After picking a song and getting started, next I need to fill in the rest of the movement. The best way I can think to describe this part is comparing it to a painting. So far I have the outline or a rough sketch, and now I need to fill in the colors. My “color palette" contains all of my training in dance and in fitness, as well as other things I might see or experience.
Rather than just grabbing whatever color is available, I need to take in the whole picture and see what overall look I want to achieve, and also what else I’ve done recently so I can try to add variety. So, bringing it back to choreography, I need to take into account the genre and the tempo of the music and if a certain style of movement works best for the song, and also try not to over-utilize any movements I’ve done in the past few routines.
Some examples: a few of our songs are Swing, some are Latin, some are Rock & Roll, some are Waltz. These styles will all pull from a different “color palette” or even use the same “colors” but with different “brush strokes.” (A triple step, a cha-cha-cha, and a chase´ are all a two-step but with a different feel!)
For this month’s standing routine, I was motivated by the workout that I’ve been doing at home, which is a Barre class (like a ballet barre, not the other kind of bar!) This class combines aspects of ballet, pilates, and yoga into a fitness class. It’s been a while since I’ve done a routine focused on toning, and the slower tempo of this song is a good match for the intentional movements. In order to avoid repeating any combinations directly from another routine, I doubled up movements on one side before switching to the next, adding a new element of coordination and balance.
For this month’s seated routine, most of my “colors” came to mind just from hearing the song. Here I thought more about my canvas—I originally was creating this routine for Assisted Living, which I’ll make a little easier than the routines for Independent Living. Once I decided to use it for both, I saw places where I could add more texture. I wanted to take out the piano that we’re already doing in another routine and add some fun footwork, so I played around with the feet until it was something new (funky feet!). I wanted to add more coordination challenges, so I found a place where I could add shoulder mobility along with an easier footwork pattern. Same colors, but more detail and texture.
Just like with a visual artist, I don’t always know exactly how or why I come up with a movement, but once I do I make sure to test it out and make sure it is safe, fun, and effective for my senior population!
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