"slowandslow"

Yesterday's Solares fell in that 'no man's land' between Christmas and New Year. With some regulars being away or unavailable during the festive season, I was presented with a double-length session; an opportunity which I was all to happy to take advantage of.

The circumstances demanded a programme of content which was:

• varied or simple-but-challenging enough to avoid learner saturation;
• non-core so as not to penalise those who couldn't attend; and yet,
• of meaningful importance to benefit those who'd committed to attend.

Tricky. Very tricky.

I briefed them that this workshop was going to be all about elevating the quality of what they already had.

Warm Up: Simple embodiment transitions, with maracas
Solo, to music. Playing maraca rhythm. Lower body moving between the Caribbean sway, marking rhythm on the spot, walking forward.

Warming up with the maracas exercise was the cornerstone to the workshop's design because: it allowed me to assess the quality of participants' dance 'slows' as transited through Caribbean sway to walks; and, it opened up an alternative route in the workshop narrative - back to maracas development - should participants become learning saturated with the primary activity.

Briefing: The "slowandslow" vocalisation
Even though the "quick, quick, slow" vocalisation (of last session) makes sense, there is a fundamental flaw in the vocalisation - the word "slow" is only one syllable long. Dancers using the vocalisation will time their movements to the rhythm of the vocalisation, instead of the logic of the vocalisation i.e. they will dance three quick movements instead of two quick and one slower.

To achieve the desired slow movement, the vocalisation needs to be changed such that the 'slow' is rhythmically longer yet still logical. The ballroom adaptation is useful to know, and highly successful. The vocalisation is: "quick, quick, slowandslow".

Exercise One: "slowandslow" with long nails
Solo, without music. Long nails practice synchronous with the "slowandslow" (beats 3&4) vocalisation.

Exercise Two: "quick, quick, slowandslow" with long nails
Solo, without music. Complete embodiment rhythm, on the spot. Long nails practice synchronous with the "slowandslow" (beats 3&4) vocalisation. I danced with each participant to provide a movement archetype as reference.

Exercise Three: "quick, quick, slowandslow" with long nails
Solo, to music. Complete embodiment rhythm, on the spot. Long nails practice synchronous with the "slowandslow" (beats 3&4) vocalisation.

Participants reported feeling a deeper quality of relationship with the floor, almost adhesive and elastic. Once acquired they found it challenging to revert to their customary more superficial relationship with the floor. I introduced them to the concept of 'quality of movement' and labelled what they were experiencing as "deep movement" and "light movement" respectively.

Exercise Four: Relationship of qualities of movement with music
As the participants became accustomed to the exercise, freeing up cognitive headroom, I asked them:

1. "Does quality of movement affect your relationship with the music?"
2. "Which instruments do you have a stronger relationship with using light movement?"
3. "Which instruments do you have a stronger relationship with using deep movement?"
4. "Are there any instrument-relationships which do not change?"

The answer came back a resounding "yes". How you move affects how you listen. One song demonstrated this clearly: Los Hermanos Lebron's updated "La Temperatura" from their 40th Anniversary album, vol.2. (2009).

At this point, after multiple iterations, participants were comfortable with individual practice. It seemed prudent to provide them with a broader more relevant context, and introduce an additional variable.

Exercise Five: "quick, quick, slowandslow" in the rueda de casino context
Partnered, without music. Rueda de casino basic step, attenuated partner hold.

The basic step involved a small back step on the circumference side and a small forward step on the axial side on the quicks, and a close step (not a guapea side step) in-between on the slows.

I demonstrated how the basic step could be derived from the Caribbean sway by: contracting the width of the side step until a close step; and, converting the axial step from a small back step to a similarly-sized forward step.

The attenuated hold avoided the overtly expansive arm-cycling on the circumference side, and maintained contact between palms on the axial side throughout.

By silencing the consciously-induced noise from the arms, participants were able to feel how movement born of the upward joint cascade flowed into the partnership frame. Participants found this revelatory; how the torque built up from the floor manifested itself in articulations of the contredanse hold, as natural resultant movements - the same movements which are commonly overtly 'simulated' by dancers without those skills.

This is the difference between derivative movement (former), and prescriptive movement (latter).

At this point, the two hours where up. In the excitement of discovering the relevance of "slowandslow"-sponsored movement quality in the rueda basic, I think participants' overlooking of the 'big picture' difference between derived and prescribed movement can be forgiven. It gives me something to dedicate a Solares workshop to in the future.

Loo Yeo

Dancing The Slows

Salsa's basic embodiment rhythm may be interpreted in two ways:

1. three steps and a pause, all for of which are of equal duration, or
2. three steps of which two are 'quick' and one is 'slow' where a 'slow' equals two 'quicks'.

Previously in Solares, participants have been unconsciously using the former. This is a by-product of coming from a count-based convention "1,2,3;5.6.7".

Execution of the 'slow' can be achieved via:

1. increasing the distance the limb needs to travel by 100% while maintaining limb-joint speed, or
2. decreasing the limb-joint speed by 50% while maintaining distance to be travelled.

That Solares participants encountered difficulty in the transition from the Caribbean sway to on-the-spot movement last session indicated that they were reliant on travel distance as their rhythm-governor, and not proficient with control over their joint speed.

Why the slows?
Control of 'joint-speed' or 'rate of flexion/extension' allows for the space in-between beats to be filled with movement according to the conscious will of the dancer. This is could be for partnership comfort and creative aims, for example. The skill facilitates the use of more complex rhythm structures, and effective execution of the 'Human Dance Recorder' practice.

The 'Long Nails' Practice
Participants were asked to pretend that there was a long nail beneath the raised heel, and to imagine driving the nail into the floor by standing on it. The speed of descent could be slowed by imagining that the floor was made out of denser but still yielding material. Targeting the heel in the learning metaphor addresses control the knee, ball of foot and ankle.

Exercise One: Just the 'slows'
Solo, without music, on the spot. Participants were asked to use the 'long nails' practice under each heel in alternation, moving only during the 'slow'. I provided the vocalisation of "quick (beat 1), quick (beat 2), slow (beats 3&4)", and participants were encouraged to vocalise as well.

Exercise Two: Just the 'slows', to music
As Exercise One (above), to music.

Exercise Three: Complete embodiment rhythm, on-the-spot
Solo, to music, Participants were asked to embody the full rhythm, in place, using the vocalisation "quick, quick, slow" with special attention to the long nails on the 'slows'.

Exercise Four: Caribbean sway and on-the-spot embodiment transitions
Solo, to music, on the spot. Lower body moving between the Caribbean sway and keeping rhythm on the spot. This exercise was the 'acid test', to observe whether the participant could produce 'slows' based on increased travel distance and decreased joint-speed respectively.

Observations
All participants made good attempts. Responses to the practice were within the standard range, with no positive nor negative outliers. I will have to make room for this practice in ensuing sessions until proficiency is attained.

What was very welcome was the quality of personal observation-based feedback from the participants:

• One noted how his accustomed posture was inclined too much forward, which compromised his ability to apply smooth pressure on the 'nail', which he consequently remedied with a change to a more upright position.
• One realised that his foot-placement was late, which curtailed the duration of his 'slows'. He'd spent a greater proportion of the exercise time, addressing foot placement (necessarily), instead of 'pressing on nails'.
• One noticed that her pelvis was 'bobbing up' on the vertical plane, as she tried to get more weight on top of the imaginary nail. She observed this bobbing in her reflection in a night-time window, and corrected it by keeping her pelvis at the same vertical distance to the floor throughout the 'long nail' exercise. This 'bobbing up' is a common fault and can be remedied through observation of a reflection or, if one isn't available, a palm-to-palm practice with a stationary partner to provide the kinesthetic feedback.
  For more, see Item 2 under 'Learning Tips' in:
  http://wwww.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/merengue/lbaction/det_lba.html

It's a credit to them that they were not only able to observe issues with their movement, but to understand the cause, devise a solution, and implement it independently. Moreover, during our wrap-up discussion, they actively talked about how they saw the skill as being useful to them in their future dance development.

I could not be more pleased.

Loo

The Human Dance Recorder

This workshop attends to the aspects of physical communication in partnered dance. It takes a method developed by psychotherapist Carl Rogers in 1951 and applies it to dance. A relevant synopsis may be found in:

"A Rogerian Approach To Perfect Communications" in "An Introduction to Organisational Behaviour for Managers and Engineers: A Group and Multicultural Approach" by Duncan Kitchin (2010) pp.176-177, UK: Routledge.

The exercise described by Kitchin (a former colleague) is well-suited to translation into social partnered dance, and it stimulates each participant broadly to ask:

• Is that what I wanted my partner to feel?
• Has my partner understood what I feel about ritmo (dance and music alike)?

Exercise One: Building the rich picture
Partnered, to music. Caribbean sway basic, to Caribbean partnered hold.

1. "Pay attention to how your partner moves: the qualities of movement, the timing."
2. "Use what you're seeing and feeling to construct a mental image of your partner as you dance."
3. "You may find it useful to do this with your eyes open and shut."
4. "Build as rich a picture of your partner as you possibly can."

