Teaching Practices
Room 2 Manoeuvre endeavours to provide a high level of dance education to schools, community and professional organisations and practitioners in the UK and abroad. The company has lead classes and workshops at numerous institutions including Dance Base, City Moves, Dance House (Glasgow), Dance City, Yorkshire Dance, The Space Dundee, Telford College, Scottish Youth Dance and Centre National de la Danse, Paris as well as primary, secondary schools and local authorities in Scotland.
Room 2 Manoeuvre provides dance education in the following areas:
• Contemporary dance technique •
A release based form that introduces elements of hip hop/breakdance vocabulary to discover a unique movement language. The focus is put on movement with momentum and fluidity, while maintaining a sense of presence and precision. Exercises develope from floor to standing, travelling and inverted sequences. It is an opportunity to not only to improve aerobic and technical facility but also our degree of sensation, orientation within space and connection with others.
• Partnering •
Developing skills that allow us to support weight, and be supported, efficiently. This is achieved through undertaking exercises that help us identify our centre and deal with principles of balance and counter-balance. There is also some incorporation of aspects of contact improvisation as well as standing and travelling tasks used as both a starting point to generate material and improving technique.
• Improvisation •
Investigating our environment and the people within the space, we discover how there is already a lot of information we can use as a source for improvisation. Exercises focus on tuning into our senses and also utilise structured scores, techniques to achieve unexpected movement results, physical contact and sound. The aim is to widen the scope of improvisation, through a widening of choices the participant can make.
• Choreography •
We propose several areas for exploration:
Tricks of the Trade. The techniques and processes R2M employs when developing material from past presentations.
Formulae, Layers and Creative Composition. An investigation of the various processes we can undertake to generate a varied and orignal movement language. This is achieved through several methods including the layering of processes or tasks upon an individual starting point designed to help the participant break old habits and find new movement pathways, the use of rule based formulae with a view to allowing participants to devise their own approaches and also how timing, relationships, staging and other compositional elements can affect an established movement base once placed in space. The aim is to broaden the creative palette of the participant.
Hip Hop Theatre? An investigation of how we are able to use hip hop dance vocabulary in a fresh and innovative way, beyond the "eye candy" aspect to a point where the movement can carry meaning or be abstracted in a subtle yet clear manner. This is primarily a workshop for hip hop artists who wish to explore their craft further in a theatrical context.
• Hip Hop dance technique •
Classes & workshops that cover a variety of styles such as Breakdance/BBoying, Locking, Popping, House and Streetdance. The aims are to improve technique, musicality and creative ability. Fundamental, is the discovery and maintenance of the groove...because without the groove, you cannot move.
Please note the following:
All education areas are offered as Classes & Workshops separately or combined.
Workshops are a minimum length of 2hrs.
All levels & ages catered for from schools, youth groups, beginners to professionals.
The company can provide bespoke education packages for specific needs.
Full education CV and Disclosure/CRB forms available on request
Additional information:
In conjunction with Company Nux, Room 2 Manoeuvre facilitates the presentation of Professional/Advanced and Community level dance workshops by renowned choreographers and dancers based in Europe. This takes place under the name of In.Da.Work.S. It aims to provide regular professional training that challenges, stimulates and inspires the Scottish professional dance community and create international network opportunities. Please visit the website for more info.
Comments & feedback on R2M workshops:
"The participants at the workshop all really enjoyed it and gained a new experience for them of making dance." (Eden Court Theatre, Inverness)
"The workshop was well received by members of Citymoves Youth Dance Company Fusion. They enjoyed trying out the moves for themselves they has seen the night before on stage." (DanceLive Festival, Aberdeen)
"It exceeded my expectations - didn’t think we’d learn so much" "Really enjoyed it – it’s really worthwhile." (Participants at Garrison Theatre, Shetland)
View slideshow here.