Week 1 with Lily!
BodyStories: Teresa Fellion Dance is excited to be at the Ross Summer Program again this year! We’ve just finished our first week and it’s amazing how much progress we made. Ross started off with a small, focused group of only 3 dancers this holiday week, so everyone got plenty of one-on-one time with the teachers.
On Day 1, Teresa joined me for some contemporary work. After some warmups of leg swings, rolls and leaps, the students and teachers collaborated to create a contemporary dance set to Beyoncé’s “Halo.” Over the course of just one lesson, all three students developed focus and control. Watch the dance [HERE]!
Day 2 was something brand-new for Ross! Growing up in a Polish community with a Polish grandma, Polish folk dance was an important part of my dance training. It was so exciting to share this part of my identity with the students at Ross. Traditional Polish dance is done with a partner in a large group, and emphasizes strength, precision, and precise, accented rhythms. We practiced polkas and partnering, then rounded off the lesson with a variation of the Krakowiak, a traditional dance that first rose to popularity in 1830! Please take a look at our Krakowiak [HERE]!
Day 3 was jazz, which bears a surprising amount of similarities to the polkas, both emphasizing syncopated rhythms and decisive movements. My students used the musicality and control they developed from the previous two lessons to dig deep and feel the beat, hit their poses and move fluidly through them. It all came together in our final dance, an homage to “Center Stage” set to “The Way You Make Me Feel,” by Michael Jackson.
Week 1 was short, and there’s so much more ground I wanted to cover. In just three days, these dancers grew by leaps and bounds and we still have so much to look forward to!