Note: Solares participants were able to perform this task easily because they had become accustomed to higher cognitive load; through dancing while playing maracas. Not having to play maracas gave them the greater cognitive capacity to engage successfully with the exercise.

Exercise Two: Embodying the rich picture
Partnered, to music. Caribbean sway basic, to Caribbean partnered hold.

1. "Holding the rich picture firmly in you head, dance the rich picture."

This exercise is designed to cause each participant to change their quality of movement by simulating that of their partner: by the physical manifestation of the rich picture.

Exercise Three: Validating the rich picture
New partners. Partnered, to music. Caribbean sway basic, to Caribbean partnered hold.

1. "Holding the rich picture of your previous partner firmly in you head, embody the rich picture."

The accuracy of the rich picture embodiment was tested/validated with a different partner.
Note: this could be done because the solares participants have become familiar with each others' ritmo over the years.

Observations

The ability to characterise i.e. construct a rich picture, then embody it, varied between the participants; ranging from a lack (due to misconstruation) to accurate enough to elicit excited exclamations of "it feels like I'm dancing with *name of other participant*!"

Where the point of the exercises were misconstrued, both partners, instead of constructing a rich image of the other, each created an identical rich image hybrid of the other and themselves. In other words, instead of:

• Partner A creating-and-embodying a rich picture of Partner B and vice versa,
• Partner A created-and-embodied a rich picture hybrid of Partner A+B, as did Partner B.

This was a happy error, because it allowed the group the explore: the extremes of the range (characterisation of the self, or the other) and the mid-point (characterisation of the blended self plus other).

As the exercises ran through several iterations, the delight led increasingly to a distortion of the rich image into caricature - an over-emphasis of the other's traits. I cautioned that while caricature was fun and would make certain traits more obvious, this might limit the usefulness of the 'Human Dance Recorder' practice as a means of personal reflexion. Exaggeration would make it difficult for the recipient to:

1. evaluate the qualitative extent of a trait;
2. decide whether it should be modified; and
3. how to prioritise its correction relative to other traits in a heirarchy of correction.

I recommended that the rich picture be more photo-real than caricature.

Closing

The session ended with three questions for reflexion.
"What is this 'Chapter: Characterisation' about?"
"What skills are needed?"
"Why is this useful?"

Loo Yeo

Phase Changes: Symmetry Versus Asymmetry

Last night I had the participants all to myself, for a whole two hours, because my partner-in-teaching-crime had abandoned them to their fates, in favour of a blustery sojourn in England's North-East.

It was a chance to build momentum and give them something to sink their teeth into. Based on the evidence of cognitive saturation witnessed last week, I knew that I would only be able to push them with maracas-embodied rhythm practices for 45 minutes; any more and they would tip over into super-saturation, impairing their learning ability. There had to be a contrasting activity for the remainder 75 minutes.

So I decided to dedicate the first half of the double Solares session to maracas-embodiment activity, and the second half to a 'sneak peek' at an upcoming chapter for next year. The latter would contextualise more skills, allowing me to introduce them earlier than I'd planned.

When the sun shines, it's time to make hay.

Warm Up: Complete maraca rhythm, son montuno version
Solo, to music. Caribbean sway basic, atiempo embodiment rhythm. Playing the compete maraca rhythm.

After three songs, it was time to make things more interesting:

Exercise One: Caribbean sway and on-the-spot embodiment transitions, with maracas
Solo, to music. Playing maraca rhythm. Lower body moving between the Caribbean sway and marking rhythm on the spot.

Participants found it challenging to maintain steady maracas rhythm because of interference from the lower body rhythm. Once the long side-step of the Caribbean sway was denied to them (they'd been using the distance to absorb time during the 'slow'), participants were unable to absorb the time by slowing down the movement of their joints. This indicated an area of imminent attention.

Exercise Two: Simple embodiment transitions, with maracas
Solo, to music. Playing maraca rhythm. Lower body moving between the Caribbean sway, marking rhythm on the spot, walking forward.

Playing the maracas rhythm while performing the salsa walk made the phase-change relationship between the instrument and the dance obvious.

• Salsa is a symmetrical dance i.e. a different leg is used at the beginning of each bar/measure of music
• Maracas-playing is an asymmetrical activity i.e. the same hand is used at the beginning of each bar/measure of music.

Put them both together and one bar will begin with the arm and leg of the same side, the next bar will begin the same arm with leg of the other side. For example:

left arm-left leg; left arm-right leg; left arm-left leg; left arm-right leg...

This can be read as:

in-phase; out-of-phase; in-phase; out-of-phase...

Correlating that with the brain's motor activity:

right side fires; both sides fire; right side fires; both sides fire...

Hence the brain experiences a cyclical fluctuation in co-ordinative load during the performance of the maraca-embodiment rhythm.

Based on their greater level of automation with the Caribbean sway, participants had worked out a progression for their practice: Caribbean sway > on the spot > salsa walk. When they became perturbed, they would return to the Caribbean sway instead of stopping. Likewise with their maracas: one set of double tones (4,4+); two sets of double tones (2,2+ and 4,4+); complete maracas rhythm.

It was encouraging to see them all take charge of their own practice and to manage the levels of challenge in a scalar manner.

By now, we were sailing close to the cliffs of cognitive saturation. It was time for a change. Time for 'The Human Dance Recorder'.

Loo Yen

Complete Rhythm: Maracas, son montuno

There are two possible tracks of development in Solares after completing this chapter on the backbeat timeline. One is to proceed to a new chapter on backbeat applications, the other is to move to exploring the complementary downbeat timeline.

Logically, it made sense to continue with the applications of the downbeat timeline, to climb as high up the Blooms Taxonomy pyramid as possible, until knowledge of the downbeat timeline became a rate-limiting requirement. And this was how it had been planned.

However things changed when I asked myself, "if Solares stopped tomorrow, what would be my regrets for not having achieved?" I counter-weighted the answers by putting myself in Solares participants' shoes and asking, "what would be the earliest greatest boost to their morale?"

The answer, loud and clear, was, "being able to play the full maraca rhythm."

The confidence boost in becoming a fully-fledged instrumentalist-dancer is inestimable. And we were only one step away from achieving it, to reaching that First State of Independence - the learning sequence would require a little bit of juggling around, but the broad strokes of development would remain intact.

So this is how it went.

Warm Up: Playing the maraca backbeat rhythm
Solo, to music. Caribbean sway basic, atiempo embodiment rhythm. Macho in non-dominant hand, hembra in dominant hand. Macho tones on the backbeats (beats 4 and 2), hembra tones on the backbeat upbeats (beats 4+ and 2+); hence the basic maraca backbeat rhythm is played as macho-hembra couplets on beats 4,4+ and  2,2+.

Exercise One: Maraca backbeats call, downbeats respond
Solo, to music. Caribbean sway basic, atiempo embodiment rhythm. As per 'Warm Up' above. In addition, I provided a single shaker tone on the downbeats (beats 1 and 3). Participants were encouraged to listen to the tones as a 'coro-pregón' or 'call-and-response'; participants played the 'call', I played the 'response'.

Briefing: The complete maraca rhythm, son montuno version
Backbeats: macho-hembra couplets on beats 4,4+ and  2,2+, played close to the body.
Downbeats: macho single tones on beats 1 and 3, placed slightly further away from the body.
The rhythm begins with the macho-hembra backbeat couplet on beats 4,4+

Complete rhythm is: 4,4+; 1; 2,2+; 3; (repeat)
Complete rhythm vocalisation is: "chik-a-chik / chik-a-chik" where:

• the first "chik" denotes the backbeats (beats 4 and 2)
• the "a" denotes the backbeat upbeats (beats 4+ and 2+)
• the second "chik" denotes the downbeats (beats 1 and 3)
   

Exercise Two: Complete maraca rhythm, son montuno version
Solo, to music. Caribbean sway basic, atiempo embodiment rhythm. Playing the compete maraca rhythm as per briefing (above).

The past two month's work paid dividends. Every solares participant succeeded in this challenging task: each dancer was able to dance an atiempo rhythm on the embodiment timeline, simultaneously playing the son montuno maraca rhythm.

There's always more to do. But for that moment, it was a pleasure to revel in the success.

Loo

Backbeat Timeline: Maracas

Warm-up: Refinements to back-beat definitions
Solo, to music. Caribbean sway basic, atiempo embodiment rhythm. Single shaker, played to the campana-güiro backbeat rhythm (beats 4,4+ and 2,2+). The definition was augmented where:

• the güiro backbeat variation was defined as being played by one hand, oscillating in free space; and,
• the campana backbeat variation was defined as being played by one hand into the palm of the other.

This is because the scraper of the güiro moves in freely over the surface of the gourd, while the beater of the campana creates its sound through impact. The two approaches on the shaker are the best approximations in translation.

During early practice of the campana backbeat rhythm, some participants expressed inability to get into the groove (i.e. state of entrainment). This was because they had inadvertently 'frozen' their upper body by keeping their receiving palm rigid in space; and both elbows close to the sides of the torso.

