Important note: The body that you will see in the following videos is that of a white male. A white male body is an unjustly privileged body in this American culture; therefore, the story that this body tells is in no way normative for any other non-white, female, or non-gendered body. Your body's story is unique, powerful, and beautiful.

DEMONSTRATION VIDEOS (BELOW) TO HELP YOU

DEVELOP A MOVEMENT STYLE AND TECHNIQUE

Your body as a teacher of technique and skill vs. a dance class

Your body has both the intelligence and skill to tell its story through movement. Taking dance classes to help you with skill building and technique is fine but in the end it is your body that will be expressing all of the movement story telling. So you want your movement to be shaped by your body not the style or technique of any particular dance class. Your body is your best teacher when it comes to developing the skills to execute your movement. Trust it, listen to it, let the energy flowing in and through it provide the most powerful, efficient, and clear routes to building skill and technique. Your body will give you both the movement and the skills to express that same movement.

Below you will find two elementary ways to begin developing your movement style and technique:

1) Movement metaphors and associations based on the idea of stored and released energy.

Within any series of movements there is often a number of places where energy is built up or stored and then released. Contraction or compression and expansion is the physical movement expression of this energy cycle. Another simple analogy of energy flow cycles is to think of breathing- inhale and exhale.

Below you will see a number of kinds of movement that express this build up and release cycle that you can use to enrich the variety of movement available to you. You can use these movements to punctuate any flow of energy either internal or external. As you watch the video clips, look for these compression/expansion cycles.

2) Elements of movement style and technique.

Because ShapeShifing is all about your body telling its story as energy moves within and through it, certain elements will begin to repeat and reveal themselves. Your body’s intelligence will hone these elements so that they will become part of your movement technique. This will become part of your movement style.

One way to assist your body as it develops its own style of spontaneous movement expression/meditation is to move to music. It becomes a kind of an energy partner to which your body can respond. Music can create an energy atmosphere in which your body can craft its story. Music can help create a framework in which your body can develop both a technique and style. Music creates “situations” to which your body can respond and thus reveal the stories it has to tell.

The video clips listed below illustrate some of the elements or facets that make up ShapeShifting. You will probably find your own unique elements as your body continues to tell its stories.