When: 28th November 2011 – 2nd December 2011
Where: Greenwich Dance Academy
The teacher: Ruth has danced for companies including Will Tuckett, Art of Spectra (Sweden), Walker Dance, Shobana Jeyasingh, Union Dance, Aletta Collins, Stephanie Schober, Royal Opera House and English National Opera. She has toured nationally and internationally in choreographies by Fin Walker, Rafael Bonachela, Shobana Jeyasingh and Henri Oguike amongst others.
The class: Ruth is a qualified Hatha Yoga teacher and has been studying Alexander Technique for several years. Her classes are informed by a variety of movement practices and explore the use of initiation and release to find flow in dynamic movement. She is interested in the balance between staying grounded as an individual in order to express through the language of dance, developing awareness and having fun!!!
My verdict: Voon was energetic, knowledgeable and a treasure to do class with. Beginning on the floor, working with a sense of connection and groundedness to the floor to warm up, the phrases became progressively more dynamic, culminating in a phrase that included many of the skills utilised through the class.
I don’t use the floor enough in this way. It was a brilliant reminder that the floor can not only be a connection to orientate the skeleton, it can be used as a malleable platform to push the body away from, move to, sink, shape, release into, support against… in short, it’s underrated!
There was a piece of imagery Voon used that has remained with me: dancing a phrase can be likened to deep water. The surface of the water is changeable and dynamic, prone to unpredictability and excitement, but underneath all this is a constant and consistent current. It’s a good reminder to maintain the fundamental support within the body before escaping and playing with the rest.
Playful. That’s how I’d describe this class. Deliciously playful.