Blog Posts - WENDY JONES DANCE

WENDY JONES DANCE

Dance Is Home #10- Get Loud

4/30/2020

Inspired by the 2 Minutes at 7pm #GetLoudForOurHeros, my 10th Dance Is Home is dedicated to our frontline workers.

Let’s make dances in appreciation of our frontline workers.

In your house:

Look for something that will make noise, like a pot or pan and spoon.
Play with different rhythms and sounds.
Create three movements that share gratitude.
Connect these rhythms and movements.

In recent weeks I’ve enjoyed the 7pm #GetLoudForOurHeros demonstration of solidarity and gratitude for our frontline workers. Let’s use this brilliant idea of showing support with sound that connects across spaces and places to make a dance. I encourage you to perform it at 7pm for our heroes. Remember this mini dance can be as simple or complex as you want… use any of the suggestions below to expand on it. It’s yours to make!

Can you:

Use the rhythms you created to make movements.

Create a phrase that can be repeated for two minutes.
Find other ways to make noise.
Accelerate, jump, clap, bow.

Today’s focus: TIME-ENERGY
Happy dance making!!

Would love to see your #danceishome
Please tag me @jonesdanceco so we can see what you made.
#GetLoudForOurHeroes#ClapForOurCarers#ClapBecauseWeCare
For more information on #GetLoudForOurHeros go to:
https://www.sfstation.com/san-francisco-make-noise-for-frontline-workers-every-evening-at-7pm-e2411630

Dance is Home #9- Table Manners

4/27/2020

Let’s make dances while we #shelterinplace

In your house:

Sit at your dining table or wherever you eat your meals.
Break from your typical table manners and find different ways to move your body at the table.
Add dinnerware to make sounds and shapes.
Choose where the audience would sit/stand and watch the dance.

A delicious score that explores movement potential at your dining table. Adding everyday dinnerware like plates, utensils, cups, should make this a fun and interactive piece. Perhaps you perform this dance at your next family dinner! Have fun moving in this defined space and use any of the suggestions below to expand on this mini-dance. Remember this can be as simple or complex as you want. It’s yours to make. Take your time and play!

Can you:

Separate upper and lower body movement.
“Play” with rules: no elbows on table, sit nicely, stand, use your napkin, don’t slurp.
Be inspired by a memorable time at a meal with family or friends to make movement.
Reach, pass, laugh, lift.

Today’s focus: BODY, SPACE and RELATIONSHIPS.

Happy dance making!!
Would love to see your #danceishome
Please tag me @jonesdanceco so we can see what you made.

Dance is Home #8- Inside Art

4/23/2020

Dive inside a piece of art and escape reality.

In your house:

Choose a painting or photograph.
Imagine that you are inside the piece of art.
Create a story that involves you inside the piece.
Reflect the story through movement.

In “Sound On” (#7) earlier this week, I enjoyed the opportunity to pause, listen, and try new styles so much that I decided it would be fun to dive deeper, let go, and explore a new reality. This dance can go in many directions.

From following the brush strokes to having a chat with the painter, have fun, laugh, cry, or put on a costume. Play with being literal and abstract! Use any of the suggestions below to expand on this mini dance. Remember this can be as simple or complex as you want. It’s yours to make. Take your time and play!

Can you:

Give the piece a title.
Does your character have a name? What/who are you?
What relationships do you have with the images? How do you feel in the piece?
Float, analyze, carve, shift.

Today’s focus: RELATIONSHIPS-Why/When/With Who?

Happy dance making!!
Would love to see your #danceishome
Please tag me @jonesdanceco so we can see what you made.

Dance is Home #7- Sound On

4/20/2020

Finding movement inspiration from the sounds around us.

In your house:

Sit quietly and listen to the sounds in and around your home.
Describe the sounds on a piece of paper.
Let the sounds inspire movement.
Create a moving soundtrack that describes the sounds you discovered.

Let’s pause, take a moment and listen. Unmute the outside noise and invite it in. Give yourself permission to sit still, be quiet, and observe. Who knows... the buzzing of the refrigerator might take you on an exciting journey! Use any of the suggestions below to expand on this mini dance. Remember this can be as simple or complex as you want. It’s yours to make. Take your time and play!

Can you:

Respond to the sounds with different parts of the body.

Let them travel.
Play with speed, accents, and duration.
Vibrate, circle, beat, slash.

Today’s focus: TIME-ENERGY
Happy dance making!!
Would love to see your #danceishome
Please tag me @jonesdanceco so we can see what you made.

Dance is Home #6- Find Your Light

4/16/2020

Dedicated to all performers missing spring concerts.

In your house:

Pick a time of day and place with light that inspires you. If in doubt, turn on a lamp or grab a flashlight.
Fill the space with your body.
Trace the shape.
Move in and out of the light.

