Two Sisters Dance Projects Blog

Virtual Choreography Across The Country

Wed, 20 Jul 2022 19:34:21 GMT

The Dance And The Child International Conference - Toronto, Canada 2022

This past year we had been given the opportunity to choreograph for Dance And the Child International, an association founded in 1978 in Edmonton, Alberta. daCi held its first tri-annual international dance conference in 1978, upholding a mandate that “every child has the right to dance.” Since then, the conference has grown to include members of the dance community all around the world. The 15th daCi conference was to be held in 2021 in Toronto, Canada, however, due to Covid-19, the conference was quickly postponed for a year and moved to a digital format in light of keeping all participants safe from travel yet still meeting in an international forum online. Currently, the conference is being hosted by York University in Toronto and has been very successful this week (July 10 - 15) in engaging online audiences with a wealth of performers, choreographers, and dance educators.

The Choreographic Process

It was a great honour to be given the privilege of choreographing the opening ceremonies for this event. The opening ceremonies consisted of 7 different youth dance companies, across 4 provinces and 1 territory (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Yukon Territory). The first task was to figure out how we would all “meet”, and Google Classroom seemed to be the way or choice for us to connect with everyone. Our choreographic idea was to have each young company showcase a minute of their own choreography that best represented their work, performed in front of their provincial landscape. It was so wonderful to see the rolling hills of the Okanagan Valley in Kelowna B.C in the distance, the beautiful Parliament grounds at dusk in Saskatchewan and dancers dressed in black against a beautiful crisp white snowy landscape of the Yukon territory.

The latter part of the piece was to be performed altogether with everyone learning the last two minutes from us via zoom. We asked that for this section everyone film in their studios with as much natural light as possible. In some cases we taught only the teachers and in others we had the privilege of teaching the students. In both cases we let the teacher’s know that they had the creative license to configure their staging and modify any sections as necessary to see a successful performance. All of the music was sent to the studio directors via the Google Classroom where they could download it and refer to our notes as specific instructions were given at key musical landmarks.

The challenge for these rehearsals was to get everyone in a zoom call at the same time considering we had so many time zones that we were working with. Often we’d have to have multiple zoom rehearsals to connect to everyone which actually gave us more opportunity to get to know each dance educator/choreographer. Covid-19 was still a consistent factor as some people couldn’t make their rehearsals due to catching the virus or they had to reschedule rehearsals because they’re students were sick. It’s taken a toll on all of us but still the beauty is that we remain a community that dances through these challenges. In order to make sure that all the information was being disseminated we’d record all of our zoom rehearsals and upload all the material to the google classroom for the teachers and their students as a reference.

The first minute of our choreography was a very choreographed set of combinations designed to move in and out of the music. Musicality is always something that is important to us as choreographers and as much as the music shouldn’t necessarily dictate the movement we both feel it can’t be ignored either. This first minute explored movement that was at times explosive and bounding, rolling to the floor, dynamic jumps and musical visualizations that characterized the bass line drum beat of the musical score. We are both movers when we dance we take up space and enjoy the dancing body, so it is with this that we base our choreography from. There is always a lot of movement, and kinesthetic embodiment of both the shapes and the elements that inspire us from the music.

Putting It All Together

For the last minute we wanted the dancers to use their own creativity and to share their choreography with us. We asked that the dancers create a series of lifts and leans that shared body weight in support of one another. They had to create dynamic shapes that explored different levels as their transitions. Our stipulation was that they work in groups of 2 or 3, however, some groups worked as an entirety and that was fine by us. We simply gave them guidelines. To finish the piece, we asked that their choreography stop at a specific time in the music and that the last 4 counts of 8 be performed altogether. We created 2 counts of 8 to be repeated twice, finishing with the dancers throwing their arms and body upwards on the last beat of the music. We crossed our fingers to see if it would work.

After a month of gathering video footage and editing it altogether, the end result was a great success to watch and to see how the translation of the choreography was interpreted differently across all 6 groups, yet cohesively came together in its own way, celebrating the daCi theme of “dancing into communities”. It is with great pleasure that we thank all the teachers and students who were involved in bringing the project to life, and as dance has its way of moving us all in its circles, we sincerely hope that our paths cross artistically once again.

Thank You!

Thank you for your commitment, dedication, and hard work in taking part in the 15th annual Dance And The Child International Conference. We wish you all the best along your dancing journeys!

Covid-19 In The Classroom

christine@twosistersdanceprojects.com (Christine Brkich) — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 16:51:23 GMT

The Covid-19 Protocol: What Exactly Is It?

I n the ever-changing world of the global Covid-19 pandemic , protocols have shifted and diverted moving into all sorts of zonal directions. Currently, Toronto, the city in which I live, is in the GREY ZONE. What exactly does this mean? Well, in short, it means that supermarkets and essential stores are operating at 50% capacity rather than retailers and box stores at 30% capacity. It still means that we should keep to ourselves and our immediate families, while staying in our own homes as much as possible and not to gather in any groups larger than 10 people. But…. What do we do when our child’s teacher gives us that dreaded courtesy call that someone in her classroom has tested positive for Covid-19? Here’s my experience in trying to make clarity of a somewhat ambiguous Covid-19 Protocol breakdown:

When You've Been In Contact With Someone Who Has Tested Positive:

S o, the first thing you’re not supposed to do, is panic. And of course, that’s what I did. A million questions ran through my mind at once. Who is this child? I don’t know. Due to the protection of privacy, they cannot reveal that information to me which I totally understand, but I can’t help but wonder, does my child play with this classmate at recess? Have they shared any food at lunch that went unnoticed? Do they sit beside or near each other in the classroom? Were masks being worn all the time? And what does this mean for my own family? Have I been exposed since? Where have I gone? Could I have spread it unknowingly to someone in the grocery store? And moreove r, what about the little kid in her class who has the virus? How are they doing? How is the family feeling? Is everyone ok? So many questions…. Ok. Let’s start with the facts, and wait for the Principal to send the formal email.

The email came, and I don’t quite know what I was expecting. Perhaps I was hoping that someone on the other end was going to tell me that it was all going to be ok, I didn’t need to jump the gun, and my family was safe so long as I followed the RULES. WHAT ARE THE RULES? Truthfully, the most information gained from the email was to have my child tested, self-isolate her and her sibling, and beyond that, call Toronto Public Health. Ummm…. ok. Did this make me feel safe? Not really. When all I kept thinking was that if she has it, then I must have it by now. Wait, is that my throat feeling scratchy? Could I taste my dinner tonight? I still might have two weeks of uncertainty.

The Protocol

So, the next morning I called Toronto Public Health in the midst of morning chaos. My daughter was home, and back online virtually with her learning, my son was also home, and I was a bouncing ball between the two of them making sure school was going “according to plan” in my kitchen and dining room. Meanwhile, while feeling still very unsettled, I waited on hold with Public Health and listened to the Muzac that played coming through my phone speaker as I searched for my sound answers. Finally, I spoke with an attendant. Very soon I realized that the “grey zone” also meant that there was a lot of “grey area” within the protocol. Ambiguity is NOT my thing. I’m a Virgo. In crisis, I need cold hard facts so that I can manage and proceed. Please don’t use the words “if you choose to do this, or that…” just tell me what I NEED to do. I soon realized that the words SHOULD and MUST became almost interchangeable in places.

At first, she asked me if my daughter was showing any symptoms of Covid-19. These include fever, runny nose, loss of taste and smell, coughing, sneezing, headache, and possible nausea or stomach ache and diarrhea . I told her that my daughter was NOT in fact showing any of those symptoms. She then said “ok, so she can self-isolate if you don’t want to get her tested, for 2 weeks.” But, wait a minute… aren’t I supposed to get her tested? isn’t that a MUST in the protocol? That’s what the Principal had said. So I responded with, “no, we’d like to get her tested but I’m not sure what the rest of our family is supposed to do.”

“Oh, ok. Well, then here’s what you do…” If YOUR CHILD has been in contact with someone who has tested positive, this is what you MUST DO : (especially if your child is symptomatic)

Have your child tested for Covid-19.
Self - isolate them and any siblings they have for 2 weeks.
Wait for test results.

Here is what you SHOULD DO :

You can also have yourselves and any siblings tested for Covid-19 but it’s NOT NECESSARY unless the family member who has been in contact with someone who has tested positive, is presented with a positive test result. So technically, I was told by Public Health that my husband and I could still “go” to work. Luckily, we work from home, because I don’t think I’d want to “go” anywhere. HOWEVER…. The teacher of the classroom who may have been exposed because she was teaching the sick child in attendance that day, MUST have a test done, and in the meantime, her spouse CANNOT go to work until her test comes back negative. Wait…. What? Am I following this right? Yup, I am. Right….

You SHOULD have your child self - isolate in their room according to Public Health. If they should come out of their room, then they are to be wearing a mask. And you SHOULD probably wear one too….

Having said that, all of her classmates online that morning were having their virtual classrooms in their kitchens and dining rooms unmasked in their homes, as we were. My daughter agreed to put her mask on after I spoke to Public Health, and she ate her lunch in her bedroom while my anxiety-driven son wondered why she was in self-isolation, and was about to hit the panic button on his own health. “Oh Dear God”, I thought, “make this train wreck stop.” We told him not to worry, and that he wouldn’t need to be tested unless she tested positive, but we’ll need to wait and see... though we totally planned to get him tested too, but... clearly, one fire at at a time was all I could balance.