Freedom was regained using a rhythmic clapping action where both hands were accelerated to each other, and the elbows kept a distance away from the rib cage. As the participants achieved entrainment, I pointed out how the clapping activity could be used to calibrate the rhythmic engine carried in the upper torso. I further suggested that the shaker could be impacted against the side of the thigh, like tambourine players do.

The arising of the problem and its solution was a fortunate happenstance. It made everyone aware of how physical restriction stymies rhythmic freedom, and it allowed me to pose the question,

"What is the minimum individual space needed for rhythm?"

That certainly caused a period of individual thought and experimentation. To which I then added,

"Do you allow your partner that minimum distance when you dance? For example, in Rueda (de Casino)?"

As I've come to expect (and encourage), every participant expressed her/his own preference for the variations, and feeling for the groove.

Backbeat Timeline: Maracas

Briefing: Maracas as a 'sexed-pair' instrument
Each pair comprises: a 'macho' [male] which is higher-pitched and more aggressive in tone, and an 'hembra' [female] which is lower-pitched and mellower in tone.

Briefing: How to hold maracas
The balance-point of a maraca should be slightly above the neck of the instrument. The neck is positioned between the first and second fingers of the hand, meaning that the head would tip over if uncontrolled. The first and second knuckles are the most stable in the hand, this allows for the most efficient transfer of force from the body, and the most control. Holding maracas by their necks is the shortest distance between the hands and the enclosed beads, without dampening the bead enclosure. It also allows the option for their handles to be played.

Exercise One: Playing the maraca backbeat rhythm
Solo, to music. Caribbean sway basic, atiempo embodiment rhythm. Macho in non-dominant hand, hembra in dominant hand. Macho tones on the backbeats (beats 4 and 2), hembra tones on the backbeat upbeats (beats 4+ and 2+); hence the basic maraca backbeat rhythm is played as macho-hembra couplets on beats 4,4+ and  2,2+.

Observations

Participants found the rhythm easier to play because tones are distributed across two shakers, and enjoyed the experience more. This is because:

1. return of the beads to the shaker-bowl (and their collection) was no longer a rate-limiting factor i.e. they could initiate the upbeat tones (4+ and 2+) before the beads of the downbeat tones (4 and 2) had regrouped;
2. the wave-length of actuation, formerly limited to the shaker to the elbow, could be extended up the upper limb into the shoulder and torso; and
3. the greater involvement of muscle units provided more kinesthetic feedback to rhythm - participants could feel the rhythm better.

A mark of how well their rhythmic foundation was laid came with a particular question, "do we play 'swish' or 'tight' tones?" It provided clear sign of good cognitive capacity, motor articulation, self-reflexion, musicality, experimentation, synthesis, and creativity - all of which are upper-tier properties in Bloom's taxonomy.

My response was, as usual, "it depends." The two main factors were: whichever the maraquero/a felt best suited the music; and whether the style of playing would help or hinder playing at higher tempi.

This session completed the basic vocabulary of back-beat rhythms for solares participants. A landmark moment. But we're just one step away from greater things.

Loo Yeo

Stretching and Consolidating - The Best Of Both Worlds

What constitutes a 'stretch' session, and what constitutes a 'consolidation' session?
At Solares last night, we spent the workshop: performing the Caribbean sway; partnered in Caribbean hold; with atiempo embodiment rhythm; mentally articulating on-and-off the boogaloo back-beats; and changing partners.

This was where we'd left off the week before.

Would this be considered a consolidation session?
On the face of it, "yes". I consider consolidation to encompass naturalisation, as per the lower tiers of Bloom's taxonomy. In neurophysiological terms, it constitutes locating the motor engram out of the pyramidal system into the extra-pyramidal system (for an introduction, see 'Brain and Learning a Motor Skill' by Paul Roper).

But what about the level of challenge each participant faces in improving the quality of execution?

Should this be considered a stretch session?
All the refinements to movement; the personal reflexion engendered through comparison by juxtaposition with changing dance partners; the interpretation of increasingly fine musical nuances, should these not be regarded as legitimate learning challenges which stretch the participant?

The detailed attention and effort required to modify an extra-pyramidal motor engram is immense. That's why articulation and precision are qualities of skills located in the upper tiers of Bloom's taxonomy.

Are we privileging the quantitative over the qualitative?
Is a 'stretch' session that which has quantitatively new material e.g. a new move, a new rhythm?
Is a 'consolidation' session that which has qualitatively new material e.g. neater execution of a dance basic, a clearer articulation of a musical expression?

They are both new. It's just that 'stretch' is sexier because quantitative newness is overt. The covertness of 'consolidation's qualitative newness is an understatedly elegant grey suit. The brain is stimulated by the novel (see 'Multitasking: The Brain Seeks Novelty') to such an extent that we even learn better when stimulated by novelty (see 'Learning By Surprise'): I ensure that every workshop is designed around at least one novel element.

My concern is with the labels of 'stretch' and 'consolidation' which are unhelpful, even misleading, to the detriment of qualitative progression; such that I'm inclined apriori to reject them in favour of an as-yet-to-be-determined something else. I've flagged an investigation into them and and their meaning as a matter of priority.

In the meantime, I will continue to execute sessions of qualitative and quantitative advancement, through the introduction of new content and use of novel approaches.

Loo Yeo

Clarity Of Purpose

Up until this point, all experiences with the backbeat timeline were individual. I considered it necessary, so that each participant would develop a personal understanding between their developing instrumentalism and the music.

The ethos has yielded more success than I'd allowed myself to anticipate. But I wanted more. The quality of the practice, whilst good for individual consumption, was not yet on par with my higher ambitions for them. So tonight I upped the ante.

Exercise 1: Rhythm virtualisation, boogaloo, solo
Solo, to music. Caribbean sway basic, atiempo embodiment rhythm. Single shaker, played into the opposing palm, boogaloo rhythm (beats 4 & 2). Participants were encouraged to listen to the shaker rhythm, memorise its timbre and timing, then mentally maintain it through sporadically stopping and resuming the playing of the shaker.

Exercise 2: Rhythm virtualisation, boogaloo, partnered
Partnered, Caribbean hold, to music. Caribbean sway basic, atiempo embodiment rhythm. Since they were in hold, no shakers were played; thus there was a reliance on the mental articulation of the boogaloo rhythm.

The emphasis was on maintaining the virtual sound of the rhythm in the mind. This was targeted though my calls of: "boogaloo off", when mental articulation was suspended; and "boogaloo on", when mental articulation resumed.

First Cycle Outcomes
Participants were perturbed in their personal mental articulation of rhythm because of the addition of a significant real-life variable: a dance partner.

They found it challenging to maintain the virtual boogaloo backbeat in the presence of additional noise/vibration. One participant called it a complete "eye-opener", illuminating the stringency to which Exercise 1 (above) had to be performed.

With this new clarity of purpose still ringing in their minds, I charged them to pay better attention to their execution of the solo rhythm virtualisation practice to the purpose of rhythmic resilience.

Exercise 1, repeated twice
A participant asked as to what level to insulate himself from external rhythmic input.

I iterated that the exercise was, at this basic level, to develop rhythmic resilience of the self. If that meant a complete rejection of external rhythmic input was necessary, then so be it. I cautioned that in the long-term, the rejection approach would lead to an imperative, non-collaborative, partner relationship. Hence it is necessary that all dancers become so self-resilient that they would accommodate with high levels of external noise/vibration.

Exercise 2, repeated once

Second Cycle Outcomes
Participants displayed and reported markedly less rhythmic perturbation. Moreover, they were showing signs that they were:

• negotiating rhythms with their partners, observed by the quality of establishment of partnered synchrony at early "boogaloo on"; and
• meshing the embodiment rhythm with the boogaloo back-beat into a personal compound time-code, observed through their rhythmic placement and attack, and consistency.

Conclusion
The value of any exercise lies not simply in the skills it develops, but equally in the understanding of its possible applications. This means that hindsight provides a powerful lens through which an exercise's value can be appreciated. Tonight's experience is a case in point.

The realm of instruction centres on the setting and attainment of achievable goals. One elemental question a teacher faces is, "when can we move in?"

For its ability to illuminate Clarity of Purpose, Hindsight is a potent ally.

Yeo Loo Yen

Backbeat Timeline: Güiro and Campana

I've been striking a balance between 'stretch' and 'consolidation' sessions, and have been finding it particularly challenging because I'm having to rely on my observational feedback than verbal feedback from Solares participants.

That's because these practices are so novel in this context, that participants don't have any reference points in how to articulate their experiences, and what experiences are useful. Recognising this, I shall devote some part of the next Solares to the framing of feedback responses, so that I can help them better.

The other challenge is that of the pacing of delivery. As a person already proficient in the skills being developed, I can observe the external signs of competence but cannot reliably gauge the qualitative level of internalisation. My instinct is to give them more time for practice, which is in tension with my ethos of having a high 'Teachers Expectation Factor' so that participants benefit from the Rosenthal Effect.

Again this is something I will have to articulate at the next session. I think everyone is far enough adapted to the format to be able to provide a contextually considered response.

