhythm and Movement class (a two parter no less) earlier this month. The set up for the class is that the first hour from 6:45 - 7:45 is basic rhythms, learning them as well as technique for playing said rhythms either with zils or on a drum..or a steering wheel..or …I think you probably get the idea. The second half of the class from 8-9 is more eagerly attended and involves incorporating the rhythms learned and practiced in the first hour with improvisational movement as well as learning to play for a dancer.
For the most part the classes have been great and it was a complete triumph a couple of weeks ago when only one person showed for “Zohar’s” troupe practice. Ashley and Emily, the Zohar troupe leaders, decided they might as well join us, so we gained 3 people instantly and had a great group of 9 people including myself. The energy of the evening was brilliant because two girls had never played a drum or zils and neither of them had any previous rhythm experience. So, with 7 not-so-much veterans and 2 complete novices we managed to all play together (zils and drums) while going back and forth between two rhythms (Maqsum and Ayoub). Eventually we split the class into two groups, one group playing Maqsum and Ayoub, the other group dancing while playing zils! WHOA! Naturally there was a swap off, and again, everyone did beautifully.
I had a rough time sleeping that night because I was so stoked after class. People were excited, I saw the little gleams in their eyes…and most of all, I think everyone felt that beautiful sense of community and sharing/creating something that would only happen in that instant.
We’re not perfect (yet), but in the mean time, I will motivate towards an ideal of just ‘playing respectably in a group’ and in turn, I will be motivated by the students’ enthusiasm and not care about perfection.