The Test:

So what now? Well, first of all, your child SHOULD NOT (must not?) be tested until 5 - 7 days after the potential exposure. There is a likelihood that if they are tested too early, the results may prove to be a false negative or positive, only resulting in them having to shove another swab up their nose again for another test. As far as the test is concerned, well, let’s just say it’s far from comfortable.

Prior to Christmas, we took my 7 year-old daughter for a Covid-19 test because she had the symptoms of a cold. To rule out the possibility of Covid-19, we had her tested. My husband went with her and while there, the nurse suggested that he get tested as well just to be safe. He agreed, and before she tested him, she said “don’t flinch… because your daughter will see.” He was surprised how far up it kept climbing towards his sinuses and wondered how our daughter would endure it. Sure enough, when it came time for her turn, not knowing what to expect, she offered her nose only to be so uncomfortable that she jumped away and shook her head ‘no’. Unfortunately, the kind nurse had to try it again while my daughter had to put her brave mermaid face on in tears, and vowed how she NEVER wanted to do that again. Needless to say, the test came back negative.

But now,… “again” has come. And this time, it’s a MUST, not a SHOULD situation. However, for all those parents with anxious children who will anticipate the worst, there is another solution - The Saliva Test. In our area, Saliva Testing is accepted as a viable test option, however, you must be eligible to receive it.

This eligibility is based on:

If you have a medical or anatomical condition that prevents you from being able to have a nasal swab.
Children 16 years of age or younger who cannot tolerate the nasal swab.

YaY! I’ll take Door #2 for $100, Bob!

Should you be eligible for this option, ensure that you are well hydrated by drinking a cup of water 60 minutes before giving the saliva sample. Also, there is NO EATING, DRINKING, SMOKING, VAPING, OR CHEWING GUM 30 minutes prior to giving the saliva sample. So put away the Dentyne, and start slobbering up!

Be sure to call ahead and book an appointment for your Covid-19 test. Children cannot be tested at local pharmacies, so call ahead to the hospital and reserve your test spot. If opting for The Saliva Test, you might want to mention that over the phone as well, to ensure that the hospital location offers it, as not all of them do.

Testing Procedures

Plunging deeper down the rabbit hole, we called around to find out about where and how testing would be administered. We were then given different “optimal” testing times. On paper, public health recommends that you get tested 5-7 days after exposure. At the time, I was speaking to the representative from Public Health on a Thursday, 3 days after the potential exposure. She suggested I waited until the next day (Friday) to get tested. Following that, for a second opinion, I spoke to the classroom teacher. She said, “don’t bother getting tested until the weekend. Leave it until late Saturday or Sunday for the best results. This is what my friend who is a nurse told me,” she said. Ok… so now, I was going to hold off until the weekend according to the anonymous nurse, which fell in line with the suggested 5-7 day protocol. When Saturday came, I was looking through my phone again to call around to book an appointment at a hospital downtown for the saliva test. However, I checked my email first, only to find another letter from the Principal of the school saying that the school was going to have remote testing done in the school gym from Hospital staff to test the cohort of my daughter’s class specifically. Luckily, I hadn’t made any appointments, or tried to run my kids downtown, find parking, mask up, sanitize, stay away from people etc. etc. Ok… so now, I guess we’ll wait until Monday and go to the school… so is that the 7th day now? Are we still good for accurate testing results? I trust someone out there knows what they’re doing. I hope.

Monday finally came and we went to the school at the end of the day. It was well organized, and all parents followed protocol, filling out forms, and only entering through one entrance through the back of the gym, maintaining distance from each other. During this time, neither my daughter nor my son were showing any symptoms, so we decided that only they would be tested, and by this point… if she had it, we were all bound to get it anyway. My son was also good with taking the test, knowing that he would just have to sacrifice some spit, and not his nasal cavity. Although my daughter was doing a great job of wearing her mask in the house, and keeping in her bedroom, I was sure that despite precautions, we would’ve caught something on family movie night over the weekend or some other kind of family exchange.

We walked in, handed over our forms, and were then led to two chairs for the kids to sit in where they were each given spitting vials to spit in. I helped my daughter by holding the vial in place while she sat and spat. I coached her to pretend she was chewing gum or to chew the sides of her mouth to produce more saliva that would reach “the line” of the cup. Psychosomatically, I found my own mouth watering profusely and could’ve probably filled up that whole vial in 2 big spits just looking at her, but before long, they were both done with their spitting and the vials were put away into baggies for testing.

Waiting For Test Results

S o as it happened…. Our results were never posted on the internet. Normally, when we’ve had the test done in the past, our results were posted on the appropriate government site within 24-48 hours. However, we’re not exactly sure what happened in this case, and perhaps will never know. All of the families waited for their test results beyond the 4 day maximum and sat in isolation while having school online once again. The Principal of the school had called the hospital that administered the tests and they had informed him that the entire classroom had tested negative… thankfully. They themselves didn’t know why the results had not been posted online.

Finishing up our quarantine period, the children went back to school after the 14 day period. The child who had contracted the virus initially and showed symptomatic signs of a fever and extreme lethargy in the classroom, was also healthy again. The children were happy to see each other, and with the nice weather on its way, my daughter was aching to play in the local park. She kept her distance from all the other kids just in case and it was kind of sad and lonely to watch her in the sand with no one to talk to but me. Now, as vaccines start to roll out this brings a new light and new questions to the table for each individual and their feelings towards the vaccine. Some are yearning, some are fearful, and some don’t mind waiting until further data is confirmed regarding its after effects. Until then, we continue to mask up, keep to ourselves and wait in hope that our bubbles can grow bigger in time once again, to include each other in a way that is physical yet safe, joyous, and necessary.

Citations and Links:

The New Normal

christine@twosistersdanceprojects.com (Christine Brkich) — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 17:04:14 GMT

What Happened Last Year?

Well, I don’t know about you, but never have I ever seen such an abrupt and yet in some ways subtle move towards a form of coping so arduously, that the coping became our new sense of being, and how we live our every day. Looking back a year ago when Covid-19 was this “new thing” that we never thought we’d ever come to know, that the word “pandemic” felt so weird on our lips as we said it, much less lived it. I remember how my husband and I were trying so painstakingly to divert the attention of our children away from their electronic devices, abhorred by the fact that it was practically the only thing they had that entertained them enough and ironically, educated them at the same time. We tried everything from prohibiting the use of it as a form of discipline, and yet rewarding them with the very same thing. Colouring pictures didn’t cut it, as much as I LOVE the art of architecture and building creative projects, even Lego only lasted so long before they used building as a form of checking something “good” off the list to get closer to the electronic device. With guilt and confusion, we gave in to the inevitable, silently cursing technology, and yet at the same time, thanking the Lord above that we had the ability to connect to our loved ones in the only forms possible which included copious Zoom calls or FaceTime or some other form of video connection. I remember how excited I was to see the early signs of Spring in 2020, happy that the warm weather would bring outside playtime and more physical body connection for my kids. “Go outside and play, you two! Look! The sun is shining!”, I happily sang as I went into the dirt to turn up my garden. Appeasing Mom, they went outside. Doing the right thing, they played in the front yard with the new “Covid puppy”. But to no avail did this notion last very long when they eventually turned to me and said, “Um… Mom? We walked the dog, and we played soccer in the front yard, but, there’s no one else to play with. I tried to play one-on-one with Jackson on the street when I saw him shooting hoops, but he said his Mom didn’t want anyone to play with him in the front yard. Soooooo, he went into his house and asked me to jump on the iPad to play online with him, so can I mom? Please? I walked the dog like you said.” Trumped again by the device, and the need for my children to have some kind of social connection to the outside world, I moaned and groaned and added in time limits, and parental controls to make me feel as though I had some kind of control over this electronic machine that was ruling my roost.

New School Forms

Like most parents, I was so happy when school started up again, but only knocked flat out once more when the inevitable took place, and we ended up turning our kitchen, and my husband’s office into a homeschool haven during another lockdown after Christmas. Once again, we turned to laptops, and screens, this time to conquer online education. Sometimes this became welcomed as it allowed a quick snack from the kitchen or a drink to take a break, yet sometimes I felt like a short-order chef for my tween while helping my 7-year-old with reading comprehension or breaking down the learning of the water cycle. And other times, I found myself overhearing comments from the teacher online reminding kids to “please keep their videos on,” and I would sneak a peek into the office to make sure that my son wasn’t one of those kids who’d rather be heard and not seen… to be honest, though… I can’t blame them either. There were many days that I wanted to just “tune out and turn off.” As for my daughter, however, sitting in front of the screen all day wasn’t going to work for her, so there I was following her around the house with the laptop in hand trying to find different ways to entice her, hoping that a quick and funny YouTube clip might do the trick to bring her back. She would usually laugh, and then hide her head back under her covers and say “is school over yet?” I would sigh and say “well… no… but we’re almost there.” She would ask if she finished all her schoolwork whether she would get to play on the iPad and I felt every part of me cringe as I tried to use a different form of reward, but there it was. Once again. Trumped by the device.