Back-beat components of the güiro rhythm
So the session developed, after a recap warm-up, with the use of the shaker playing double-beats on the backbeat i.e. on beats 2,2+ and 4,4+.

The fundamental rationale was that these beats were a literal interpretation of a compnentnt of a basic rhythm played on the güiro (gourd scraper). I contextualised this with a demonstration on the güiro, and participants synchronised their shaker tones with the backbeat strokes.

I also gave them the traditional vocalisation of the güiro rhythm as:

"aeowh-chik-chik, aeowh-chik-chik..."

where: "aeowh" intiates on beats 1 and 3 and lasts the entire quarter note; and "chik-chik" initiates on beats 2,2+ and 4,4+.

A key improvement to their articulation on shaker was to draw attention to their over-use of the top of the shaker shell; the tonal strikes for the top and bottom of the bead enclosure were roughly equal in number and volume. I expressed a desire for a greater contrast: using the bottom of the shell, and hardly any strikes on the top of the shell. They got the idea and cleaned up their articulation after just two songs worth of practice, allowing them to engage with higher tempo music.

Introduction to the concept of rhythm surfaces
The same rhythm was played, but instead the shaker moving in free space, it was played into the horizontal palm of the opposing hand. This gave the sound: a sharper initial envelope (shaker shell onto skin); and, a longer tail (uncontrolled impact of beads all over the interior of the shell). One rhythm, two very different voices.

Back-beat components of the campana rhythm
The introduction to 'rhythm surfaces' segment served as a bridge to exercises using the campana rhythm, which is idential to that interpreted on the güiro. The salient difference is the envelope of the tones, which has a profound impact on: how the rhythm is perceived, and the instrumentalist's relationship with other musicians.

I demonstrated the complete bongó bell rhythm, where participants synchronised their shaker tones with the backbeat strokes. I did not provide the vocalisation. Participants seemed quite taken with the güiro vocalisation, and I was loathe to distract them from their fun.

Conclusion
Participants found that:

1. they could get into a state of entrainment sooner because of their level of practice. I indicated that the objective was to be able to slip into entrainment within the opening seconds of a song.
2. the güiro rhythm initially diffused the backbeat modulation on their dance rhythm. When asked whether this was still the case after sustained practice, the answer came back as a 'no'. This indicated that they'd made a snap judgement, before sufficient proficiency had been gained. The take-home learning point was "keep practicing the rhythm until it grooves".
3. in some cases, they were beginning to synchronise the movements of different parts of their bodies to different instruments. (This was very good news to me, for research purposes!)

The session was wrapped up by highlighting:

• what a difference a single beat made to the feel of a rhythm - the comparison was made between the tumbao moderno and the güiro rhythm;
• that attention needed to be paid in the quality of their practice, as demonstrated in the shaker technique;
• changes in playing surface have a profound impact on the way a rhythm is perceived; and,
• that they had an additional two instruments to which they could synchronise their embodiment rhythm.

Loo Yeo

A Musician's Relationship

"So why is it that playing a different rhythm, even a very closely-related one, causes the performer to listen to different things in the music?"

We began by interpreted the audible tones of the conga's tumbao moderno on the (more easily accessible) shakers. That exercise is designed for participants:

1. to know, actively, where the tones are located in the music; and,
2. to feel where those tones were relative to the embodiment (dance) timeline.

As proficiency increases, the actual tones of the conga in the music become obscured through the phenomenon of 'sonic masking'. This results in two displacements:

• the conga tones become inaudible, replaced by the sound of the shaker, and
• the participant assumes the position of the conguero within the context of the song.

Visualise the stage
In an example salsa ensemble, the (in this case, female) conguero is located at the centre of the stage. Immediately to her left is the timbalero, and beyond the timbalero, the bongosero, To her right is pianista, behind-right is the bajista. The metalles are arranged in an arc, curving from the bongosero's left, on the far side of the stage, to behind the timbalero. The singers playing percusión menor are in front.

The role and relationships of the conguero
When Arsenio Rodriguez brought his brother Israel a.k.a. 'Kike' into his ensemble to play tumbadoras (congas), he discovered that incorporating the drums increased rhythmic stability. When performing as conguero, I lock with the piano player's montuno and the bass player's tumbao, facilitated by clave phrasing. Then I listen to the vocalist. The congas provide the bedrock of percussion on which the timbales ride.

The role and relationships of percusión menor in boogaloo
My personal experience of the New York boogaloo (see Commentary: 13th June 2009 Joe Bataan @Rumberos, The Wardrobe, Leeds) changed the way I listened to the genre. Joe Bataan distilled the genre down to its very essence: just vocals and piano, punctuated by backbeat accents from hand-claps or tambourine. When I'm on hand percussion expressing the backbeats (clapping hands, shaking tambourines) I put the piano and vocals foremost; letting my backbeats frame the bubbly piano, and provide percussive counterpoint to the vocal interjections. Bandleader Pucho Brown famously described New York's boogaloo as "cha-cha (sic) with a backbeat", a sentiment I agree with. If the ensemble is interpreting boogaloo in this way, then I let the accents perch on top of the conga's tumbao, and lock with the chachachá bell on the timbales.

Rationale
Salsa musicianship, and some approaches to its dancing, adheres the African aesthetic of 'individuals performing in unity' (Farris Thompson, 2011). To achieve this, co-operative musicianship is exercised where each musician plays his/her part of the story, co-ordinated through the clave-pulse relationship, which all combine to present the whole. Thus:

Each musician knows his/her part relative to everyone else's.

A solares participant displacing the conguero would listen to the instruments to which the conga has a keen relationship. If that same participant where then to change rhythms and displace the percusión menor boogaloo performer, then the instruments listen to and related with will also change.

State of play
Two of the participants has had prior experience in ensemble playing, neither of them in the context of Afro-Caribbean music. I expect that they will build relationships with the most obvious instruments first: those commonly present and with the most similar roles in European music. Indeed, I'm targeting those first, as 'easy wins'.

We might be high up the heirarchy in Bloom's taxonomy, but that's just with two simple rhythms. The sobering thought is how to get there with the complex members of the various timelines.

Baby steps.
Loo

Reference
Farris Thompson, Robert (2011). Aesthetic of the Cool: Afro-Atlantic Art and Music. USA : Periscope Publishing.

Heads, Hearts And Hands

Last weekend, in between my DJing slots at ¡Parranda!, one of Solares' participants made a significant observation. It goes something like this (I'm paraphrasing):

"When I play the tumbao moderno rhythm, I listen to certain instruments. When I play the boogaloo rhythm, I listen to different instruments. Each rhythm I play, causes me listen to different parts in the music."

I've been waiting for that observation.

It indicates attainment in Bloom's: Analysis stage of the Cognitive (knowing/head) domain; the complex Valuing-Organisation stages of the Affective (feeling/heart) domain; and, the Perceptual stage of the Psychomotor (doing/hands) domain. Three other participants had alluded to being at similar points of development, but this was the first crystallised articulation.

From: http://institute-of-progressive-education-and-learning.org/k-12-education/the-progressive-era/
 All Rights Acknowledged.

It means that for the majority of Solares participants, they are well up the hierarchies. There is much more case-example to be learned to facilitate Synthesis (cognitive) and Characterisation (affective), but we are within the threshold of Skilled Movements (psychomotor).

That tells me where they're at. Next, I have to explain the observation.

Loo

Backbeat Timeline: Introduction To The Boogaloo Rhythm

Tonight, I introduced Solares to the boogaloo rhythm.

It had reached that stage where the tumbao moderno practice was in danger of being entrenched, of participants feeling that the tones were synonymous with the back-beat; and they're not - they are one of a number.

So it was late on in the day, the last ten minutes of the session, when I put it on as a contrasting activity (they'd made good headway into the shaker-tumbao entrainment exercises).

It began as a briefing, that a feature of the boogaloo is in how the backbeat timeline is highlighted with hand-claps - present or implied.

We then listened to a number of tracks from the original boogaloo period out of New York i.e. 'chachachá with a backbeat' (e.g. Joe Cuba); to migrated interpretations in Puerto Rico (e.g. El Gran Combo), and Colombia (e.g. Grupo Gale); and modern versions.

Participants were then given one track with which to clap along to, using both hands or one hand against a thigh; and another track where the shaker single tone was substituted for a hand clap.

There is work yet to be done, for participants to be presented with a progressive flow of exercises next session. But the introduction served its purpose: to illuminate the path ahead for the backbeat timeline workshops.

Loo

Two Feelings, Two Walks

We began Solares as we did last week: playing the audible tones of the tumbao moderno: "gung-gung" and "pak" on the shaker; while performing the Caribbean sway basic. Having made such delicious progress last week, I was keen to maintain the practice so that participants could reliably and quickly enter the state of flow.

Throughout the session, entrainment was achieved more quickly at under two minutes and in songs at higher tempi ~160bpm. Encouraging though this is, there is still a distance to be made up, with my 'holy grail' objectives being entrainment: in less than thirty seconds, and at a tempo of +190bpm.

