Today was our stage presence workshop presented by Jamilla who came up from Moab. The first thing Jamilla had us do was share what we felt were our weaknesses that we wanted to work on: posture, arms, spacial relationship, and smiling were among some of those items.
To start off we worked on our spacial relationship with our sister dancers. Jamilla taught us "if we breath together, we dance together". Then we went through some breathing exercises to help open up to our surroundings with each other.
The picture above shows our lines as we were learning the tribal pow-wow. The last time we went through the dance it was feeling really good, like we were all coming together as one.
Here are some other things we were taught. Make sure to stretch your feet/ankles. We need to take care of them or else we wouldn't be able to dance. You need to lift your arms from the elbow, wrist and then fingers. Do not let your arms hang in purgatory. Put your angle wings in your pocket.
Another item we all need to work on is eye contact. Yes, it can be scary but we can all do it. Next we should work on our facial expression. Remember a-e-i-o-u and practice in front of the mirror. Think of what your are trying to express through your dancing. The final item I can remember is to watch your shadow and what your lines are doing.
We thank Jamilla for coming out to teach us and Odessa for organizing the event. If you remember anything else that you learned please share.
Happy dancing!