Social Norm(al)?

Now, we have finally moved back into the classroom, asking our kids to adjust one more time. In the very first week, I had teachers telling me that all the kids were squirrelly, that my son was having difficulty with the transition, and that he wasn’t quite getting along with one of his peers. He would come home after I picked him up from school, deflated, and asking “can I just do school online again?”

“But you told me you hated that?” I questioned. “Yeah I did, but at least I wasn’t getting in trouble.” There was nothing I could do at that point but hope to God that this child had enough patience to move through this very difficult time and urged him that things would get better as he settled into the new rules, the new forms, and the new everything. As for my daughter well, her ADHD challenges got the better of her and it was too difficult for her to sustain a full day. We had to be very creative in how we re-introduced school in the classroom. “I love seeing my friends Mommy, I just don’t want to do the work,” she would say to me upon return. Productivity, we learned, was actually more effective when she was home and ironically, in front of the laptop that I would put in her face, encouraging her to finish just one more assigned task before another snack break. It seemed that in this turn of events, the very thing that I was opposed to and constantly grappling with, was the only thing I could turn to to help educate my seven year old.

What Now?

So now what happens as we wait for the vaccines to roll out? Do we continue to tell our kids that sharing is not permitted after teaching them for so long that being neighbourly and sharing toys is the right thing to do? Let’s not be so hard on ourselves, and most importantly, on our children. They have had to navigate education, self-amusement, and social disconnect and re-connect multiple times throughout the course of a year that goes far beyond what was ever asked of us at their age. Knocking on someone’s door and asking to play basketball or hide-and-seek seemed so normal to us and them, until we were all so quickly forced into a new direction. I've learned to be exceptionally grateful for the big things in life like the health of myself and my family, as well as the little things like the welcoming of our "Covid puppy" that has given us a new purpose to love. I’ve learned to tolerate iPad requests, I’ve learned to accept a new form of human connection. But sufficed to say, my whole body aches for the time where we can all hug each other again... not virtually.

My Experience with Dance and the Hybrid Model of Instruction

lisa@twosistersdanceprojects.com (Lisa Brkich) — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 22:26:14 GMT

Nice Chesterfield!!

I don’t know about you but this idea of Hybrid learning splits my attention so fiercely that I forget which class I’m in, what combination I’m on, the counts, the arm positions, proper alignment of myself let alone the dancers in front of me… those participating on screen and that of the dog that keeps interrupting the little dancer at their ballet barre/chair. I hate it!!

A few weeks ago I was subbing for a friend of mine at her studio and as the camera connected to the online students I began to introduce myself to both the virtual and the live world of dancers in the studio or ‘studio.’

‘Hello everyone it’s nice to see you all again.. for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Li..’ ‘Excuse me..um Miss Lisa? Tap Tap Tap’ Who’s tapping? I thought this was a Ballet class? Do I need to change my shoes? What’s happening? “Over here… I’m in my living room, it’s Amanda…” “ Oh hi Amanda nice chesterfield..” “Yeah Miss Lisa can you move back? Your head’s cut off, as is your right arm, you need to stand on the ‘x… yeah right there.” Well that ‘x’ was so far from the actual dancers in front of me I felt so disconnected. “Um ok can you all see me now?”

“Can you talk louder?” SURE! I CAN DO THAT FOR YOU… RUSSIAN BALLET PLIÉS GRADE 2… LET”S BEGIN. Dammit am I only on Plié’s? “Tap Tap Tap…” Yes, Amanda?” “Um...we’re the grade 4 class.”

“You are? Oh right, of course you are!!”

As the class commenced and clearly I was feeling completely off my teacher game, we finally moved to the centre of the room. I was feeling somewhat settled until we got to Sauté and Changement; the petite allegro section. We took turns in 2 groups of 3 repeating the jumps back and forth with little Amanda being in group 2. “Ok" I thought, “we are working as a community, a dance class, it’s not so bad, maybe I can do this.”

Suddenly I notice the kids giggling and pointing to the TV screen at little Amanda. She was trying to perfect her jumps while her little brother ran in and out of the door. Behind him trailed their new puppy, who then ran in and out of her changements causing her to lose her balance and fall to the carpet. The only words out of my dumbfounded mouth were ‘ oh look… a Sheepadoodle.’

New TiDancertleD

New Dancer Dancer Dancer Laptop Dancer

This differentiation of focus followed me into my teaching at the high school during my grade 9/10 dance class. The dancers were filming their project for their culminating performance task as the end of the first Corona quadmester was fast approaching. I have 4 cohorts- 3 of which have 12 students and the last one has only 4; it was this cohort that I was working with. The dancers had to create a dance film and hence we’ve been rehearsing and videoing the last 2-3 classes. Three of the dancers were with me live and one was at home in quarantine online in her proper bodysuit and tights, dancing in her basement, once she rolled out of the comforts of her covers.

The dancers working live were insistent that their spacing was to stay the same and to replace real Natalie with computer Natalie by placing my laptop in the proper formation of their original choreography. Picture a diagonal line from Downstage left to Upstage right… Dancer, Dancer, Laptop, Dancer… funny right? My job was to video the work and I could not for the life of me stop laughing at the comedy of the entire scene.

T he dancers were focused and determined to finish their task. Natalie happily danced in her basement amidst her mom’s hair salon and her brother’s drum kit. It didn’t matter what part of the choreography they were on, pirouettes, switch splits, ariels Natalie was committed and smiling. ‘Sure Miss, I’ll jeté, spin around in the swirly chair and then pirouette.’ Meanwhile the other dancers were astute enough to say, ‘but Miss those directions you just gave her is not part of our choreography.’ “Right dancers I was just turning that section into a site specific but can she hit the drum kit? We gotta have the drum kit!”

Ahhh my sense of comedy and creation began to infiltrate the moment and seep into my one teacher task of filming their work.

FOCUS LISA!!!

This Hybrid model of learning has changed our choreography, has changed our learning patterns and has brought me some of the funniest moments that I have no choice but to surrender too.

Like this one....I finally got that drum kit moment… You nailed it Natalie, amazing, 100% A+.

Pulling myself out of the virtual and physical worlds I decided to just view the room, laptop and all, through the lens of the iPhone used to film their project. In the end the video was, for me, a great example of their perseverance to create and to complete their assignment whether live or virtual as well as a testament to the times we’re in, but I still hate it.

Teaching Highly Energetic Children in the Dance Studio

christine@twosistersdanceprojects.com (Christine Brkich) — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 02:13:32 GMT

Dance Teaching to the Needs of the Child

Have you ever had to teach a child who loved to run freely around the space as soon as they are two toes over the threshold of the studio’s doorway? Whom after every time you’ve tried to tell them that “it’s not an Acro class today,” they insist on doing cartwheels consistently all around the room, or behind your back when they think you can’t see them? Or when you think that everyone is settled on the floor mats doing their stretches during the warm up, this child seems to have their own routine going on, and you’re hoping that it doesn’t involve standing on their head?

Well, I have…. And moreover, I’m also a mother to one such little girl who has enough energy that she’d give God a run for His money. Now, it’s not to say that all of these children have a diagnosis of ADHD, or ADD, because some kids are just really high energy, but what if they do? And they’re on your class list, and you know that you want to make this class the best physical outlet for them, but still provide structure, creativity, technique, safety, and all that dance has to offer…. (sigh)… Where does one begin?

ADHD AND DOPAMINE

Well, let’s begin first by understanding what ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is. Brain neurotransmitters are responsible for doing the job of carrying messages from our brains to our bodies through our central nervous system. So, as I understand it, and how it was explained to me by our own therapist for our concerns, is that when a child is diagnosed with ADHD, they lack the brain neurotransmitter responsible for the release of dopamine.

"Dopamine allows us to regulate emotional responses and take action to achieve specific rewards. It’s responsible

for feelings of pleasure and reward. Scientists have observed that levels of dopamine are different in people with

ADHD than in those without ADHD." ( https://www.healthline.com/health/adhd/adhd-dopamine#connection)

Dopamine acts as a stimulant for the brain and the body of your little dancing swan, and if she/he cannot produce enough dopamine naturally, then they will definitely seek out other fascinatingly creative ways to conjure up some excitement…. Lucky for you, that’s usually physical!

“Among other things, dopamine impacts movement, mood, motivation, and attention. More recent evidence

suggests that the relationship between dopamine and ADHD is a bit more complicated. Individuals with ADHD

seem to have an excessively efficient dopamine-removal system. They have a higher concentration of dopamine

transporters called re-uptake inhibitors. When dopamine is removed too quickly, it doesn't have sufficient time to exert its effect.” ( https://www.gulfbend.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=13861 )

Dance Steps Towards Success

So… now what? You, the dance teacher, have 11 other children in the class and are determined to find a happy balance amongst them all so that the primary goal of dawning the tutu or lacing up the tap shoes to “Singing In The Rain” can happen at that June recital with Mom and Dad cheering, and not a dry eye to be found in the audience. Wow. What a climb….Ok. First of all, don’t panic. You got this!