Additional challenge was incorporated by the use of two shakers, one in each hand, of differing tone and/or loudness.

Two Feelings
Participants began to "drive into the floor" i.e. derive more leverage (stack joint toque curves) from the floor. Because they had not yet been shown how to damp the resultant force, it evidenced as a more staccato 'punchy' movement. They were not aware that they were moving more percussively.

I drew their attention to this, and asked them to accentuate the sway in the cradle of their hips, to deflect (not dampen) the resultant sideways. This restored the smooth action, but with an intrinsic gain of power.

The shorthand for the two qualities was "punchy" and "smooth".

Two Walks
We also investigated the relevance of the two shaker tones: the single, and the double, with respect to the salsa walk. At this point, I introduced them to the concept of the two walks:

The 'rhythmic walk' where the vocalisation and step-sizes are matched as "short-short-long" to create the "quick-quick-slow" rhythm. This walk opens a clear space for the double tone of the shaker.

The 'pinch-a-bit walk' where: the first step is taken early on beat one; the second step is 'in the pocket' on beat two; and, the third step is taken late on beat three. It's called the 'pinch-a-bit' because the dancer pinches time from both sides of beat four to give it to the first and third steps. This results in a smoother, slower, flat-triplet feel to the walk. As the second step was taken in the pocket, this was synchronised with the single tone of the shaker.

We took the time to have a qualitative discussion on the merits of both, and the circumstances under which they might be preferentially employed.

Additional supporting information was provided by referring to my web tutorial on:
http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/salsatwo/anchor_two/extr_anc2.html

Where:
'Figure 2.2. Fault tolerance' illustrates the two variations of walks.

The row labelled 'Tones' corresponds to the back-beat timeline played on the shaker(s).

The row labelled 'Accurate' represents the 'short-short-long' rhythmic walk.

The row labelled '2, slow' represents the smooth 'pinch a bit' walk (for torneo and setenta). '2' means it's calibrated to beat 2 (single shake of shaker); 'slow' means a pinch more time is added between steps 1&2, and 2&3.

That we are now examining the qualitative rhythmic nature of dance in solares is encouraging. It shows that participants are developing an increased sensitivity to the aural and kinesthetic dimensions of dance. And the possibility of greater fulfilment. I wonder what that might look like.

Loo

A State Of Flow

Yesterday was the first Solares after my return from the Far East. I'd been pondering the learning approach to the session, and had predicated the learning plan on the probability that the participants would have done very little practice. Hence I designed the workshop as a practice session, not as an overt learning session in a flipped classroom context.

The purpose to doing that was the removal of anxiety.

As we'd moved into investigating the domain of timelines and fundamental rhythms, solares participants are being asked to re-frame their embodiment activity as percussionists. Achieving a "state of flow" is essential to the activity's success.

According to Owen Schaffer's white paper "Crafting Fun User Experiences: A Method to Facilitate Flow, Human Factors International" (2013), there are seven conditions to be met for a state of flow to be achievable:

1. knowing what to do;
2. knowing how to do it;
3. knowing how well you're doing;
4. knowing where to go (if navigation is involved);
5. high perceived challenges;
6. high perceived skills; and
7. freedom from distractions.

In practice, these were satisfied within the exercise of: generating shaker tones synchronised to the audible tones of the conga's tumbao moderno, while performing salsa's atiempo embodiment rhythm, to a salsa track.

Conditions 1 & 2
were met through revision of exercises one through three from the last session (see: http://salsadiary.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/percussion-concept-attack.html).

Condition 3
was fulfilled by the short impulse sound of the shaker, providing immediate feedback on quality of performance.

Condition 4
largely irrelevant, was met by self-determination in the direction of the rhythmic walk.

Conditions 5 & 6
were satisfied by the as-yet undeveloped proficiency in the synchronous performance of two timeline rhythms: back-beat and embodiment; to a qualitatively stringent level (less than 40 milliseconds).

Condition 7
was met by the studio environment (privacy), exercise design (solo practice), and unobtrusive support (subtle remedial intervention).

Three common states disrupt the maintenance of flow:

• apathy - low challenge level, low skills level, engenders a general lack of interest
• boredom -  low challenge level, high skills level, causes a distracting search for higher challenges
• anxiety - high challenge level, low skills level, creates a feeling of uneasiness.

The latter is why the session was planned the way it was; to maximise the possibility of achieving the state of flow.

It succeeded.

At just before the workshop's mid-point, it was observable that each participant had entered (albeit inconsistently) entrainment. (See also PDF on entrainment by the Open University: http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/experience/InTimeWithTheMusic.pdf). As proficiency increased, so did the need for challenge to maintain interest for flow. Adjustments to only three parameters were necessary:

1. variations in tempo,
2. quality of shaker tone, and
3. fine synchronisation between timelines.

This was the first time I'd seen solares' participants enter the biomusic state of flow, and it heralds an exciting threshold of possibilities in the workshops.

Loo Yeo

Percussion Concept: Attack

This was the last Solares session before a long break, so I wanted to leave all participants with something simple yet of fundamental significance that they could practice.

It had struck me during the modulation practices that their vocalisations were inconsistent in interval and in tonal quality, it's a drawback to vocalisations deployed in communities where rhythmic social activity is not a mainstay. So I brought along every shaker instrument I owned: shakers, maracas, ankle rattles, shekere...

The idea was simple: to replace the "gung-gung" (beats 4, 4+) and "pak" (beat 2) vocalisations with beats from a shaker.

Long impulse to short impulse sound
Using a vocalisation, the participant is not normally critically aware (speed, climbing intensity) of the initiation of the sound, nor of its decay (due to resonance in cranio-thoracic cavities). Vocalisations are slow to develop their full sound pressure and to dissipate as well - they are long impulse sounds.

Shakers initiate their sounds quickly because they have a discrete impact event. Their sounds also dissipate quickly because their containing cavities tend to be small. Their tones are short impulse sounds.

Critical evaluation
Moving the back-beat timeline from vocals to an internal instrument, decoupled tone generation from the perceptual-integral self: placing the rhythmic activity outside the body; and, at some distance from the centre (i.e. at the end of the arms) such that a lag time was introduced, and had to be compensated for. Both of these factors contribute to a requirement for critical listening and a more critical evaluation of the quality of performance.

Options for development
Transferring the interpretation of the back-beat timeline onto shakers broadens the scope for the musical development of percussionist dancers: rhythmic variations; call-and-response; ensemble performance; percussive attack and decay; and phrasing. Crucially, it frees up the vocals to interpret a separate timeline.

Revealing
The giant of all immediate purposes is to render to the participants the best possible feedback on their quality of performance, in fine synchrony of movements to music, and involvement in co-operative ensemble.

Exercise One
Solo, without music. Caribbean sway basic, then walking. Begin with "gung-gung" vocalisation (beats 4,4+). Add embodiment rhythm (beats 1,2,3). Add "pak" vocalisation (beat 2).

Exercise Two
Solo, without music. Caribbean sway basic, then walking. Begin with two shaker beats synchronised to the "gung-gung" vocalisation (beats 4,4+). Add embodiment rhythm (beats 1,2,3). Add one shaker beat synchronised to the "pak" vocalisation (beat 2).

Exercise Three (without back-beat vocalisations)
Solo, without music. Caribbean sway basic, then walking. Begin with two shaker beats on beats 4,4+. Add embodiment rhythm (beats 1,2,3). Add one shaker beat on beat 2.

Exercises one through three were repeated to slow music. Exercise three was then maintained to music of increasing tempo.

Conclusion
All participants found the initial process of playing a shaker whilst dancing challenging. It was important to allow each one, the time to work out an approach which suited him or her the best. Intervention was kept to a minimum, but there was always a high availability of support.

At the end of the session, participants were clear as to what practice was required i.e. exercise three to a tempo maximum of 150bpm, and they were already able to achieve this in the workshop.

The refinements will come after I get back.

Loo Yen

Rhythmic Modulation

Exploring the phenomenon of timeline modulation was the theme this week's Solares. There are a number of forms it takes, so the definition of modulation in this workshop was:

"when the rhythm of one timeline is allowed to influence the rhythm another"

There were two rhythms at play,

1. the standard unaccented embodiment rhythm (atiempo timeline); and
2. the vocalised open ("gung-gung") and slap ("pak") tones of the tumbao moderno (contratiempo timeline).

Warm-up: Recap of Previous Content
Solo, without music. Caribbean sway basic. Begin with "gung-gung" vocalisation (beats 4,4+). Add embodiment rhythm (beats 1,2,3). Add "pak" vocalisation (beat 2).

Solo, with music. As above.

Observation Practice
Two participants were selected to demonstrate modulation. One had naturally allowed the "pak" vocalisation to modulate her embodiment rhythm, evidenced by a stronger, accented second step. Another, although performing the "pak" vocalisation, had naturally maintained three unaccented steps.

