Did You Know?

Dance trivia and more!

Thoughts On Improvisation by Bob Carroll

When I perform, I'm often given the choice of choreographing a piece or
doing improv. Nine times out of ten, I will go with the improv. My improv is
not pure. I don't go out and start to dance and just have magical wonderful
things come out of my feet that I have never done before. For me that is a
rare thing and It's only happened a few times for me. When it happens, I'm
in the zone. It feels like I can go anywhere on stage and that my feet can
do anything. I think it is like surfing a perfect wave or something. When I
dance I am hoping for this place. I usually do a structured improv where I
know the tune, I know how I'm getting on stage, I have some Ideas for things
I can go into (turns, slides, tricks) and I know how I'm going off or ending
it and I can run this with the band. The rest is open and I'm looking for
the "pure" groove. When your in the groove, the music is part of you and
your part of the music. It channels through your ears and your brain and
your soul and comes out your feet. When your "on" it is a wonderful thing.

Of course, we are not always on :-) Sometimes you can find yourself on stage
with your legs buckling under you and you can't find a step to save your
butt. You are naked and under the big light and there are 1000 people
looking at you. The tune that seemed great during rehearsal suddenly sounds
different. The producer is in the front row and it's not smiling. You can't
find the groove! How many shuffles have I done? I can't keep doing this wing
step 'cuz my legs are going! What happened to all that neat stuff I did last
rehearsal? I suck! I suck! I have been there and I have done that. Sometimes
when you ride the wave it pounds you on the gravel bottom.

I think that is why I do it; it's a rush, and it's scary. I also like it
because I'm not tied up in the studio for a month working on every little
detail of this and that and I can just go out and dance. It frees me up.
It's exciting. You don't know what's going to happen. The band usually likes
it because if they change something I can go with them. I tell the band that
there are no mistakes, just play and have fun.

If I hear the band play a tune on the day of the show and I don't know it,
and I like it, I can use it for the show. I'll use the same structure I had
before: maybe 16 bar intro, play the head (main chorus, melody) once, I
trade with someone, someone solos, I call stop-time, and the head big and
loud to go home. It's just a different tune. I'm calling the changes on
stage so the band just kind of keeps an ear open for me (I like that) and
plays. Sometimes I'll shut up and just let them pass the solos around; I'm
keeping an ear open for them (they like that:-).

If you don't improv a lot, you might just want to leave a chorus open in the
middle of your number and try it. If your doing a show with many tappers, do
the shim-sham at the end, trade fours or eights among the dancers, and when
you here the head come around holler "home", and everybody does the shim
sham or B.S. chorus one more time. This happens a lot in shows. Practice it
so everyone can hear the changes and it should be fun.

Happy tapping:>)

email: misskathleen@kathleenacademy.com

Kathleen Academy of Dance
411 Route 206, Hillsborough Township, Hillsborough, NJ 08844
908-359-8888

If you experience any problems with this site please contact: lgrillo@amenco.com
Website designed and maintained by "Amenco"