How to Dance at a Club or Party: an Analytical Approach
So you may have heard that I’m teaching a new class at the Google Dance Studio – How to Dance at a Club or Party: An Analytical Approach. I think this is currently my favorite class, but it’s also my most challenging – there’s a lot of work involved in breaking down all those elements of movement that make someone look “natural”.
I’ve had so many friends ask me what the heck I’m teaching in that class, that I thought I’d put up a bit of my curriculum / a few of my review videos so you can share in the joy.
It’s a 7 week course, and here’s the overview of the curriculum:
- Parsing music: How to hear beat, rhythm, measures, upbeat vs. downbeat, melody and harmony
- Translating sound into movement: How to turn what you hear into dancing
- Overall Picture: Posture, Angles, Coordination, and Resistance
- Body Isolations: How to move individual parts of your body (ribs, hips, body rolls, etc)
- Male vs Female Movement, and a Brief top 10 of “Don’t”s
- How to Interact with Others
- How to Teach Yourself
I’m particularly proud of some of the segments (like how to tell the difference between “good” posture, “bad” posture, “dance” posture, and “hip hop” posture). I also get a total kick out of the powerpoint presentation and flow chart that go with the class series. Most importantly, I have seen a lot of improvement already in the 60-70 folks who are showing up for class each week (good job guys!)
I’ve been told that I ought to package the whole curriculum and sell it (in my copious amounts of spare time). I doubt I will have time, but I am considering it, and due to that I will not post all of my videos here (I am posting them internally at Google, check my internal account for all the videos and powerpoint notes).
None the less, here’s a few videos for fun:
Posture Basics:
Angles:
Coordination:
Resistance:
For the Googlers who are reading, there is only a few more weeks of class left, so come out on Wednesdays at 5:30 pm to the studio! This is a one time only class, so don’t miss it! Each class is it’s own unit, so feel free to come out even if you’ve missed prior classes.
See you soon,
Anna
Hip Hop at Google
Hey Dancers!
Sorry I’ve been so slow in making videos for our cardio hip hop class – the Google dance studio has eaten my life.
Just a brief update on hip hop at Google – we now have 5 hip hop classes per week (what???)
- Total beginners: How to dance at a Club or Party: An Analytical Approach (Wednesdays at 5:30 pm)
- Beginners: Club Zumba (Mondays at 4 pm, follow along dancing to pop / club / hip hop music, simple steps, great cardio)
- Beginning Intermediate: Cardio Hip Hop (Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 pm, lots of workout, some fun steps, short routine)
- Intermediate Advanced Hip Hop: with Arlene Lee (Thursdays at 4 pm, prepare to perform an awesome hip hop routine!)
All classes are in the new Google dance studio, except for the Cardio hip hop, which is still in B 40 as always.
I know this is *lots* of options – perhaps too many? Please tell your friends about all of the options – I think there are Googlers out there who don’t know that the right class exists for them. If everyone finds the class that is right for them, there will be enough dancers total to fill up all those classes. I hope that you will still come out and support the Cardio Hip Hop class in B 40 – I would hate to have to end the class due to lack of participation. We’ve been going strong for a year, and it would be great to keep going!
Anyways, here are the steps that we are doing right now if you want to review:
And here are the steps a little faster with the counts:
See you in class on Monday / Wednesday at 7 pm.
Hip Hop Videos – Finally!!
It’s great to have my video camera back – it was being used for the Google dance program, and thus I haven’t been doing videos for ages. Actually, that’s really just an excuse for me being a very busy slacker!
Anyways, finally! A hip hop video! I know the steps have been pretty tricky, hopefully this will help all you new kids to enjoy class with us on Mondays and Wednesdays in the B 40 Gym. December classes are free – so bring a friend who’s been stalling, tell them this is the time to try it out.
Hip Hop steps:
Can you tell it was a little cold in the studio??
Hip Hop w Counts:
See you soon,
Anna
Music Playlists
Howdy! So various folks have asked for the names of the songs that I use in class… so here’s my playlists as of today (they change every week)….
Current Bollywood class:
Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire (warmup)
Chor Bazari from Love Aaj Kal (isolations)
Ishq Hi Hai Rab from Dil Bole Hadippa (stretch)
(Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje from Hum Dil de Chuke)
Dholna from Lau
Wake up Side from Wake up Sid
(Gym Shim from Dil Bole Hadippa)
Discowale Khisko from Dil Bole Hadippa
(Hadippa (the remix) from Dil Bole Hadippa)
Twist from Love Aaj Kal
(Say Na Say Na)
Boro Boro from Bluffmaster
Dhadak Dhadak from Bunti Aur Babli (cool down)
Current Hip Hop Class (with Hindi hip hop included):
Young’n by Fabolous
No Diggity by Blackstreet and Dr. Dre
All of the Above by Maino
Nuthin’ but a G Thang by Dr. Dre
Gold Digger by Kayne West
Replay by Iyaz
Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo
Chiggy Wiggy from Blue
Ego (remix) by Beyonce
Celebration by Madonna
Meet me Halfway by Black Eyed Peas
Tha Kar Ke from Golmaal Returns
Paparazzi (demolition crew remix) by Lady Gaga
Shattered Glass by Britney Spears
Jee Karda from Singh is King
3 by Britney Spears
Ambitionz Az a Ridah by 2Pac
Trade it All by Fabolous
All Eyez On Me by 2Pac and Syke
Whatever You Like by T.I.
