Turkish Shimmy Drill #5 - Musicality for Turkish Shimmy 1/4 Turn

August Move of the Month Club: Turkish Shimmy

Week 4 - Finer Details & Key Takeaways
For the last Turkish Shimmy drill of the month, we'll look at musicality for the 1/4 turn.

Musicality refers to dancing in a way that reflects what is happening in the music. "Dancing to the music" can mean many different things, but for this drill, we're going to focus on dancing to the musical phrase. (Warning: I am not a professional musician or an expert on music theory, so please bear with my dancer's understanding of musical phrasing!)

A bit on terminology: For the purposes of this discussion, "musical phrase" refers to an 8-count segment of music that reflects a melody (the part you would sing or hum along to in the music). Musical phrases are often grouped into 32-count sections where the same melody is repeated before it changes to something else. The aspect of musicality that we will look at in this drill is starting movements "on the phrase," meaning on the 1 of an 8-count musical phrase or at the beginning of a larger section of music (16 or 32 counts).

Let's take a look at what this means for the Turkish Shimmy 1/4 turn. Since musical phrases are generally 8 counts and the Turkish Shimmy is counted in 4, this means that the arm cue for the 1/4 turn can happen at the beginning of the musical phrase (on the 1) or in the middle of the musical phrase (on the 5). Where in the musical phrase you start the 1/4 turn will influence where you end it, in other words, whether you end with Turkish Shimmy facing the front before changing the movement or whether you change the movement before coming back to the front.

Follow along with this drill to experience this concept in action! The first half of the video includes the count and marks each 8-count phrase in a 32-count section (4 tally marks). The red numbers in the count reflect when the movement changes. In the second half, you'll have to keep the count yourself. Feel free to count out loud when you're drilling at home!
What do you notice about cueing the 1/4 turn on the 1 vs. the 5? Do you prefer one approach over the other? Why? Join the discussing in the August Move of the Month Club event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/432048240719169/?active_tab=discussion.

Music: "Reed Dance" by Afrit Temple & Lost Nomads from "Dayanisma: Beauty in Unity."
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Видео Turkish Shimmy Drill #5 - Musicality for Turkish Shimmy 1/4 Turn канала Sofia Dances