Step 1: Tremendous Transparency

As a parent of an amazingly excitable child, I am ALWAYS transparent with the teacher upon enrolling her into a physical class. Being a dance teacher myself, I appreciate the honesty. I do not teach all forms of dance which include Acro and/or Circus training - both forms of physical instruction that I have enrolled her in. So in this way, I too am just like any other mom enrolling her child into a dance class. I have simply told the instructor prior to the first class that my daughter can be extremely unfocused and excitable when she gets her toes tapping, so I am happy to help in the studio and be there for both she and the teacher.

Note to Parents : In order to achieve success for your child, happily let the teacher know of your child’s learning/behaviour patterns. This is not about pointing fingers and shaming, or feeling “the worst parent ever” blues. Your child’s instructor will be most thankful for keeping them in the know before class begins so that they can modify their class accordingly.

N ote to Teachers: Don’t be afraid to be transparent! Should you not be aware of your student’s needs before class starts, and the challenges present themselves on the first day or soon after, LOSE the Ballet SuperHero cape! Simply notify the parent that there have been some challenges in the studio and ask the parent if they have any suggestions on how to address the needs of the child or modify their environment if possible. Set up a communication portal with the parent so that you can let them know what is or isn’t working.

Step 2: Ask For HEEEEEEELP!

So at this point, with the communication lines open, the parent may have offered some strategies that seem to work for their buzzing bee, and perhaps may have even offered to come help out personally in the dance studio for a couple of classes to set it in motion. The choice is yours as a dance teacher if you should wish for the parent’s help in your dance studio should they offer it. If you would rather the parent enjoy their one hour of grocery shopping bliss, request the help of a class assistant (either another staff member or a senior dance student) to come and help you out during that class so that you can tend to the class as a whole, should that child require a little more one - on - one attention. Take into consideration as well, that the hardest times in the class for your child to focus will be during your explanations and demonstrations of the next exercise or choreography . This is when you are most likely to lose them. It's at these times that an assistant really becomes necessary so that you can get on with teaching the body of the work.

Step 3: Don't Take It Personally - Use It To Your Advantage

Adhere to a structure of a class that works for all the students so that they know right away what the lay of the land looks like. Even your little wonderer will find their way through the class if they very quickly become familiar with the structure and expectations. Stick to your guns about those expectations and proper respect to uphold in the studio, BUT! Don’t take it personally if they decide that what you’re teaching is boring and “tendues in the sand” aren’t nearly as exciting as rolling on the floor. Remember, while the other students are thinking about the “perfectly pointed point”, little wonderer is putting out dopamine fires in their brain and body, and rolling just feels SO GOOD! It’s your choice to go with it, or to challenge it. Try having your assistant roll around with them for a little while to change up the much needed stimulation in their bodies, providing that they’ll agree to throw in a few amazing tendues in the sand with the rest of the class too. OR… If you’re feeling particularly improvisational, use her new movement style to incorporate it into your tendues! “Tendues in the sand for 2 counts of 8 in the centre, then get down and roll in the sand for another 16 counts everybody! We can count altogether! And then we’ll do it ALL OVER AGAIN!” With this particular teaching improv, not only have you included your fantastic wondering ballerina, but you’ve also allowed for them to feel as though they’ve contributed to the creative choreographic process, while the rest of the class is also thankful that they get to roll around the floor for 16 counts! Reward is an amazing thing for every BODY!

Step 4: Turn Them Into Task Master Leaders

So for some reason or another, it becomes a bone of contention with the little ones about who is “first in line” when going down the room in a dance class. While some kids are great at letting others go in front of them, others may be very particular at taking turns. This warrants the “first in line” leader speech. Let your jazzy jazz bunnies know that in a dance studio we respect one another, and each other’s needs and spaces. We will all have turns at being first in line from week to week in our dance class. Where possible however, give the job of the line “leader” to your energetic bouncing bunny. Let them be accountable and attentive to the task at hand. Suddenly, by creating a “job” for their highly stimulation-seeking brain to attend to, you’ve filled the need of them feeling included, important, and have fired up their receptor buckets to complete a grand task. It may be the very thing they are SUPER focused on doing the entire class - so let them own it. There may be other opportunities for that child to exercise their leading abilities as well - perhaps they can help be a dance captain for 8 counts of memorizing the new dance combo for the next week, or perhaps they can help be your eyes to make sure that everyone has their hands on their hips as they progress down the room - anything to keep their eyes and brains turned on to a task and focused for a short stint is helpful and encouraging.

Step 5: Teach Them Love

At Two Sisters Dance Projects, we are FIRM BELIEVERS that the WORLD NEEDS DANCE now more than ever! In a dance class one can learn about respecting one another, active listening skills, creativity, and self exploration… and none of these skills can be taught without attention to love!

Love oneself. Love one another. It’s simple. As soon as that child knows that they are loved and respected and someone thinks the world of them, they will begin to trust; and trust will turn into learning; and learning will turn into capability; and feeling capable can change how they walk out of your dance studio and face the world every day for the rest of their lives. This is a ll because you showed them that they were important, you encouraged them to be creative, you taught them to be mindful of space, and how to listen to the teacher and to their own bodies if only for a moment , until that moment became an entire dance piece, and that you believed that they could do it. Now, thanks to your patience, and perseverance, they believe it too. And couldn’t we all use a little more of that self-love as we grow into becoming the best versions of ourselves?

So now, go and knock it out of the park at that June recital! Put Mom and Dad in the front row - and let them see how far their shining star has come! From doing back flips on their couches to a series of cartwheels downstage centre finishing in their best split ever, Mom and Dad will be emptying out the Kleenex box !

Sources:

Duggal, Neel. "Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder (ADHD): The Role of Dopamine." Edited by

Nancy Hammond, M.D. Healthline.com, Red Ventures, 15 Jan. 2020, www.healthline.com/health/adhd/

adhd-dopamine#connection. Accessed 16 Oct. 2020.

Austin, Margaret V., Ph.D. "ADHD: Attention Deficit Hyper Activity Disorder Neurotransmitter Changes

with ADHD." Edited by C. E. Zupanick, Psy.D. Gulf Bend Center, Centersite, www.gulfbend.org/poc/

view_doc.php?type=doc&id=13861. Accessed 16 Oct. 2020.

The Choreographic Process

lisa@twosistersdanceprojects.com (Lisa Brkich) — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 23:38:20 GMT

Creating Choreography

The creative process of choreography is my favourite place to be, my favourite street to live on, and my favourite window to look through. It is here, where we discover new ways to bring about communication, collaborate on new vocabularies, and create new connections with ourselves as well as with our fellow dancers and the music: all the while, we are thinking of you, the viewer.

Come Prepared

When I begin to create, I usually come to the studio with at least a minute of choreography prepared. It is beautifully packaged with a happy bow, written out in colourful ink in my favourite notebook, that contains years of magical notes which I can never understand when I reread them. Do you have one of those books? I highly recommend it. I do this because I know the dancers in front of me are ready; they are brilliant dancers, and swift thinkers, completely encompassed in a very smart body-brain… I need to be prepared, so as to not waste their time. The long and the short of it is, however, that I am completely intimidated by initiating in this process with them. Will they love it as much as I do? I’m eager to work with them, and I want so badly for them to like my choreography, therefore, I walk in to the studio with this one minute of work, packaged in that happy bow. Their eyes are on me as I unfold the movement. Within minutes the choreography is committed to their bodies, my creation reflected back on me. Huh. That’s pretty good…but it looks too “set”. It’s missing something. Perhaps breath? What’s wrong with it? Oh. I know. It looks like it was packaged…in a box…with a pretty bow.

Now the work begins!...

Twist It, Bop It, Turn It, Tear It UP!

At this point, the dancers are feeling quite comfortable and warm, and I’m able to read their bodies to see where they want to go. So now, I begin to deconstruct and tear up what I just sweated out to teach them, perhaps taking only a portion of that initial minute to leave as a solo or duet, while the rest of the dancers in a counterpoint around them are asked to figure out a separate section of the initial choreography and retrograde it by sequencing it completely backwards, all the while moving in slow motion, giving focus to the solo or duet staged in the centre of the studio. I then ask another section of dancers to take a motif of the initial minute and formulate it into partner work that eventually evolves into lifts, leans, and complete weight transfers of two or more people. This entire time though, I am biting my nails. I recognize that the rest of the world has fallen away, and the words exiting my mouth are a compete jumble as I see the images beginning to develop in my mind, so my body takes over as a form of communication.

Quilting

In order to organize all these manipulations from that initial minute, I have developed a simple method which works for me, and has worked on dancers of all ages. Initially, as a younger choreographer, I began at Point A and finished at Point Z, creating sequentially with the music as my guide. Now however, I sometimes start at Point F or X or Z itself; the point being, I rarely start at Point A. Once I’ve created the manipulations and twisted my initial choreography, I organize them into what I call “patches”. Alongside the dancers, I write these patches on a board or in my notebook, where we— as a company— collaborate on which order these patches should fall to create the quilt that will be our piece. After many iterations and trials— ZBFA…nope….FDRQ? Maybe. HTGW…yes, that’s the one! Working this way leaves much of the vocabulary on the cutting room floor, with my initial minute of choreography barely recognizable.

NAIL BITE.

