Mirror - Shadow - Flocking Movement Activity

Mirroring Movement activity: I realize this is kind of self explanatory. Face your partner, decide who leads and who will follow. The key is to move SLOWLY, and eventually you want to be able to interchange the roles without stopping or discussing it. The viewer should not be able to tell who is leading and who is following...The next step is turning this into shadowing or as some call it, flocking. I personally prefer the term shadow. So now you are not mirror images of each other where your right was your partner's left, now you are one behind the other - where your right is also your partners right. Be careful about small movements that are executed in front of yourself where those behind you can not see. BIG movements work best - or another way of saying it is, use your Full Range of Motion. I will often refer to the Bubble Painting activity, as it is a great example of using your full range of motion - push the movement to the limit - as far as you can reach - that movement translates so much more than small movements that are close to the body! With shadowing as a group activity, the same guidelines apply, Move Slow - so slow that it's hard to distinguish who is actually leading the group.

A full piece can be choreographed or improvised by a group by just giving each dancer a couple of measures, a line, or a verse to take and rotate the lead and followings. As you practice this, explore traveling across the floor and moving through high, medium and low spaces! ENJOY!