Have you ever been sitting in a chair, minding your own business, when a great song comes on and you can’t help moving in your seat? Have you ever looked at the back of a chair and thought, “I bet I could do the splits on that…” This workshop is for you! Over a 2 hour period, students will learn a chair dance choreography that incorporates acro chair tricks and transitions (think hand / head / forearm balances, splits and faux splits, and various levels of bendy shapes), as well as pole dance style floor work (shoulder rolls and stands, leg waves, sassy pushups, etc.) Variations of tricks will be given for different levels of dancers.
Chairs and yoga mats will be provided. Students are welcome to bring their own yoga mats (and don’t forget your water bottles). Anyone who currently trains in chair dance or acro chair and has their own sturdy, metal-framed chair (such as a well made folding chair) is welcome to bring it. We suggest you put some rubber feet on your chair (available at hardware stores), if you haven’t already, to keep it from sliding out from under you.
Shorts and long pants are both appropriate to wear depending on how comfortable you are dragging your bare skin against the metal of the chair. Some transitions require you to slide your body across parts of the chair, and sweaty bare skin tends to grip more than slide. Choose your own skin adventure! If you have sensitive knees, bring along some knee pads. If you are a heels dancer, feel free to bring your dance heels. Other types of dance footwear, socks, and bare feet are all welcome.
Pre-requisites:
Students should be comfortable supporting some of their body weight with their arms and hands, moving through plank and table top style positions, and exploring inverted positions. We recommend that participants have some prior experience in at least one of the following areas: acro chair, chair dance, hand / forearm / head balancing, or pole dance style floor work such as shoulder stands and rolls.
Fine-tune your long to short-armed inversion strength through
some of the fundamentals of Pilates from the ground, to a low
hanging knot and beyond. All levels are welcome and will be
challenged appropriately.