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Jump Rhythm Technique 1 (161-0-21)

Instructors

Billy Siegenfeld
847/491-3147
10 Arts Circle Drive
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, noon-2:00pm and by appointment

Meeting Info

Wirtz Center SOUTH: Mon, Wed 11:00AM - 12:50PM

Overview of class

This is a jazz-rhythm-/funk-rhythm-/hip-hop-rhythm-driven, non-ballet-based, scat-sung approach to teaching theatre movement. Its goal is to help actor-dancer-singers transform their bodies and voices into percussively syncopated musical instruments.
Jump Rhythm is built upon three practices: the holistic-creative, relaxation-based approach to posture, movement, and vocalization called Standing Down Straight®; the African-originated approach to full-bodied rhythm-making called ngoma (from the Bantu: "drumming and rhythmic song-dancing"); and the mutually benefiting, equal-give-and-take approach to human interaction called egalitarianism. To re-emphasize: this "rhythm-first" approach to theatre movement is not based on ballet-based pedagogy. The work of Jump Rhythm instead focuses on articulating rhythmic-dynamic energy rather than classically beautiful shapes; on channeling the physical and emotional energies we feel on the inside of our bodies rather than re-arranging our body parts to replicate a pre-existing look on the outside of our bodies; on clarifying what is felt rather than what is seen.