Exercise One
Solo, without music. Caribbean sway basic, then walking. Begin with "gung-gung" vocalisation (beats 4,4+). Add embodiment rhythm (beats 1,2,3). Add "pak" vocalisation (beat 2). Allow the "pak" vocalisation to 'colour' to the second step.
Learning point: "let the pak from your throat flow through your feet"

Exercise Two
Solo, with music, As exercise one.

Learning Concept
Participants were first encouraged to explore modulation as present (accented) or absent (unaccented). Then they were encouraged to explore it quantitatively as 'colouration' (i.e. modulation) using the metaphor of a volume control dial: zero being unaccented, ten being as accented as possible, then arbitrary values in-between e.g. five, three, seven.

Exercise Three
As exercise two. Application of learning concept. Participants were asked to determine which 'colour' dial setting was most appropriate for the music track being played.

Exercise Four
As exercise three, but partnered.

At this point, participants' quality of execution encountered a downturn. As the addition of a partner was the single additional parameter, I surmised that the challenge lay in the mutual negotiation of an appropriate modulation level. This was verified through questioning the workshop participants. Reading this - the negotiation of each individuals idea of appropriate modulation in a partnership - as being one variable too far, I determined to continue with the principle of the exercise but adapted to make it achievable.

Exercise Five
Partnered, to music. Caribbean sway basic. Tumbao moderno "gung-gung, pak" vocalisation.
I called out a number indicating modulation level (on a scale of 0-10) and each participant was to interpret it at individual level, and then negotiate it at partnership level.

Discussion
The initial exercises were met with varying success. This may have been due to either: a lack of skill in the execution; or a lack of understanding, given that modulation was a new concept. Both were equally likely.

Modulation is dependent upon the quality and strength of both signals: the embodied timeline and the vocalised timeline. If one signal timeline (in this case the vocalised one) fades in and out, and is temporally unstable, then the effect of modulation cannot be consistent.

Towards the end of the session (during exercise five) participants' dance rhythms were showing increasing signs of being affected by the "pak" accent, indicating that early-session low success was due to a lack of familiarity with the concept.

The introduction of additional structure through removal of one parameter (i.e. my setting of modulation level) suggests that more structured intermediate exercises might attenuate the steepness of the learning curve.

Conclusion
The indications are that a re-running of the content with additional support and fewer variables i.e.:

1. externally set modulation levels;
2. emphasis on individual exercises; and
3. defined spatial configurations;

would provide an intermediate range of practice for the development of the skill of modulation.

Yeo Loo Yen

The Possibility of Dialogue (Tumbadora Session Two)

Two Solares participants and I met up for dinner and chat; which morphed into an impromptu tumbadora percussion workshop shortly after dessert was downed. It was I who suggested it, given that there was an opportunity to explore the 'non-moderno' (i.e. non one-person) version of the basic conga rhythm. All three of us were keen: two friends keen to lay hands on the drums, and I to explore more how to articulate the relevance of percussion to dancers.

Prelude
We went over how to set up to play congas; then the necessary basic strokes of open tones, heel tones, toe tones; and the heel-toe marcha.

The first hurdle was in how to properly co-ordinate two drummers, each playing a complementary part of a whole rhythm, without bringing in the extra complexity of clave beforehand. I elected to introduce the entire rhythm as vocalisation, to a regular pulse meter tapped out by the ball-of-foot.

Vocalisation
The sung rhythm was "gung-gung-fru-ku-gung-gung-fru-ku-" where:

• "gung" is the open tone, corresponding to beats 4, 4+, 2, 2+ respectively;
• "fru" is the heel tone, corresponding to beats 1, 3 respectively; and
• "ku" is the toe tone, corresponding to beats 1+, 3+ respectively.

Taps of the ball-of-foot synchronised with each "fru". The "fru" syllable was used instead of "tu" because it is non-plosive.

Playing
One person was designated to play the open tones, the other the marcha. The drummer of the open tones began first as a 'pregón' or 'caller', followed by the marcha drummer as 'coro' or 'respondent', creating dialogue. Once the two-person rhythm was fully engaged, the vocalisation was silenced. The foot taps acted as a synchronising master timeline. These roles would be reversed so that each participant had an equal amount of time playing the two roles.

Handedness
Each drummer was asked to cycle through the practice using dominant and non-dominant hands, and to assess the quality of each side's sonority, musical timing, and expression. As is typical, both were surprised to find their non-dominant sides more musical.

Co-operation
In keeping with the principle of co-operative musicianship common to African drumming, the tumbao was split into roles such that both were essential to form the whole. The divide was made according to tonal function: obviously audible tones which project the personality of the rhythm, and subtle near-inaudible tones which are essential to the drummer for stability and texture.

Quantitative factors, such as the loudness of tone (volume), and qualitative factors, such as abrupt accusative tones (timbre) were also pointed out when they occurred.

Music
Low-mid tempo son montuno music was selected as the performative context.

Conclusion
With both participants being new to the instrument and to co-operative drumming, the objective of this session was to introduce them to the idea of how congas were drummed with two people, to develop the skill of listening to each other and their selves simultaneously, and to contextualise the vocalisations we've been using in solares in triggering movement response

We completed the session some three hours later, satisfied that a substantial foundation had been laid.

Loo Yeo

The Fundamental Characteristics of African Dance

Index of the fundamental characteristics of African dance and derivatives. Derived from Welsh-Asante's seven characteristics of African dance in "Commonalities in African Dance: An Aesthetic Foundation" (1985).

1. Low to the earth
African cosmology regards the Earth as a benevolent world which sustains them, as compared to the European's place of trial to ascend from. Hence the characteristic of African dance is one which works with gravity, not one which seeks to defy it.

The 'Earth-Centred' Posture
With the ankles just inside one hip-width apart, and the body in a seated posture but inclined forward with knees flexed, this is a root position of West African dance. The posture places the dancer in dynamic equilibrium with gravity: energy from the dancer radiating downwards to the earth is in balance with the energy radiated from the earth upwards.

2. Undulating from the centre outward
(remarks to follow)

3. Polyrhythmic
(remarks to follow)

4. Emphasis on the pelvic girdle
(remarks to follow)

5. Body part isolations
Each body part tells its own story.

"All the elements of the music are displayed clearly in the body and nothing is left out." - Emily Willette (2012)

6. Whole foot touching the ground
(remarks to follow)

"We are the men of dance, whose feet draw new strength pounding the hardened earth." - Léopold Sédar Senghor (1945).

"stamping feet on the ground is a show of extreme joy" - Alphonse Tiérou (2000) 

7. Bent knees
(remarks to follow)

"dancing in a bent-over position with arms folded over the chest is a symbol of initiation" - Alphonse Tiérou (2000)

8. Texture
describes how dance functions as bodily (performative) conversation.

"Tell me how you dance and I'll tell you who you are." - Alphonse Tiérou (2000)

"When a body moves, it's the most revealing thing. Dance for me a minute, and I'll tell you who you are." - Mikhail Baryshnikov

References

Senghor, Léopold Sédar (1945). Prayer to Masks. In 'Songs of Shadow'. Original text: "Nous sommes les hommes de la danse, dont les pieds reprennent vigueur en frappant le sol dur." See excerpt: http://www.drmalotaibi.com/courses/prayer-to-masks.pdf [Retrieved 08/07/16]

Tiérou, Alphonse (2000). Tell Me How You Dance and I'll Tell You Who You Are. The UNESCO Courier. October 2000, Page 45. See: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001207/120752e.pdf#120774 [Retrieved 08/07/16]

Welsh-Asante, Kariamu (1985). Commonalities in African Dance: An Aesthetic Foundation. In "African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity" edited by Molefi Kete Asante and Kariamu Welsh-Asante. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Willette, Emily (2012). The Africanist Aesthetic in American Dance Forms. https://sophia.smith.edu/blog/danceglobalization/2012/04/13/the-africanist-aesthetic-in-american-dance-forms/ [Retrieved 18/06/2016]

The Senses of African Dance

Index of the thematic principles which can be found at the core of African dance and derivatives. Derived from Welsh-Asante's seven "senses" of African dance in "Commonalities in African Dance: An Aesthetic Foundation" (1985).

1. Ephebism
(from the Greek 'ephebos' εφηβος referring to the adolescent male)
A youthful energy (not commonly found in European ballet). "Old people dancing with youthful vitality are valued examples of ephebism in Africanist cultures." (Gottschild, 2001.)

2. Polycentrism
Literally meaning "of, or having, many-centres", it is the idea that movement may be initiated from and maintained in any part of the body. Hence the preponderance of body-isolated movement. Polycentrism is a requisite for the embodiment of polyrhythm. Emily Willette (2012) says of African dance, "All the elements of the music are displayed clearly in the body and nothing is left out."

3. Polyrhythm
Dave Atkinson defines polyrhythm as "a combination of two or more rhythms played simultaneously while moving at the same linear tempo". Farris Thompson (1974) describes his experience of the bodily expression of polyrhythm (via polycentrism) thus, “my hands and my feet were to keep time with the gongs, my hips with the first drum, my back and shoulders with the second.”