Have fun moving in this defined space and use any of the suggestions below to expand on this mini dance. Remember this can be as simple or complex as you want. It’s yours to make. Take your time and play!

Can you:

Sit in the light and breathe.
Make finger puppets.
Play with different body parts in and out of the light.
Feel it on your skin, how does it make you feel? Move with this energy.
Breathe, fold, glide, wave.

Today’s focus: SPACE- SHAPES AND FOCUS.

Happy dance making!!
Would love to see your #danceishome
Please tag me @jonesdanceco so we can see what you made.

Dance is Home #5- Book Work

4/13/2020

In honor of officially starting #distancelearning.

In your house:

Choose a book.
Play with heavy and light movements with the book.
Open the book to a random page, choose three words.
Create movement for each word.

Have fun creating movement with your book. Think of this dance as a duet. Play with being literal and abstract! Use any of the suggestions below to expand on this mini dance. Remember this can be as simple or complex as you want. It’s yours to make. Take your time and play!

Can you:

Balance, open/close, toss, smell, scan, drop.
Sprinkle the movement you discovered from the weight improvisation among the word movements.

Choose a space in your home that compliments your book dance.

Today’s focus: SPACE-ENERGY-RELATIONSHIPS.

Happy dance making!!

Would love to see your #danceishome
Please tag me @jonesdanceco so we can see what you made.

Dance is Home #4- Window Shopping

4/9/2020

Let’s make dances while we #shelterinplace

We can still look out and observe our surroundings. Let’s do that today. You may notice something new!

In your house:

Go to a window.
List what you see.
Make one movement for each word.
Put them together in any order.

Have fun creating movement with your words. Play with being literal and abstract! Use any of the suggestions below to expand on this mini dance. Remember this can be as simple or complex as you want. It’s yours to make. Take your time and play!

Can you:

Try the dance facing the back, right, left, and front of the window.
Do it again and change your facing two times.

Sway, slash, skip, sing?

Today’s focus: SPACE- SHAPES and DIRECTIONS.
Happy dance making!!

Would love to see your #danceishome
Please tag me @jonesdanceco so we can see what you made.

Dance is Home #3- Doorway Discoveries

4/6/2020

Let’s make dances while we #shelterinplace

A fun score that explores movement in a doorway you pass through daily. Discover the corners, ways it can support you (did you ever climb it), and shapes you can make with it. The best part is your dance is automatically framed and ready for viewing!

In your house:

Choose a doorway.
Make low, middle, and high shapes in the doorway.
Reach to each corner.
Let the doorway support your weight.

Have fun moving in this defined space and use any of the suggestions below to expand on this mini dance. Remember this can be as simple or complex as you want. It’s yours to make. Take your time and play!

Can you:

Pretend you are two dimensional like a petroglyph?
Use the doorway to frame, compliment, and support your shapes.
Determine if you are stuck, confined, or content.
Push, wiggle, hop, float, twist?

Today’s focus: SPACE and the SHAPES we can make.
Happy dance making!!

Would love to see your #danceishome
Please tag me @jonesdanceco so we can see what you made.

Dance is Home #2- Furniture Showcase

4/1/2020

Let’s make dances while we #shelterinplace

Inspired by our new spatial patterns due to social distancing, I am offering a series of movement prompts to spark dance making in the comfort of our homes.

Dance Is Home #2- Furniture Showcase
In your house:

Choose a piece of furniture- a chair, lamp, table, etc.
Move- in front of, near, beside, over or under, behind, alone or connected.
Make the furniture’s shape with your body.

Have fun moving in and around your piece of furniture and use any of the suggestions below to expand on this mini dance. Remember this can be as simple or complex as you want. It’s yours to make. Take your time and play!

Can you:

Name the furniture?
Describe it’s personality?
Make movements that demonstrate the energy/personality of the furniture?
Crawl, wiggle, poke, wrap, lean?

Today’s focus: SPACE and the RELATIONSHIPS we can make.
Happy dance making!!

Would love to see your #danceishome
please tag me @jonesdanceco

Dance is Home #1- House Tour

3/28/2020

Let’s make dances while we #shelterinplace

Inspired by our new spatial patterns due to social distancing, I am offering a series of movement prompts to spark dance making in the comfort of our homes.

Dance Is Home #1- House Tour
In your house:

Trace the shape of a table by walking around it.
Immediately walk to your front door.
Move to the sink.
End up in your favorite room.

Have fun moving around your house and use any of the suggestions below to expand on this mini dance. Remember this can be as simple or complex as you want. It’s yours to make. Take your time and play!

Can you:

Map out your route on paper?
Meander, lean, point, slide, and stretch in your pathway?
Make movements that demonstrate the energy of the room(s)?
Discover different ways to travel from one place to the next?
Give the tour with an overall theme?

Today’s focus: SPACE and the PATHWAYS we can make.
Happy dance making!!

Would love to see your #danceishome
please tag me @jonesdanceco