brujo
10-30-2003, 02:47 AM
Dance-Mentor asked for it, so here it is. My little blurb about applying the idea of offers in improv comedy to salsa. Do I get Extra credit for turning this in early?
I’ve finished my third eight-week improv workshop at the Second City in Toronto recently. Interestingly, Improv is not focused on making you funny, but rather teaches skills that are used to construct a story on the fly, using nothing more than the actors’ body as a tool. Naturally, these same skills can be used to build a dynamic story in the salsa dance floor as well. An important skill that I’ve learned in improv is the ability to identify and say yes to an offer.
In improv, an offer is a physical, emotional or verbal gift from one improviser to another. The offer can be used to advance the storyline of the current scene, and is the key to dynamic interaction between the actors in the scene. By saying yes to an offer, you accept the reality that the other improviser builds and add kindling to the fire of your imagination. If you reject the offer, you eliminate all the momentum that has been build up to that point, and you have to start over again.
If you look around on the dance floor, you will find offers all around you. The most obvious one is the music. Sudden breaks, solos on the congas and changing instruments all provide excellent opportunities to do something different and unique. If I hear a conga solo coming up, I can freeze my move half way, and just use my partner as a drum, playfully tapping with my palms on her shoulders, arms, head and, um, other regions.
An offer can come from anywhere, and anything can be made into an offer. I was dancing with a girl this weekend, and she had on a little horse-tail like whip attached to her belt. Whenever she would turn, the belt would make this little arc around her body. I took this to be an offer. For half the dance, I tried leading moves that would allow her tail to be near me and try to grab it while she playfully twirled away. It was not the most technical of dances I’ve ever had, but it was certainly one of my most memorable ones.
Alternately, you can throw offers at your partner’s way and see how she reacts to them. You will be surprised at how many offers your body can generate. The most powerful offers are emotional ones, which you can communicate easily with eye contact and facial expressions. If you look at the women with fiery passionate eyes during a salsa romantica, this attitude alone will add an intensity previously missing in the dance. My favorite part of dancing is when you throw something at your partner, she modifies it, throws it back, and you keep pingponging the offer back and forth.
Mistakes can easily be turned into offers as well. One evening my partner missed my hand during a hand-switch, resulting in me just being able to grab her right hand. This was a perfect offer. For the rest of the night, I danced with her holding her right hand only. We would keep dancing and I would switch hands, but always just keep holding on to her right hand. She caught on after about six moves, and tried giving me her left hand, but I finished the dance with her right hand only, with big stupid grins on both our faces.
A key idea in improv is finding the sense of play in the mundane. Often, we are too obsessed with turn patterns and technique that we neglect all the fun we could be having on the dance floor. As adults, we are taught that certain things must be taken seriously. We worry about what the people around us might think. But how much harm could a little silliness do? So the next time you’re on the dance floor, watch for all the offers that are around you. Who knows, maybe you might even like it!
Happy hunting!
-brujo
I’ve finished my third eight-week improv workshop at the Second City in Toronto recently. Interestingly, Improv is not focused on making you funny, but rather teaches skills that are used to construct a story on the fly, using nothing more than the actors’ body as a tool. Naturally, these same skills can be used to build a dynamic story in the salsa dance floor as well. An important skill that I’ve learned in improv is the ability to identify and say yes to an offer.
In improv, an offer is a physical, emotional or verbal gift from one improviser to another. The offer can be used to advance the storyline of the current scene, and is the key to dynamic interaction between the actors in the scene. By saying yes to an offer, you accept the reality that the other improviser builds and add kindling to the fire of your imagination. If you reject the offer, you eliminate all the momentum that has been build up to that point, and you have to start over again.
If you look around on the dance floor, you will find offers all around you. The most obvious one is the music. Sudden breaks, solos on the congas and changing instruments all provide excellent opportunities to do something different and unique. If I hear a conga solo coming up, I can freeze my move half way, and just use my partner as a drum, playfully tapping with my palms on her shoulders, arms, head and, um, other regions.
An offer can come from anywhere, and anything can be made into an offer. I was dancing with a girl this weekend, and she had on a little horse-tail like whip attached to her belt. Whenever she would turn, the belt would make this little arc around her body. I took this to be an offer. For half the dance, I tried leading moves that would allow her tail to be near me and try to grab it while she playfully twirled away. It was not the most technical of dances I’ve ever had, but it was certainly one of my most memorable ones.
Alternately, you can throw offers at your partner’s way and see how she reacts to them. You will be surprised at how many offers your body can generate. The most powerful offers are emotional ones, which you can communicate easily with eye contact and facial expressions. If you look at the women with fiery passionate eyes during a salsa romantica, this attitude alone will add an intensity previously missing in the dance. My favorite part of dancing is when you throw something at your partner, she modifies it, throws it back, and you keep pingponging the offer back and forth.
Mistakes can easily be turned into offers as well. One evening my partner missed my hand during a hand-switch, resulting in me just being able to grab her right hand. This was a perfect offer. For the rest of the night, I danced with her holding her right hand only. We would keep dancing and I would switch hands, but always just keep holding on to her right hand. She caught on after about six moves, and tried giving me her left hand, but I finished the dance with her right hand only, with big stupid grins on both our faces.
A key idea in improv is finding the sense of play in the mundane. Often, we are too obsessed with turn patterns and technique that we neglect all the fun we could be having on the dance floor. As adults, we are taught that certain things must be taken seriously. We worry about what the people around us might think. But how much harm could a little silliness do? So the next time you’re on the dance floor, watch for all the offers that are around you. Who knows, maybe you might even like it!
Happy hunting!
-brujo