Come Unprepared

When I begin to create, I often come to the studio completely unprepared; a yang to the yin of my first paragraph. However, there are days where I have nothing ready— perhaps because I didn’t have time, perhaps because I have creator’s block, perhaps because, once again, I’m intimidated and I really want them to like my piece. So, I begin by opening a window. This is both for fresh air, and for some sort of spiritual invocation; a guidance, if you will. On these days, I look for that one kernel, like the light that came through the window when creating our piece “Passages” or the rain that beat upon the rooftop when creating the duet in “All’s Fair…”. In both cases, I came completely unprepared. The talent of the dancers, and their ability to improvise as I began to direct and guide led us into a completely new realm. Each improvisation was laced with motifs, drawing the audience back and giving them a beacon to hold on to.

Music, Music, Music

Music, for me, is essential. I need to feel in partnership with the composer, whether it be someone current, like Ludovico Einaudi, or someone from the past, such as Benny Goodman. My mind bounces between two of my teachers. The first, Mrs. Looker, who always told us that we needed to be sensitive to the music. “If not the music, then what?” She’d say. “If not the music, then we might as well grow potatoes out of our ears because we’re not listening!” But I digress. In choreography classes it was essential for us to maintain the notion that we could hear the music in our movement, and see the movement in the music; much like the choreography of a really strong hip hop piece, completely knitted to each beat and accent. The second teacher, Professor Callison, was very adamant that the choreography should stand on its own; he fought for the choreography. He argued that movement should not be the “Robin” to the music’s “Batman”. Having said that, they both agreed that the choreography and the performance must be musical. So, though this presented me with a challenge, I tried the latter. With the music off, sometimes creating in silence, I realized I had more space to create with the dancers through both improvisation and set vocabulary. Though the experience was frustrating, I did recognize where the creation of movement began to step forth on its own platform. What I did then was return to the music, and embed a quilted patch into a set of musical phrases. Reverting back to Mrs. Looker, we then moulded the movement to connect to the music, highlighting some— but not all— musical motifs or accents.

It is at this point that all ten fingers are in my mouth. BITE BITE BITE BITE BITE.

Hit Play

You know that moment when you fear for your life? This is it. The piece is somewhat done, all of my words are on the studio floor, and I get to watch it unfold; the beauty of the dancers relaying my words in such eloquent phrases. Wow that really worked! No, that needs work. Gotta fix the phrasing there. Ahh yes, there it is. There " It " i s . THERE IT IS!!!

Damn, I need a manicure.

A Ballet Mom's Worst Nightmare

christine@twosistersdanceprojects.com (Christine Brkich) — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 18:12:30 GMT

First Day of Ballet Class... for Mom

Are there any other parents out there who are struggling with trying to bring routine back into their children’s lives? Isolation has completely thrown a wrench into the motivation of my kids and now , like many other parents I struggle to get my daughter to go to ballet class.

As a dance educator, dance enthusiast, choreographer, and all-things-dance person, it PAINS me as a Mom to hear that my daughter doesn’t want to attend her first day of ballet class. She’s a child who was born half fairy/half monkey as she twists, turns, flips and jumps all over my furniture all day long. So I thought “Great! Cirque de Soleil, you have a frontrunner in your midst!” So… how do I get her there? Naturally, like every dance teacher/choreographer/performer/dance enthusiast parent in the universe I would say “Ballet first as always, then add your other ingredients later.” It's a mantra that I've preached to so many other dance parents before, and so fast-forward to me trying to live by own rules. So this year , she was completely excited to try Acro for the first time alongside her Ballet class.

Motivational Crisis

However, when excitedly waking her up in the morning to say “Guess what? After school today, you get to go to ballet!” My seven year old moaned with her morning hair a mess, and flopped over on the other side of the bed to mumble “Hmph…. I don’t wanna go to Ballet.” Not gonna lie… my heart shattered into a 1000 pieces. “WHAT????” My inside Ballet Mistress Voice was saying to me, “NOT want to go to BALLET?? How is that even possible??!” When I explained to my daughter that I will only allow for her to take Acro class if she has a Ballet class in the week too to prevent injury and gain strength, her answer became, “well then… I don’t wanna do either. I just wanna stay home and play, Mom.”

WOW. THANK YOU COVID-19…. I silently cursed. Six months in isolation and homeschool, and now only 2 weeks back at school, and I’ve lost her and her entire routine. This is a child who loves nature, who employs her free-loving spirit on a daily basis, missed her school friends dearly during the isolation period, but who can also be severely shattered to tears at the thought of losing her favourite straw or shoelace…. The very objects others would deem insignificant. So then… why would she want to lose her dance class(es)? At what point as a parent do we become sticklers and tell them to at least try to stick to the commitment they’ve set out to do? And when do we pull the plug and say it’s enough… they need a break. A break??? She hasn’t done anything yet! To the BARRE with you, young lady! Wait… stop….

This isn’t about me… ok, well it kinda is and I need to get over that…. I can’t impose my passions onto my child… right? Can I? No. Ok… so what IS it about? Is it about the structure of a Ballet class? Maybe... how do we lose them so easily as dance teachers? Is it a lesson in motivation and what's changed in this "new world" of pandemic crisis? Perhaps... time to break this down... ugh! Into the Ballet Rabbit Hole we go....

The Ballet Rabbit Hole

So here it is.... as Ballet teachers we find ourselves constantly struggling with the structure of the class. How much creative movement do we insert before we really need to get into proper pliés and tendues? Somehow someone somewhere instilled that creative movement is a great tool for 3 - 5 year old students, but from the ages of 6 and up we have to insert structure and vocabulary and allow for that to become the primary focus of the class if we ever wanna wear the tutu. Since the dawn of ballet time (circa 1400) the ballet class has been structured from the moment we step to the barre and start our pliés, which leads into tendues, which leads in to jetés, which leads into rond de jambe... and so on. This was done in an extreme systematic order for which to warm up the body progressively. To further that system, it's ALL DONE AGAIN in consecutive order in the CENTRE of the room which eventually leads to the harder stuff as we progress as dancers. Until finally, we find ourselves going "Down the Room" for further enchainments and dance variations that challenge us and move us through the space to where we've connected all the steps as well as with our own inner "Giselle" and we feel as though we're finally DANCING! Great! I'm DANCING! But wait... class is over?? Why are we doing our curtsies already?

Out of the Ballet Box

So what happened to the in-between stages? What happened to improvising in ballet class, dare I say it? YES! I said it... As ballet teachers (myself included) we can become so encumbered by the structure and the necessities of the class that we forget the importance of exploring what life is like on stage as a nymph or a fairy. And yet, ironically, some of these concepts are the very characters that ballet was built on. So am I saying to do away with technique? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Says my Ballet Mistress Voice again in a resounding "NO!" with her arms folded across her chest. But I am saying that it's ok to break up the structure just a little bit so that we can remember to "insert fairy/nymph-like improv here" within the class. We are teaching different children these days than the children we once were, and the children before us who were our teachers. Kids are wired differently and challenged with screen-times and attention deficits all over the place. We complain that technology and iPad time is sucking the imagination out of them, so why then are we expecting them to love ballet class when we begin by standing at the barre for half of the class forgetting about our fairy wings?

Which brings me to the inevitable... BALLET GUILT .

I know it. I have it too. And I'm speaking from personal control-freak experience to say that it's ok. Some days, when I look over at the clock and we're still at the barre breaking down a rond de jambe en dehors, I have to say enough is enough. We're not getting to grand battement today... and we'll be ok... the world won't end because we haven't "high kicked" today. And even though the Ballet Mistress Voice inside of me secretly looks out the studio windows to check if the Ballet Police are coming, I've learned to quiet her too in these moments. When I look back at the tired and red cheeked faces of the students who have so desperately tried to draw the half moon of the rond de jambe and hold their hips in this place we call oh-so-unnatural turn-out with dread.... I sympathize... I'd rather you love the world of ballet like I did. .. and still do... and more importantly come back again next week???? So instead, let's go in the CENTRE and play in the ballet sandbox for awhile.

And to the Ballet Mom's out there...as for my daughter's ballet class attendance? Well she managed a plié and then jumped on the trampoline for the remainder of the ba… well that’s a blog for another day...

Dance Education During Covid-19: Welcome Back

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 14:46:35 GMT

Teaching Dance in the new 2020

Starting school this past week presented many emotions and uncertainties for all of us. As parents, we had to choose whether to send our kids back to school so to reintegrate them into their own communities of friends and teachers who inspire and challenge them with the Covid-19 pandemic lurking and escalating to a potential second wave or to keep our kids home in a more isolated environment perhaps with siblings and a few other friends while trying to stay clear of contagion.

For teachers, however it seemed to be two to three weeks of confusion, information, misinformation, new protocols, changing of new protocols and scheduling what for me looked like the script of a comedy sketch…enter Stage Right Monday Cohort 1A, Exit Stage Left, Cohort 2B on camera, Go, Cohort 2A Enter Down Stage Left but only on alternate Wednesdays when the moon is in crescent position… and Go…cue lights…go…and sound…go…

Lights up…uhhh What’s my line? How do I do this? I have no idea what’s happening, I do have my mask and my happy pink tape to put arrows on the floor…and of course my Legwarmers…s’all I got.