The Way I Are by Timbaland
Chillin’ by Wale
Om Mangalam by Anu Milik
Current Zumba class:
Guajira (I Love U 2 Much) by Yerba Buena (warmup)
Come Fly Away (Mobbing Remix) from Club Anthems (isolations)
Samba No. 9 by Maya F.S. (stretch)
Lirirrixa by Babado Novo (samba)
El Rey del Mambo from Zumba (merengue)
Como si Na from Zumba (pop)
Bailadora from Zumba (samba)
Drum Oasis by Neena and Veena (bellydance)
Habibi by Aradia and DJ Zen (bellydance)
Move it Up by Zumba (reggeaton)
Don’t Stop by Zumba (samba)
Latinos by Zumba (salsa / hip hop)
Como la Flor by Selena (cumbia)
La Carcacha by Selena (cumbia)
Agustito from Latin Music 3 Dance House (samba)
I’ve Gotta Have You by the Weepees (cool down)
Fidelity by Regina Spektor (stretch)
Current Playlist for Around the World class:
See Zumba, plus:
Riverdance Remix by Bill Whelan (Irish)
American Wake by Riverdance (Irish)
Jenjela Runyenje from Roots! African drumming (African)
I Like You from Latin Music 3 (Cha Cha)
El Ritmo Caliente by Zumba (Quebradita)
El choclo by Villoldo O.S.T tango (Tango)
The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson (Cool down)
Give Me Your Forever John Mayer (Stretch)
——-
So what are you favorites? Let me know if you have particular songs that you want to hear in class – I’m always open to suggestions!
Oktoberfest at Google – this Thursday
Hey Googlers (and friends of Googlers),
The Google culinary team is putting on a party – which means, it’s gonna be good!
This Thursday from noon to four there will be beer, German food, a real live 20 piece German oom-pah oom-pah band, and…. DANCERS!
Yes, we’ve been rehearsing for a big phat 3 weeks to put together some German dancing to perform.
I have a rocking group of 5 couples dancing at polka at 1 pm, a cute cute group of 4 girls dancing Landler at 2 pm, and a very dizzy group of 3 couples dancing Zweifacher at 3 pm. Right after the last dance I will be taking the microphone to teach *everyone* how to polka.
So if you wanna see us dance around in Lederhosen and cute German dresses (or both, in my case), or teach or learn some basic polka steps, come out to Crittenden this Thursday!
See you soon,
Anna
Latest Hip Hop Steps
I had a great time at the 2009 Zumba convention, and one of the highlights was taking hip hop from Gina Grant and her awesome team of hip hop friends. There was a guy from Singapore and a guy from Taiwan who taught short hip hop routines, and then Gina took over for the rest of the hour – tres cool.
I used a few of their steps (ignoring the slightly femme ones) and here’s the latest hip hop steps we’re using at Google:
and with the counts:
Looking forward to seeing you every Monday and Wednesday at 7!
Hip Hop Steps for August 09
Hey Dancers,
So we’re back to normal with our “rolling” choreography – here’s the steps we will start with this Wednesday and add on from there:
Slowly and facing front:
And facing back with the counts:
If you know folks who were going to Bollywood, make sure they come out to Hip Hop instead on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 pm.
And yes, for those who are interested in performing, there will be rehearsal this week on Wednesday directly after class at 8 pm.
See you soon!
Hip Hop Change Up
Hey Google Hip Hoppers,
Hope you’re having a great weekend.
So you may have heard me announcing that there’s a chance to perform with the hip hop class coming up in September / October at the Annual Google Dance Show (date tbd – still – I know – I’m sorry). If you want to perform with us it’s not too late, just come to practices on Wednesday nights from 8-9 pm.
So I’ve been changing up the class format a little bit to try and support the performance group. For the next few weeks there may be new routines in class (actually old routines that are being reviewed by the performance class). In other words, I won’t always be doing “rolling choreography” from one week to the next. Hopefully this will be an exciting challenge to folks in the class – more new steps, fun stuff to learn!
Here’s the most recent steps we did in class:
But I wouldn’t get too attached to them, as we may be switching to new steps each week.
Life in class will return to normal when the performance group has learned all their steps – which should be pretty soon.
Sorry for any confusion, and see you in class on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 pm in the Building 40 gym. No experience necessary, just show up and dance!!
Google Hip Hop Class – with Performance!
Hey Hip Hoppers,
Do you want to perform at Google? There is going to be an Annual Google Dance Show sometime mid-September, and I want this hip hop class to perform! We’ll be dancing in the evening on Charlie’s Patio – there will be a stage and various performances by Googlers who like to dance. I hope you will come to rehearsals on Wednesday evenings after class. We’ll stay for 1/2 hour or an hour and review steps and learn formations.
Sorry I’ve been so delinquent with videos, Bollywood has been eating my life!! But now I’m getting back to normal, so I had time to film your most recent steps – here they are:
And here it is with the counts:
See you in class, Mondays and Wednesdays at 7 pm!
Hip Hop for the beginning of June
Or is it already the middle of June? Man time flies!!
Well before it gets any later, here are the latest hip hop steps:
And here they are a little faster with the counts:
Thanks for being so brave in class and being “leaders” of a few dance steps – I think it’s good practice for you all to get a chance to be in charge!
If you’re looking for more steps to use when you’re leading the class, check out this. Awesome smooth and tight style, with very good synchronization in the group. Next time you’re in Hungary, make sure to check ‘em out.
