Improvisation in Partner social dance with Michael Parmenter

A series of workshops that explore the language of improvisation in partner social dance. The workshops focus on the lead/follow connection that allows two dancers, irrespective of gender, to communicate and create together, and deal with the manipulation of shared vocabularies of movement and with real-time invention.

Workshop 1 - Sat 1 April - 4pm to 6pm - The Consent to Lead, the Confidence to Listen – the lead/follow dynamic in improvisational partner dance.
No matter whether it’s Salsa or Tango, Balfolk, Blues or Ballroom, the principles of the lead/follow dynamic remain the same. An introduction to the fundamentals of connection and communication for improvisation in any partner dance form.

Workshop 2 - Wed 5 April - 6:30pm to 8:30pm - The Long and Short of Partner Improvisation – playing with the grammar of time and space.
Most partner dance forms work on a differentiation in height levels and between slower and quicker steps to create a shared understanding of vocabulary that allows not only the mixing of multiple dance figures, but ultimately the real-time invention of new ones.

Workshop 3 - Wed 26 April - 6:30pm to 8:30pm - “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”: Union, Independence or Switch in the Partner Dance Connection
Different partner dance forms allow for different degrees of union or independence in the partner dance relationship. Through Waltz and Blues dance we will look at two extreme cases of union and independence/dialogue. In these two dances we will also look at the possibilities of Switching roles, sometimes between dances, sometimes mid-stream.