As well as being the co-director of Two Sisters Dance Projects Inc. I also teach at a high school that hosts a Regional Arts Program to which Covid-19 brings extra challenges. The singers are not allowed to sing but they can hum, the flautists can’t play their instruments at school but they can practice at home. The actors can still act but they can’t block their scenes in close proximity, visual artists can draw and paint but they can not share materials such as pastels, pencils, canvases, and brushes and dancers… we can dance but only in our designated spots, with 2 meters between one another. Choreographically, we can not explore compression of space, partnering, leaning, shared weight, contact improvisation, or lifts which is pretty much everything that connects us as dancers.

What was essential for me was safety for myself and the dancers, making sure we were properly physically distancing during the class while still allowing for hydration and oxygen seeing as masks are to be worn through the entire 3 hour class.

Map The Space

I began to focus on what we could work on during Covid and not what we couldn’t do so to not fully break my artistic heart. I marked Down Stage Centre and somewhat knowing, (but not really), how many dancers I’d have in each cohort I spaced out the room with X’s on the floor for 12 students each measuring out with 2 meters in between each dancer.

X ———— 2M———— X ————2M————X ————2M———— X

X————2M————X————2M————X————2M————X

X———— 2M———— X ————2M————X ————2M———— X

I also designated an area behind the curtain that separates the studio from the entrance where the desk is a place for a dancer to lower their masks and safely breathe, should they feel light headed. They can chassé away from the instructional portion of the class and slip behind the curtain to breathe and grab some water before joining again.

An extra cleaning of tea tree oil and water over the surfaces even though the custodial staff cleans twice daily now . I’m just not sure if they get to the cubbies or the ballet barres…and I opened the windows that I’m not allowed to open for fear of throwing off some sort of air pressurized system that seemingly unites all schools in the board… I brought my own Allen key.

Communication: Talk, Listen, Laugh... And Keep Your Masks On Please

Looking at the sterilized studio with coloured tape on the floor, sparkling ballet barres, designated breathing area, I thought … Hm this looks good but why am I still so nervous?

I wanted to make sure I was doing right by the dancers, I wanted to make sure they were safe too. Finally Monday came: the hallways were unusually quiet as I opened the studio door, there they stood in a physically distanced line outside the hall waiting to come in.

Familiar faces under sparkly masks, “Ms.B yay you’re here…air hugs!!.. Ms. B…are we dancing today?…Can someone explain the schedule? Ms.B, how are you? Wow! thank you for the spots for us to sit in…Hey we’re in the studio, …it’s so clean..”

The dancers found their place in the space, and everything fell to a complete quiet which was unusual for the first day of school. Everyone sitting in their Covid spaces. Hmm… how do we regain a sense of community again when we’ve been indoors for 6 months?

For the first 15 minutes before I started to go through the rules and regulations of how this quadmester works and what we can and cannot do during Covid. I had the dancers stay in their spaces and turn to talk to someone. Keep your distance, keep your masks on and talk, listen and laugh. I got in there too and learned that some of my students have parents who are nurses and for the first 2 months of Covid my students and their siblings were living with their grandparents so to stay safe while their parents battled on the frontlines at the hospital. Some kids went to work right away becoming essential workers at grocery stores, and others said goodbye to loved ones who had succumbed to the disease itself. We were in a whole new place than when we left on March 13, 2020. I heard so many dancers saying the same thing by the end of their conversations, “I’m just so glad to be here and to be dancing again.” “I’m so glad to dance again…I need this. “We’re ready to dance Ms.B, time to let go and find our happiness again.”

Find our happiness again. This was the key reason as to why we dance, the reason why every k id from 5 to 105 needs to dance…alongside freedom of expression, human connection, creativity, multiple layers of thinking and kinaesthetic learning, sometimes it’s simply to experience joy . I needed to find that again too..

Dance In Your Space: Turn Your Light ON

On our first day of actual dance class I let the dancers know that our intermittent use of improvisation through the space to connect to one another physically for our modern classes (Grade 11 Cohorts A and B) as well as our partner dance section of the warm-up for our jazz classes (Grade 10 Cohorts A and B) could not be practiced at this time. We’d have to work in our own spots for the time being, no overlapping or compression of space. What I wanted to do was to really have them feel energized regardless of their inability to locomote, their movement could still be fully embodied and genuinely expressed. I asked them to picture their company of 12 dancers on a dimly lit stage with minimal side booms on stage right and left casting shadows across the floor. Then I asked them to picture top lights over each of them..pick a colour…Blue Miss…”Great Blue it is, now turn your light on and dance regardless of whether this is a fun jazz warm up or the Graham bounces. Notice your community, we’ve danced together before but now it’s different somehow . I t’s tighter, more meaningful.”

It became real, real smiles -nothing put on, appreciation of the person 2 meters away executing the same exercises. The room began to fill with a genuine communal connection in the execution of a simple Fosse jazz hand. Lights out.

Improvise! Improvise! Improvise!

Improvisation is always something that I use in all of my classes whether I’m teaching or choreographing in an Elementary School, High School, Dance Studio or University. I had the students improvise down the room in partners keeping 2 meters apart. The goal of the improv game was to simply follow the leader in movement, copying one another’s vocabulary. I designated the first person as the leader but as the movement and direction changed the leadership would naturally fall to the 2nd person, bouncing back and forth as the movement unfolded. The challenge was to keep it fluid so that we the audience didn’t see who was leading and to keep the timing and the movement as together as possible so to make it seem that it was a set duet. Tricky!!! Yes!! Fun!! Yes!! As always with an improv things change and mould and the dancers need to make decisions based on where they are in space at that exact moment.

As the dancers began to move , some with ease , others with trepidation the mood began to change again. All the dancers watched one another while standing in their designated places “Wow…Cool…Yes!!…Did you see them!!?..Awesome.” Masks on, dancers connecting though distant, moving across the floor while creativity and excitement over their own self discovery prevailed. Twelve dancers in a Covid world, respecting the power of our new limits and turning it into something beautiful, tangible and memorable. A moment of the old world thrown into the new, bright eyes under colourful masks, joining in 2 at a time, suspended in their own imaginations and accompanied by music. The dancers finished their improvisations standing on new solid ground, smiling as they looked at one another. "Thank you Miss. Thank you Dancers… Now go wash your hands!!

End of the Rope In Beverly Hills

Mon, 31 Aug 2020 18:49:30 GMT

Dance Film Showcasing at Lady Filmmaker's Film Festival

This just in! After many cancellations due to COVID19, " End of the Rope " film will be showcasing at the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival in Beverly Hills from Sept 25 - Oct 4, 2020. We were so happy to work alongside Director, Sibel Guvenc of Kybele Films for this project as the choreographers. Thanks for the opportunity to work with such a fantastic cast of dancers and talent.

From the director: "End of the Rope" is a futuristic drama about an injured dancer's journey towards self-empowerment that powerfully engages with questions of creativity, desire, sexual harassment, disability and the lures and limits of new AI technologies ." Grab the popcorn, and enjoy!

Making Tides

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 19:58:32 GMT

Another dance piece during quarantine

This work is a continuation of a dance video series inspired by Alisa Walton throughout this time of quarantine. The concept of five choreographers and dancers rehearsing with each other in their living rooms via Zoom and FaceTime, (Emily Bernasiewicz, Christine Brkich, Lisa Brkich, Alisa Walton, Claire Ward) while moving towards a final dance video performance entitled, "The Tides." I, (Christine Brkich), initially did not approach this work with a narrative in mind. That was a new process for me as a choreographer and director. In my mind's eye I saw the aesthetic first.

Location, Location, Location

The two locations I chose on the water were very important for me to create in, especially during this pandemic. Living close to the water, it has become a quiet and peaceful solace during this time of quarantine. More and more people are coming to the water, than I have ever seen in summers past, needing to be with people in small groups, in need of the sunshine, and listening to the lapping of the water against the shoreline. It seemed fitting to explore the work within this type of environment as it resonated with so many during a hot summer of partial isolation. We needed to be particularly mindful as it was that this was a common area for morning joggers, walkers, and cyclists to meet their endpoint at the pier, social distancing ourselves from everyone was at the forefront and by noon the sun would be blazing and the dancers completely dehydrated. We were extremely efficient and finished by 9am. Our second location proved to be a different experience. There weren't as many people as it was an overcast, and rainy morning and the contrast of weather was a blessing to our bodies and to the making of the video. The rocks and sand on the beach were a little more difficult to navigate in ballet shoes, challenging our balance, but as the sun eventually snuck out from behind the clouds, we were like children playing in the rocks and skipping them into the water, discovering the play behind the dance. In places, these forms of play found their own way into the video in an impromptu type of way. I'm always grateful for those serendipitous moments that you can never plan for until the time comes to marry the vision with the artist.

Inspiration In My Ears

The next inspiration came from the music. I'm a devout Holly Cole fan, and have always loved her rendition of "The Waters of March." Every time I listened to the song, it lent itself so easily to dance due to the very descript lyrics. These lyrics lead me to my only choreographic task for the choreographers which was to be literal in their movement phrases when they felt connected to a specific lyric. Thus, the lyrics tell the story, and the choreography depicts the narrative through the lyrics in places. It was interesting, that although we had each choreographed our phrases privately within the walls of our own living rooms and bedrooms, many times we found similar movement vocabulary would arise amongst the choreographers as their lyrics cross phrased and repeated themselves in sections. There was a definite connectedness that bound us together, even through virtual creation.