4. Curvilinearity
"refers to the curved shape, figuring or structuring of artistic products as well as within the positioning of bodies. It’s directly related to two core concepts in African societies: continuity and fertility." (Afreaka, 2013)

5. Dimensionality
Extrasensory feelings and emotions. "Asante's (sic) (1994) dimensionality refers not to "measured dimension" but to "perceived dimension," a "something extra that is present in harmony with the music, dance, or sculpture" (Caponi, 1999).

6. Epic Memory
The dancer draws upon folkloric knowledge and cultural histories to imbue the dance with spiritual and emotional meaning, thereby making a 'universal' (read 'primal') connection with the audience.

7. Holistic Unity (Wholism)
Unity arises out of the circle-solo dance format where there is a communal circle and a soloist leader or couple. Members of the circle: drummers, singers/choristers, dancers-in-waiting, audience members; all participate. Says Welsh-Asante (2010) "Participation is anticipatory and responsive. In order for an event to be successful, everyone must be fully involved. Silence and stillness are not valued in the African performance arena. In fact, to be silent is to be critical in a negative way and shows disdain and contempt for the performance."

8. Repetition
"Most African composition is based on the repetition of a musical unit. It is that repetition that holds together the other musical units of the composition. These other unit are structured with great freedom relative to the first unit, producing their own rhythmic pattern that coincides only occasionally with that of the other units and with the basic pulse. For example, in the mbira music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, a repeated pattern is established by the interaction of various parts, and the musician develops an improvisation out of this core pattern." ('Music in Africa' 2015)

"Without an organizing principle of repetition, true improvisation would be impossible, as an improviser relies upon the ongoing recurrence of the beat... That the beat is there to pick up does not mean that it must have been metronomic, but merely that it must have been at one point begun and that it must be at any point 'social' - i.e., amenable to re-starting, interruption, or entry by a second or third player or to response by an additional musician." (Snead, James 1981)

References

Afreaka (2013). "Africanist Dance Aesthetics: Societies in Movement". http://www.afreaka.com.br/english/africanist-dance-aesthetics/ [Retrieved 19/06/16]

Atkinson, Dave (????). What is a polyrhythm. http://www.drumlessons.com/drum-lessons/rock-drumming/what-is-a-polyrhythm/ [Retrieved 08/07/2016].

Caponi, Gena Dagel (1999). "Signifyin(g), Sanctifyin' & Slam Dunking: A Reader in African American Expressive Culture" Editor. Amherst : Univeristy of Massachusetts Press.

Farris Thompson, Robert (1974). "African Art in Motion". Los Angeles : University of California Press.

Gottschild, Brenda Dixon (2001). Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance. In "African Roots/American Cultures: Africa in the Creation of the Americas" Edited by Sheila S.Walker. pp.89-103.

'Music of Africa'. In "New World Encyclopedia" (2015)
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Music_of_Africa [Retrieved 16/06/16]

Snead, James (1981). On Repetition in Black Culture. Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 15, No. 4, Black Textual Strategies, Volume 1: Theory (Winter, 1981), pp. 146-154.

Welsh-Asante, Kariamu (1985). Commonalities in African Dance: An Aesthetic Foundation. In "African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity" edited by Molefi Kete Asante and Kariamu Welsh-Asante. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Welsh-Asante, Kariamu (2010). World of Dance: African Dance, Second Edition. NY : Infobase Publishing

Willette, Emily (2012). The Africanist Aesthetic in American Dance Forms. https://sophia.smith.edu/blog/danceglobalization/2012/04/13/the-africanist-aesthetic-in-american-dance-forms/ [Retrieved 18/06/2016]

Timelines: Rhythms and Relationships

The master index of timeline categories and their member rhythms which have been, or will be, addressed in Solares. Links to relevant posts provided are followed by the type of embodiment rhythm in parenthesis () they were performed relative to.

Contratiempo Backbeat Timeline
Conga: tumbao antico rhythm
Conga: tumbao moderno rhythm

• "pak" (atiempo)

Embodiment: bolero rhythm

• Loo's Three Simple Steps To Bolero Success (contratiempo)

Atiempo Downbeat Timeline
Bass: tumbao, matancera variant
Embodiment: guaguancó rhythm
Embodiment: salsa rhythm
Maracas: son variant

Upbeat Timeline
Timbales: cáscara rhythm
Timbales: timbale bell rhythm
Tres: guajeo, son montuno rhythm

Clave Timeline
Bass: tumbao, son montuno variant
Caüa brava: catá rhythm
Clave: son variant
Clave: rumba variant
Conga: guaguancó rhythm, Havana variant
Conga: guaguancó rhythm, Matanzas variant
Motif: cinquillo
Motif: tresillo

Composite Timeline
Bongó: martillo rhythm
Conga: a caballo rhythm
Conga: songo rhythm

Relationships
Modulation

• Rhythmic modulation (tumbao moderno vocalisation on atiempo embodiment rhythm)

Loo Yeo

"pak" - one syllable adds heart

(Addendum to the previous post.)

As Solares drew to a close, I surveyed the last exercise: the performance of a simple rueda de casino using the "pak" vocalisation. Standing beside me was an observing participant who said something poignant:

Participant: "It makes me very sad."
Me: "What's made you sad?"
Participant: "After all these years of dancing, you've made me realise that I was doing it mechanically."

He'd understood the artistic expression individually possible in the rhythm of salsa; a fact reinforced when the rueda began to gain rhythmic dimension as casineros got their heads around adding the presence of the "pak" syllable in their rhythm.

I was heartened. You can't ask more from an exercise than for it to unveil the body of art.

Loo

"pak"

True to my decision for a positive move to rhythm, I turned up to Solares armed with a learning game plan, a bagful of hand percussion, a compact conga, and a cajón. This approach to content - the meanings of rhythms to dancers - was new to Solares and although I had a direction, I couldn't anticipate the response nor outcomes, so I was loaded for bear.

There were two possible routes to take:

1. picking one timeline class and investigating-developing it to its fullest extent in the time available, or
2. skimming through the four timeline classes to give an overall feel for the rhythm capsule in ensemble.

I wouldn't know which route until I assessed Solares' participants response to the first exercise, which was designed as an indicator.

Background
Right from Solares' inception, the timing mechanism used has been based on the non-verbal vocalisation of the tumbao moderno's open tones "gung-gung" (beats 4 and 4+) either in full context of the music, synchronised to the actual open tones of the tumbao moderno played on congas by yours truly, or as a standalone rhythmic cue/timekeeper.

Backbeat Timeline: Tumbao Moderno rhythm
The lowest-hanging fruit was to explore the timeline in which the long-established "gung-gung" was a component - the backbeat* timeline. To put this more expressly, the tumbao moderno rhythm is an example of a backbeat timeline. To complete the timeline, all that was needed was the additional vocalisation "pak" on the European count of beat 2. Hence the vocalisation would be:

"gung-gung (4,4+), ... , pak (2), ..., gung-gung (4,4+), ... , pak (2), ..., " repeated

Exercise One
The Caribbean sway basic was used as the embodiment (i.e. dance) context.

1. "gung-gung" vocalisation followed by three steps, to yield:
   "gung-gung", step, step, step.
2. Then add the "pak" vocalisation synchronous with the second step:
   "gung-gung", step, "pak"step, step.

Results
All participants executed part 1 easily. But when it came to adding the "pak" vocalisation synchronous with their second step, they encountered difficulty. It took most of the workshop as learning time (with remedial instruction) to achieve independently reproducible practice. By default, Route 1 (above) became the course.

Participants' independence and reproducibility of practice was verified through the contrasting activity of incorporating the vocalisation in a simple rueda de casino comprising just basic guapea timesteps and dame partner changes.

Discussion
I believe two factors contributed to the unexpected initial lack of success.

1. The "gung-gung" had been interpreted as a component of the embodiment timeline, NOT as belonging to a separate timeline.
This meant that participants were only tracking one simple timeline. The addition of the "pak" forced the excision of "gung-gung" from the embodiment timeline into its proper backbeat timeline. Participants now had to track two timelines: the vocalised backbeat timeline and the stepped embodiment timeline. All-of-a-sudden, cognitive overhead had more than doubled since two timelines had to be maintained AND they had to be synchronised and merged to create a composite timeline**.

2. The "gung-gung" had been interpreted as a cue anticipating the beginning of the timeline NOT as the beginning itself.
The result, given that the human brain perceives regular meter as alternating strong and weak beats beginning with the strong***, was that the first and third steps coincided with the neurologically strong beats; the second step plus "pak", and the "gung-gung" fell on the neurologically weak beats.

Future Study
Participants' ability to track two separate timelines must continue to develop. This would allow for their merger to form a composite timeline yielding greater rhythmic stability; and an aesthetic investigation into what happens when a rhythm is allowed to modulate another rhythm.

A shift in the perceived start of the rhythmic timeline: from the first step to the "gung-gung" i.e. from the European to the African. To achieve success, "gung-gung" must be understood as important beats in their own right, not simply as cues to the (perceptually) more "important" beat of the first dance step. I think it likely that an interchanging dance-percussion ensemble format will be evaluated for its suitability.

