Horizontal
Analysis
(using Layered Observation) Get an overview of the combination sequence, by
viewing the entire clip:
Then
watch the whole thing again, this time paying particular attention to
the movement of Shirin and Nathan's spines. Think about answering the
question, “How are the partners moving relative to each
other?”
Watch
it once again using the Seek Bar as necessary, making notes of what
you see (some rough notes I made as an example are provided below).
Repeat
the process for the four remaining body areas.
Spines
Static
Increase in partner distance
Clockwise orbit
Static
Clockwise orbit, follower fairly static
Static
Close partner distance
Shoulders
Rotation: Lead clockwise, Follower anti-clockwise sharing same orientation
Lead turn anti-clockwise
Lead turn anti-clockwise
Follower turn anti-clockwise
Lead turn anti-clockwise
(repeated alternate turn sequence)
Lead and Follower sharing same orientation
Reoriented to face each other
Follower turn clockwise
Lead turn anti-clockwise
Follower turn clockwise
Lead turn
Arms
Raised to overhead
Lowered to shoulder level
Shoulder to waist level
Lead's left Waist level
Lead's Right Overhead level
Both overhead
(repeated turn sequence)
Lowered to shoulder level
Shoulder to Waist level
Raised to overhead
Lowered
to lead's left shoulder
Follower's left hand slide to waist level
Hands
Crossed left over right
Release
Slide to
Single handed hold, follower's right in lead's left
Hand change from lead's left to lead's right
Double handed crossed
Release
Slide to
Single-handed hold, Follower's left in Lead's right
Gain hold follower's right in lead's left
Lead's right hand release, follower's left hand slide
Regain Follower's left in Lead's right at waist level
Two handed parallel hold
Hips
In phase
As
the process continues and as you try to answer the questions, you'll
find that you gain insight into how the sequence works. You'll
also catch little details that you might otherwise miss: a hand change
here, a breakthrough there.
Unless
your notes contained a time-frame reference as well, you should also
realise that the information in each group is not synchronised
with any other. Thus you might not be able to identify the component
order of the sequence from your notes.
But
that's not the point of it. The strength of layered observation is that
it gives you the ability to analyse patterns that you've never
encountered before. It allows you to see into the core of the pattern
and understand how it functions. It does not help tremendously with
determining the order of combinations in a sequence.
For
that you need to draw upon your element vocabulary and perspective correlation.
Vertical
Analysis
(using Element Vocabulary and Perspective Correlation)
View the video clip again. This time, write down the names of the elements
/ combinations that you know in the order that they occur. Use a question
mark (?) in the place of elements that you don't recognise.
Notice how quickly
the analysis is achieved when you can spot the motifs. It follows that
the larger your dance vocabulary, the quicker you'll be. That's all
well and good, but what if you can't recognise the motifs because you've
never seen them before, or the dancers are somehow confusing the eye?
Then you'd use horizontal analysis.
Vertical analysis
is used to find elements that you know, which act like landmarks
in the sequence. Horizontal analysis is used to help you fill in
the gaps (or if you like, “join the dots”).
Getting back
to the list that you've just made, try filling in the question marks
with the proper element / combination names using horizontal analysis.
You should find it fairly straightforward since Shirin and Nathan have
only used combinations we've covered in some form in the tutorial programme.
Your completed list should look a little like this:
Freestyle
Sequence
Double-handed
loop, hands crossed left over right (Simple Hand Changes: Extras,
Exercise 2)
Orbit clockwise,
and a Neutral turn for Lead anti-clockwise, handhold at waist-level
(Simple Combinations: Core, Permutation 3.2)
Lead's breakthrough
Simple hand
change, Follower's right hand, Lead's left to right, at waist level
Neutral turn
for Leads, Follower's right in Lead's left, anti-clockwise turn (Neutral
Turns For Leads: Core, Exercise 2)
Acquire handhold
Follower's left in Lead's left at waist-level
HALO turn
for Followers, clockwise, cross-handed turn (HALO™ Turns For
Followers: Extras, opposite variant of Exercise 2)
Neutral turn
for Leads, cross-handed left over right, anti-clockwise turn (Neutral
Turns For Leads: Core, Exercise 6)
HALO turn
for Followers, clockwise, cross-handed turn (HALO™ Turns For
Followers: Extras, opposite variant of Exercise 2)
Neutral turn
for Leads, cross-handed left over right, anti-clockwise turn (Neutral
Turns For Leads: Core, Exercise 6)
HALO turn
for Followers, clockwise, cross-handed turn (HALO™ Turns For
Followers: Extras, opposite variant of Exercise 2)
Neutral turn
for Leads, cross-handed left over right, anti-clockwise turn (Neutral
Turns For Leads: Core, Exercise 6)
Double-handed
loop, hands crossed right over left (Simple Hand Changes: Extras,
Exercise 2, Variation ii)
Orbit, clockwise
variant: follower static, both partners oriented the same direction
HALO turn
for Followers, clockwise, Follower's left in Lead's right
Neutral turn
for Leads, Follower's left in Lead's right, anti-clockwise turn
HALO turn
for Followers, clockwise, Follower's left in Lead's right
Two-handed
parallel hold, with right handed loop over Lead.