Putting It Altogether In The Moment

The duets, and trios that took place all happened on site as we had no ability to rehearse together prior to the shoot days. This adventure became a beautiful serendipitous happenstance. My favourite moments happened in watching Alisa dance behind Claire, holding the space for her as I watched it behind the lens, the wonderful duet of choreographer and dancer (Lisa and Alisa) as they cannoned their phrase so beautifully together - and the magic that unfolded in post when I edited the duet and Lisa's quiet dissolve into absence made for a beautiful stillness as Alisa was left in solo. The duet of mother and daughter (Lisa and Emily) that started as two separate solos, took on new meaning as the two danced side by side, subtly in quiet communication with each other...and of course the group moments of improv came together magically as we felt our ways through the moment. We were even blessed by Mother Nature as she enchanted us with her paint brush... painting the skies with a bright blue crimson and yellow sun on Day 1, followed by a quiet grey and sombre sky with rain that fell at the exact precise moment during the duet between Mom and Daughter. It was as though she knew we were creating in the moment, and blessed us with a gaggle of Canadian geese that flew by in their own choreographic dance space as we watched in awe. These moments as they were happening were all mysterious and wonderfully powerful, and continued to be so as I edited the footage later to find more moments to be thankful for that I could have only caught when I was out of the frame, and watching it as a viewer rather than a participant.

Find An Ending

The ending was a mystery as they often can be. As I still wasn't sure how to end the piece, I decided we should all frolic in the rocks together. We began by skipping rocks into the water on the shoreline and then moved to passing rocks to one another, and feeling the textures of them as we passed, shot from a birds-eye angle. I called cut as we finished playing in the rocks and hoped that we had something that seemed like an ending, until Lisa said "Wait! I think that was it! Not the hands in the rocks, but the hands pulling away from the rocks after you called "cut." Hmmm.... "Really? Great! Let's do it again!" And so, it was a few video takes of our hands drawing away from the rocks set to the final chord in the music that became something we all connected to. I looked at the shot again while editing, and thought it needed more guts to it, so I slightly saturated the colouration of the rocks to add depth to the final shot - something to go out on as the curtain closes, I thought. I struggled with this moment for awhile because I didn't see its connection to the narrative. However, the more I thought about it... all those moments in the choreography were simple moments of connection - the ups, the downs, "it's the mud... it's the mud," it's "the promise of spring, the thorn in your hand, and a cut in your toe." But the re-iteration of the "joy in your heart" is what rang true throughout. That being said... this shot spoke volumes to me. Hands of different women, hands of different ages, hands that have told so many different stories. But for this moment, these hands have come together to be in this moment... and to find joy in their hearts however difficult or easy, somewhat trapped in the storm of a world pandemic - holding space... being there... sharing pebbles, and perhaps a moment of bliss. And couldn't we all use more of that right now?

Thank you Lisa, for helping me find an ending (because as choreographers, sometimes beginnings and endings can be our most challenging tasks)... and thank you to the crew (Luke, Yusimi, and Jason) for a 2 day shoot, for Diana for babysitting my kids so that I could take time to create during those 2 mornings, and of course, thank you to all the dancers for their ongoing commitment and collaboration to this project. We also applaud and are grateful to those of you who managed to do your "morning jogs" around us on the beach! You looked great out there!

The Artistic Team :

Director and Choreographer: Christine Brkich

Choreographer and Dancers:

Emily Bernasiewicz

Lisa Brkich

Alisa Walton

Claire Ward

Videographers:

Yusimi Amaro

Lukas Bernasiewicz

Editing: Christine Brkich

Photography: Alisa Walton

Camera Transport Jason Chomik

The Making of Step of the Day During Covid-19

Tue, 23 Jun 2020 03:50:50 GMT

A Pandemic isn't going to stop Legwarmers' Lessons

Step of the Day is the teaching portion of The Legwarmers program. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Christine and I decided that we would bring the Step of the Day to children who were at home and sedentary. We began our journey, the week of March 24th. Our goal was to have four new Step of the Day videos per week. The Friday video would be a recap of all the steps from the week with the characters from The Legwarmer show known as Master Allegro and Grandmamina Legwarmer.

We wanted the Step of the Day to be educational and fun, simple yet challenging enough for kids to learn and discover new movement. Our target audience is children who fall into the primary levels of education.

We began with our first Step of the Day, filming in Lisa’s basement. At that time, the pandemic was at its beginning stages, and we could still be within close proximity of one another. The first Step of the Day that we posted was the “Star Jump.” This particular step holds a history for The Legwarmers program as it was the very first step that we used when developing the first episode of The Legwarmers. Kind of like how Madonna always finishes her concerts with “Holiday”... Paying homage to her early beginnings…. But not really, but you get what we mean.

In one day, we recorded a full week's worth of Step of the Day daily videos. The following week, however, we were all in isolation. This meant that both of us needed to video from our own homes and edit with a split-screen view. This made for a lot of editing - daily but quickly sharpened our filming and editing skills. We fully promote the use of personal tripods for your smartphones. Asking your other quarantined family members to continually film your next great shot can be extremely aggravating for your school-aged children who only want to play on their devices. As well, your university-aged children who are too worried about not graduating, and lack of current job contracts are far from interested in holding the smartphone at the right angle to show the best execution of your Slide.

We tried to keep an array of diverse dance vocabulary as well as offering different styles of dance. Each of the days built towards Friday’s climax of Granmamina and Master Allegro’s execution of the week’s dance combinations - the most fun for us! As Granmamina acknowledges how she is weekly on the “YouTube/MeTube/WeTube/YouTube” the experience both surprises and mesmerizes her as though it’s the first time, every time. Highlights including Granmamina waiting for the bus on Step of the Day 29 as we review the “Bus Stop” as well as Master Allegro’s gut-wrenching supreme lament of “Do You Want To Build A Snowman” as he plays the piano on Day 39 during our “Salute to Disney” week. We welcomed “Coco,” the new puppy addition to Christine’s family, and excitedly couldn’t wait for the chance to dance with her during the “AlleyCat” dance in Step of the Day - Day 49. Coco very quickly caught on to the limelight! As the beautiful

We received responses from dance educators in the private sectors of dance schools, school teachers in various School Boards, as well as regional Parks and Recreation centers. Parents and friends also reached out to say that their kids were enjoying dancing along with The Step of the Day as it broke the monotony of everyday isolation.

It is our mission to reach every child everywhere through the vehicle of Step of the Day and The Legwarmer Project. So…. what is YOUR STEP OF THE DAY? Video yourself showing your favourite Step of the Day and send it to us! We would LOVE to see it, and re-post it! Until then, (ding!), STAR JUMP!

You Want It Darker

Mon, 22 Jun 2020 20:37:21 GMT

One Week Project Hatched

During this current pandemic, artists are finding their way by having their voices and bodies expressed through the means of the lens. Our online world has taken on new meaning, and thus, so too has our artistry by necessity. We have created small Instagram videos to reflect certain moments of this time, whether it be dancing on our balconies, creating videos about our bad hair days, or rolling on the grass at home.

However, it was one surprising text that came in from a friend of ours, dancer, Alisa Walton, who thought “you two would be the only ones crazy enough that I know that would take me up on this quick one week project.” We immediately said “Yessss!” because we were thirsty for a project and collaboration again… any human artistic interaction was welcomed at this time.

Alisa wanted to make a dance video on mortality upon reflection of COVID-19. She had already settled on the music of Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker” which was written close to the time of his death. He describes the specific choral lyric of “Hineni, Hineni” as a “declaration of readiness no matter what the outcome…. A part of everyone’s soul.” (Cohen, You Want It Darker Press Conference)

Somehow, it seemed fitting in this current climate as so many have suffered this illness, and many have lost loved ones whether ready for this onslaught or not.

The idea was to break up the work into sections by four choreographers, who were to choreograph on each other in the confined spaces of our homes. While we moved chairs, tables, piano stools, sorted out the kids’ spats, while being careful not to trip over the dog, we choreographed and gave each other notes via FaceTime, or texted corrections.

We wanted to do justice to the choreographer’s vision, as well as our own. The confined spaces added an extra layer of struggle and complexity to the creation and execution of the work, but quickly became part of the process. Listening to the music, and Cohen’s lyrics, somehow took his personal story to a global level with lyrics such as “I didn’t know I had permission to murder and to maim… You want it darker; we kill the flame.”

Claire Ward, one of the choreographers, made mention of her struggles at home with three children, raising them, teaching them, working at her job as well as managing her household becoming an overwhelming experience during this time for her. Her movements are displayed as though the dancer is somewhat irritated and pulled in so many directions; just get through… just be present right now…. That’s all I can be for my children.

I thought about how this narrative was very similar to my own experience during this pandemic. Every day seemed to be a blur of the same tasks as the day before, yet different. There was still school to be taught, food to be put on the table, grocery shopping with masks and gloves and being socially conscious, as well as trying to stay tuned to my own needs as an artist and educator. In doing so, I decided to put this thought process into her movement. It was simple in its small use of space, but fully loaded when I considered the narrative of my daily life usurped by this small section of movement.

