Dear Niki,
A couple weeks ago my dance instructor asked me to teach the beginner Latin class while he was out of the country. He is having some wonderful opportunities to travel throughout the Caribbean offering basic to advanced level workshops in Latin dancing.
We met a few days before his trip to go over the lesson plan I was to share with the beginner class. The focus was arm movements. I was to demonstrate six arm movements that can be incorporated into various genres of dance. Using the arms can help to propel the body; aid in balance; give the illusion of speed and add to creativity, dynamics and music interpretation or musicality. They’re important.
This all seemed very simple when he explained the lesson plan to me. So maybe because it seemed so easy and is something I’ve done several times in his classes, I didn’t do any major preparation before the class.
After the demonstrations, each person was required to mix the movements in any order they chose and put their sequence to music. I was responsible for appropriate music, slow enough to allow full extension and expression. But like I said, I did not prepare.
So when I got to the studio, I did a quick search on Youtube for “contemporary dance music” and previewed several songs until I came upon this beauty. Have a listen here.
It is an entire hour of piano and violin covers of “We Don’t Talk Anymore” by Charlie Puth and Selena Gomez. There are also nature sounds in there. It is all very relaxing and soothing. I’m considering playing it to help me sleep since I have been having trouble getting to sleep recently.
David Solis is so good at these interpretations! This is his cover of “Faded” by Alan Walker. I think this one could lend itself very nicely to a contemporary dance piece.
Don’t you think they are lovely? Let me know how you feel about these orchestral piano versions of pop songs. I’m not always a fan, but I certainly enjoy these. If you liked these, you might like some of the other songs on the channel Solis Music.
I hope you danced 🙂
DearNiki 