New processes, new goals!

Hello! Thank you very much for being back in our blog. We hope that you’re enjoying it as much as we are enjoying this project. At this time, we are developing the second block based on balance and coordination. This block is especially crucial, because it develops skills that are both basic in dancing training and the development of any professional dancer.

After our second residence in Rotterdam, we have begun to focus specifically on the development of these skills after having pondered some factors.  With the first results of the tests, we continue investigating in  the processes and what we observe in their analysis. We observe that within our group, coordination is a strong point. However we must work in depth the balance. We must continue to strengthen the feet and ankles as a support for the body since the dancers can perform exercises with quick balances but have a greater difficulty in prolonging balance. We also observed that this balance deficit affects the knees, so we have also decided to perform strengthening exercises on knees in balance. 

One of the most important lessons that this project is giving us, is the ability to think cooperatively in our work as teachers.  We are complementing all our knowledge through the thoughts and opinions provided by other members of the project.  

After starting the second block, we are becoming more aware of the importance of getting our dancers to develop the skills of an artistic and creative training and factors involving the body when performing certain movements. Developing their capacity of reflection and analysis are fundamental for their ability to dance as professionals. For this, we indicate what objectives we wanted to achieve with each exercise and the dancers themselves made the different proposals to achieve these objectives. For example, in an exercise of balance with some fabrics, they had to get to form solid structures with partners at different heights. 

We consider that body diversity is one of the masterpieces of our groups and therefore our role as educators is to properly transmit the techniques that allows them to access  to this concepts, as well as to make exercises 100% accessible. When we talk about balance, and how balance is involved in dance, we come to the conclusion that balance is not only statically, and implies movement; as well as in coordination, there are external and internal factors that intervene when developing it. 

As educators at this point appears to us a question: what’s the point in which the concepts of dance are no longer connected? The answer is almost always in the same: never. Regardless the search we undertake to develop specific capabilities, others are always involved conscious or unconsciously. 

This is why it is so important for us the reflections on the methodology. Concepts and goals that we are trying to develop in our dancers as well as those elements that enable them to understand and internalize the dance in its evolution, also personal, towards a professional commitment in a motivating and inspiring way. 

To conclude this blog, we’d like to highlight the great motivation that our group of dancers is facing towards the project and the major contribution it is making on us to reflect, learn and appreciate our own practice as teachers, as well as discovering amazing aspects in the dancers. We could summarize this great learning adventure with a quote from Nietzsche and the importance of learning to observe:  

“If you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.” 

Thank you for your attention, we´ll see you soon! 

The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.