My choreographic movement vocabulary for Alisa came from a place of inner quiet and struggle. I’ve been wrapped up in this feeling lately that even when the “world goes back to normal” as everyone has been saying, that normal will not be the norm as we knew it and lived it pre-COVID-19. Already the way we’ve learned to shop is different; it looks different, it feels different. The way we greet people is not the same, always aware of how to present ourselves and contact the other party. My hope is that this new normal will find its own new light. Even after the darkest dark, there needs to be light - this is the dancer’s focus at this time as pertinent change is among us so eminently right now; it feels as though there is no going back to doing things the way we used to.

Alisa tackled this work in a wonderfully technical way, given her balletic training, wanting to consume the movement first before layering the narrative on top. The result was a superlative dramatic representation that she embodied wholeheartedly and was fully committed.

Alisa on set choreographed for Lisa, sending her a video almost immediately. As Lisa explains the experience, “eventually I sprung it open, her dance and image alive on my laptop. I watched and interpreted Alisa’s choreography over two and a half hours, jumping, gesturing, counting and sweating in my basement. I loved it, I lived it, moving candidly, hitting rewind, using slow motion, texting questions. So new and yet still a process of creation.”

Lisa continued to explain her choreographic experience: "I had the opportunity and great pleasure to work and choreograph on Claire Ward. We share a choreographic and performance history that takes us back to our University days at Ryerson in the early to mid-’90s. Claire was a part of our company InMotion Dance, and together we performed throughout parts of Canada and Europe. Once the onset of kids and responsibility piled into our lives, the performances and touring diminished.

This project allowed me to be able to reconnect to Claire as a dancer and artist. Both of us now possess so many more experiences; marriage, children, loss, failures, successes and re-birth. We are meeting new material for an older age. The beauty of this age is that the dancers we’ve become still carry our memories, our techniques, our strengths, though different and modified. The artistry we portray is honest and true, and there’s a boldness to that.

Knowing that Claire moves with a fierce understanding of filling out every movement, I kept the vocabulary more specific to breath and accenting dynamics. Generally, I move a lot and choreograph with a great deal of “dancing.” For this, however, I minimized my locomotion to maximize the quality of the upper body and the accents on timing. Claire’s incredible sense of grounding and natural connection to any piece always brings such sincerity and exuberance to the choreography. Her rendition of my vocabulary brought forth an essence of stability in unforeseen times and a conviction that ‘this too shall pass, so let’s find the silver lining and lean in to listen to this stillness.’

Claire and I met on FaceTime for a 45-minute rehearsal to share notes after I’d sent her a copy of the choreography. The experience was somehow transcendental as though we were both physically in a rehearsal space, collaborating, taking notes, phrasing accents, all the while bumping into dining room tables and readjusting our devices so to view the shapes and gestures of the intended movement properly.

We arrived at the boardwalk of Marie Curtis Park at 6:30 AM so to begin our film shoot prior to the community waking, each one of us was very aware of our global duty in keeping this current pandemic from escalating. Though we followed and observed the rules strictly, the need to embrace one another was overwhelming. We did so from afar, with a virtual hug or a blowing of a kiss. We all thirst for human touch right now. Isolation has brought us to a hollow space.

Alisa coordinated our transitions and formulated an ending that was a combination of improvisation and a repetition of the opening section. Within two hours, we transformed the entire boardwalk through our movement. People began passing by for their morning walk along the waterfront; some would watch from a distance and smile or clap or tell us that we’d made their day during such a lonely and confusing pandemic.

This project allowed us to share what we do by transferring our stage to social media platforms bringing the audience to the work by clicking ‘share’ or ‘repost.’ COVID has challenged artists to bring dance to the people in new ways while still keeping a safe distance. Isolation provides us with a brand new window to look through with dance as our catalyst offering us a new door to open and discover for collaboration and creation.

Thank you, Alisa! Call us again, and we’ll say yes before you ask the question.

Artistic Team:

Director:

Alisa Walton

Dancers/Choreographers:

Christine Brkich

Lisa Brkich

Alisa Walton

Claire Ward

Videographers:

Dulce Claros

William Walton McKeon

Still Photography:

Angela Norwood

Top 10 Always / Never During Quarantine

Fri, 12 Jun 2020 13:41:43 GMT

Top 10 Always / Never During Quarantine

If you happen to follow us on Instagram ( @twosistersdance24 ), you would have come across a little ditty we like to call… “Always/Never”. This is usually a comprised list of things we think that one should NEVER take part in… ALWAYS… Hence, “ALWAYS/NEVER.”. So, if this is your first time here, we welcome you, and please stick around to enjoy some more Two Sisters Dance tidbits! If it's your return visit, we thank you for your patronage and support.

And now… without further ado….

New Paragraph

#10. Always/Never forget your glass of wine during a ZOOM call. It’s 5:00 in Italy when it’s 11:00 here. Salut!

#9. Always/Never teach your kids how to unlock the bathroom door while you’re taking a bath. They will undoubtedly walk in with their iPad while playing an online video game and screen sharing with their friends. “Don’t you knock? Watch where you point that lens, Joey!"

#8. Always/Never pass up the opportunity to shop online… in or out of a pandemic… just feels so right right now, doesn’t it? “Honey, don’t sit on the new living room chairs yet, they haven’t been upholstery treated. Use the dog’s pillow. Thanks, love.”New Paragraph

#7. Always/Never video yourself too close for social media purposes… you may have hair growing on your face more than your body by this point…New Paragraph

#6. Always/Never forget to wear mascara and your favourite “Vamp At Night Red” lipstick when donning your mask that you’ve made out of old tube socks when at the supermarket… Looks great, Lisa!! Paragraph

#5. Always/Never compare yourself to the person on the video who’s giving the online fitness class that you’re trying to complete… while your bread is in the oven, and your kids are crying over their online schoolwork, while the puppy is peeing on your newly purchased online rug… “99… 100 and that’s a great workout folks! Thanks for joining me!” Ding!… Sparkle.

#4. Always/Never look at your toenails during a pandemic. Eww! Don’t look down!

#3. Always/Never go for the smallest Grand Battement during an online Zoom Ballet class with great dancers from around the globe… GO BIG!! BE BOLD!! You still have your pride! Go ahead and kick the crap out of your one of a kind Tiffany living room lamp that you bought on sale at that store that since went out of business!! Great extension! You slayed that Grand Battement, Christine!

#2. Always/Never start a new habit of baking delicious homemade bread for your family. Your children will love you, and your thighs will laugh at you, while your stomach starts to take shape of the loaf that you just pulled out of the oven. Luxuries are great… but they catch up over time. Damn that’s good! Pass the butter, honey.

#1. Always/Never FaceTime or ZOOM too far from the camera… no one is wearing a bra these days. Keep the camera close but not too close. Then we see that facial hair growing out of your jaw bone! Keep the camera mid-way - just make sure you’re sitting upright so as to avoid the double chin look. So, keep the camera further, but not too far because of the lack of bras… Just turn off the video and use audio. That’s what’s needed now!

Two Sisters Dance Projects Blog

Virtual Choreography Across The Country

The Dance And The Child International Conference - Toronto, Canada 2022

The Choreographic Process

Putting It All Together

Thank You!

Covid-19 In The Classroom

The Covid-19 Protocol: What Exactly Is It?

When You've Been In Contact With Someone Who Has Tested Positive:

The Protocol

The Test:

Testing Procedures

Waiting For Test Results

Citations and Links:

The New Normal

What Happened Last Year?

New School Forms

Social Norm(al)?

What Now?

My Experience with Dance and the Hybrid Model of Instruction

Nice Chesterfield!!

New TiDancertleD

New Dancer Dancer Dancer Laptop Dancer

Teaching Highly Energetic Children in the Dance Studio

Dance Teaching to the Needs of the Child

ADHD AND DOPAMINE

Dance Steps Towards Success

Step 1: Tremendous Transparency

Step 2: Ask For HEEEEEEELP!

Step 3: Don't Take It Personally - Use It To Your Advantage

Step 4: Turn Them Into Task Master Leaders

Step 5: Teach Them Love

﻿ Sources:

The Choreographic Process

﻿ Creating Choreography

﻿ Come Prepared

Twist It, Bop It, Turn It, Tear It UP!

Quilting

Come Unprepared

Music, Music, Music

Hit Play

A Ballet Mom's Worst Nightmare

First Day of Ballet Class... for Mom

Motivational Crisis

The Ballet Rabbit Hole

Out of the Ballet Box

Dance Education During Covid-19: Welcome Back

﻿ Teaching Dance in the new 2020

Map The Space

Communication: Talk, Listen, Laugh... And Keep Your Masks On Please

Dance In Your Space: Turn Your Light ON

Improvise! Improvise! Improvise!

End of the Rope In Beverly Hills

Dance Film Showcasing at Lady Filmmaker's Film Festival

Making Tides

Another dance piece during quarantine

Location, Location, Location

Inspiration In My Ears

Putting It Altogether In The Moment

Find An Ending

The Making of Step of the Day During Covid-19

A Pandemic isn't going to stop Legwarmers' Lessons

You Want It Darker

One Week Project Hatched

Top 10 Always / Never During Quarantine

Top 10 Always / Never During Quarantine

Sources:

Creating Choreography

Come Prepared

Teaching Dance in the new 2020