Yeo Loo Yen

Notes
*The online definitions of the backbeat expose the limitations of the internet as a web resource. For example, Wikipedia's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(music)#Backbeat) point to its origin as being in rock music, and FreeDictionary's (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/backbeat) limiting it as a characteristic of rock music. Neither mention its pre-existence in, for example, Senegambian music, nor trace how it came to be in rock music (see 'The Latin Tinge' by John Storm Roberts).

**"Paillard-Fraisse hypothesis" or "code-generation hypothesis" where dynamic stability of a rhythm is achieved through the establishment of a master time code via multi-rhythmic encoding. In:
Volman, M.J.M., and Geuze, R.H. (2000). Temporal stability of rhythmic tapping “on” and “off the beat”: A developmental study. Psychological Research Vol.63, pp.62-69.

***Brochard, R., Abecasis, D., Potter, D., Ragot, R., and Drake, C. (2003). The “TickTock” of Our Internal Clock: Direct Brain Evidence of Subjective Accents in Isochronous Sequences. Psychological Science Vol.14 No.4 pp.362-366.

African Dance Aesthetics

Four years ago, after I presented my findings at UNESCO CID's 32nd World Congress on Dance Research, I embarked on a next step of the study asking, "could a non-native exponent of Latin dance, who learned in a non-indigenous environment, be developed to an extent where he or she would (willingly) be mistaken for a native dancer?" Today I would ask the question differently:

"Is is possible to restore or reconstruct the African aesthetic, erased through the (un)conscious processes of whitening during internationalisation, to Caribbean dance?"

According McMains (2015), referencing Robert Farris Thompson's "Aesthetic of the Cool" (2001), African aesthetic features have been down-played or lost in the whitening of international Latin dance. Foremost of these are:

Ephebism
(from the Greek 'ephebos' εφηβος referring to the adolescent male)
A youthful energy (not commonly found in European ballet). "Old people dancing with youthful vitality are valued examples of ephebism in Africanist cultures." (Gottschild, 2001)

Polycentricity
"Polyrhythm and polycentrism are also central to African dance. Polyrhythm is the layering of different rhythms over one another and polycentrism is the idea that movement can initiate from any part of the body. These two qualities play together because different parts of the body dance to different instruments that are playing at different rhythms. Farris Thompson describes learning polyrhythm and polycentrism, “my hands and my feet were to keep time with the gongs, my hips with the first drum, my back and shoulders with the second.”(Farris Thompson, 1974) All the elements of the music are displayed clearly in the body and nothing is left out. This method of dancing is another way of incorporating and valuing the entire body and bringing together the music and dancing." (Willette, 2012)

Ephebism and Polycentricity combine to give rise to an aesthetic of polyrhythmic embodiment. "The concept of vital aliveness leads to the interpretation of the parts of the body as independent instruments of percussive force." (Farris Thompson, 1974)

Welsh-Asante lends further structure by articulating seven "senses" and seven characteristics of African dance in "Commonalities in African Dance: An Aesthetic Foundation" (1985) which she believes to be requisite.

The Seven "Senses" of African Dance

1. Polyrhythm
(see above)

2. Polycentrism
(see above)

3. Curvilinearity
"refers to the curved shape, figuring or structuring of artistic products as well as within the positioning of bodies. It’s directly related to two core concepts in African societies: continuity and fertility." (Afreaka, 2013)

4. Dimensionality
Extrasensory feelings and emotions. "Asante's (sic) (1994) dimensionality refers not to "measured dimension" but to "perceived dimension," a "something extra that is present in harmony with the music, dance, or sculpture" (Caponi, 1999).

5. Epic Memory
The dancer draws upon folkloric knowledge and cultural histories to imbue the dance with spiritual and emotional meaning, thereby making a universal connection with the audience.

6. Wholism / Holistic Unity
arises out of the circle-solo dance format where there is a communal circle and a soloist leader or couple. Members of the circle: drummers, singers/choristers, dancers-in-waiting, audience members; all participate. Says Welsh-Asante (2010) "Participation is anticipatory and responsive. In order for an event to be successful, everyone must be fully involved. Silence and stillness are not valued in the African performance arena. In fact, to be silent is to be critical in a negative way and shows disdain and contempt for the performance"

7. Repetition
"Most African composition is based on the repetition of a musical unit. It is that repetition that holds together the other musical units of the composition. These other unit are structured with great freedom relative to the first unit, producing their own rhythmic pattern that coincides only occasionally with that of the other units and with the basic pulse. For example, in the mbira music of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, a repeated pattern is established by the interaction of various parts, and the musician develops an improvisation out of this core pattern." ('Music in Africa' 2015)

The Seven Basic Characteristics of African Dance

1. Low to the earth
2. Undulating from the centre outward
3. Polyrhythmic
4. Emphasis on the pelvic girdle
5. Body part isolations

6. Whole foot touching the ground
"Nous sommes les hommes de la danse, dont les pieds reprennent vigueur en frappant le sol dur. ["We are the men of dance, whose feet take on new strength from stamping the hard ground."] From “Prière aux Masques” ["Prayer to the Masks"] by Léopold Sédar Senghor.

7. Bent knees

Good and informative as they are, they should not be taken as dogma. Jane Desmond (1997) cautions:

"I could show you several Senegalese steps that don't adhere to any of those characteristics and utilize only a few of Welsh-Asante's senses. But to many students of African and African-derived dance, these are nothing short of regulations of appropriate dance behavior and conduct."

Further Elements
1. Texture
How dance functions as performative conversation.
"Tell me how you dance and I'll tell you who you are." - Alphonse Teirou
https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-66495279/tell-me-how-you-dance-and-i-ll-tell-you-who-you-are
"When a body moves, it's the most revealing thing. Dance for me a minute, and I'll tell you who you are." - Mikhail Baryshnikov

Research Objective
To assess the desirability and feasibility of these senses and characteristics as the elemental blocks for the restoration or reconstruction of the African aesthetic in internationalised Latin dance.

References
Afreaka (2013). "Africanist Dance Aesthetics: Societies in Movement". http://www.afreaka.com.br/english/africanist-dance-aesthetics/ [Retrieved 19/06/16]

Caponi, Gena Dagel (1999). "Signifyin(g), Sanctifyin' & Slam Dunking: A Reader in African American Expressive Culture" Editor. Amherst : Univeristy of Massachusetts Press.

Desmond, Jane (1997). "Meaning in Motion: New Cultural Studies of Dance" Editor. USA : Duke University Press.

Farris Thompson, Robert (1974). "African Art in Motion". Los Angeles : University of California Press.

fl00oxhmyv9w (2013). The Lineage of the African Dance Diaspora. https://prezi.com/rfzrs8o3qklb/the-lineage-of-the-african-dance-diaspora/ [Retrieved 19/06/16}

Gottschild, Brenda Dixon (2001). Stripping the Emperor: The Africanist Presence in American Concert Dance. In "African Roots/American Cultures: Africa in the Creation of the Americas" Edited by Sheila S.Walker. pp.89-103.

'Music of Africa'. In "New World Encyclopedia" (2015)
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Music_of_Africa [Retrieved 16/6/16]

Sauter, Jen (2013). Copy of Symbolism in African Dance.
https://prezi.com/0jkc_slpiftw/copy-of-symbolism-in-african-dance/ [Retrieved 26/06/16]

Welsh-Asante, Kariamu (1985). Commonalities in African Dance: An Aesthetic Foundation. In "African Culture: The Rhythms of Unity" edited by Molefi Kete Asante and Kariamu Welsh-Asante. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Welsh-Asante, Kariamu (1994). Ed. "The African Aesthetic: Keeper of the Traditions". Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Welsh-Asante, Kariamu (2010). World of Dance: African Dance, Second Edition. NY : Infobase Publishing

Willette, Emily (2012). The Africanist Aesthetic in American Dance Forms. https://sophia.smith.edu/blog/danceglobalization/2012/04/13/the-africanist-aesthetic-in-american-dance-forms/ [Retrieved 18/06/2016]

A Positive Move To Rhythm

I've decided to leave the story of torneo incomplete.

Last night, solares participants finished the session looking absolutely spent. They were physically drained from the struggle of maintaining a single pivot point for extended periods, and for providing the constant drive for turning. The sustained concentration on kinesthetic input was intense, made more challenging for the dizziness that the advanced choreographic element can create.

They were valiant in their resolution; they understood its value as a move in itself and for the skills it develops. But at the end of the workshop, I looked into their eyes and asked myself "did they have enough in the tank to take another four of these in a row?" They probably did. But was it worth the learning harm?

I beat down my inner completionist with a big stick.

Since the beginning of the year, solares' learning themes have been to do with the Caribbean capsule vocabulary, and the torneo as a 'stretch' element. I've been wary that that emphasis was disrupting the equilibrium of development; favouring move vocabulary over quality of movement, and decoupling movement from rhythm.

It's time to restore that equilibrium, perhaps to dedicate a good portion of the year's remainder to articulating a capsule vocabulary of Caribbean rhythm. I, too, am looking forward to learning more about the preferences, the dispositions of the regulars whom attend solares.

Loo