This video is a dance tutorial followed by the routine in full
To skip to the routine go to 11:15
Only Child. A small dance project for the times we live in
November 2020. Out of lockdown…not anymore. Watching the country/world fall apart in so many ways. Trying to comprehend a bigger picture that is so doom laden it hurts. And yet, the sun still rises (for now) and we continue to get up and go about our little lives as best we can. Each individual’s experience of this year is so different. Mine is very blessed, I know that. Some of my friends have fared less well with job losses or mental health struggles or home schooling agonies. Thus far I am untouched by this virus, my loved ones are doing ok and my finances are no worse than they ever were (lol) and so I find myself in the privileged position of being able to ponder what I’ve learned about ME ME ME during this worst-year-ever. But what does this have to do with dancing I hear you cry? Well, quite a lot it turns out…
I liked lockdown. I didn’t like why it was happening, obviously, but if we drill down to how I felt about this new way of existing, I liked it. Staying home. Not socialising. Not wasting time (no hangovers!). Being disciplined. Being productive. Of course, I like to go out and have fun, but I can also do without. Sure, I like holidays but I can live without them. My best days have always been ones where I get-shit-done. And get to dance. That is how I make peace with myself. And lockdown played into all of that. I could live this quiet life reaching for my own tiny goals in the confines of my home with no sense that I should venture outside or go to parties or achieve. It was suddenly totally acceptable to have absolutely nothing to talk about and no plans for the rest of your life. Cool. So, what does this make me? Anti-social? Cold? Dull? Hmmm. I would say all of the above to some degree. But it’s simpler than that, I’m just an only child. A seriously only child. With all the good and bad (yes, I know it’s mainly bad) the cliché of that state suggests. Independent – yes. Oversensitive – yes. Bad sharer – YES. Happy in my own company – yes yes yes. Etc. etc. And in terms of dancing…well, choreography (for me) is very much a solo endeavour. Perfect. And my little lockdown project was a revelation. It opened up a way to dance involving zero outside influence. No collaborators, no studios, no costs, no dancers, no rehearsals, no shows, no late nights. Nothing. Which sounds weird ‘cause all that stuff is really fun. BUT I lived it for a long time and it was the greatest but now is now and I want different things.
Bottom line, I’m gonna continue to make these little videos and post them here under the new Only Child banner, in recognition of my own takeaway from 2020 (loner). Which means open season…any song, any topic (rubs hands together in glee)…game on…
Oh! And the dance! Well, in this new Only Child world where anything goes so, I’m starting out with Colonel Abrahams (which could have featured in the lockdown playlist anyway). I heard this track for the first time in the TV version of She’s Gotta Have It where it’s placed front and centre in a super cool club scene (ignoring the nasty ending…). The musical set-pieces are so well done in this show (no matter what you might think of it as a whole). There’s even a stripper version of Sparklemotion grinding to The Roots. So fun. And since hearing it, I’ve been dreaming of a routine for a male dance troupe. Wearing gold capes. And as this idea can be nothing more than a pipe dream right now (including the gold cape element), I figured I might as well crack on and enjoy the 80s vibes alone…
For Caroline. From one OC to another. Leave us alone.
Disclaimer: These are not virtuoso performances. Just me, in an attic, grappling with an iPhone, creaky floorboards and my own inability to get through a take without numerous blunders. The sound is a bit ropey and the dancing could be better. No left or right instructions – do whatever feels most natural to you…mirror me or flip it and use the same arms and legs as I do. Dancers’ choice. And remember, these routines are designed to be simple and repetitive enough to learn fairly quickly but hopefully have enough substance to bring some dancing joy.
Also, I think I’ll start to rate the complexity of the choreo here so you are forewarned…‘the expertise of difficulty’ if you like (that one’s for you Jeddi). This particular number is pretty straightforward – bit tricksy in places and fast. More of an attitude than a dance…
Notes to self: Wash hair. Oh the double chin horror. And spot the deliberate mistake. Twice.
Next: Cardigan. Taylor Swift
Before: MFOR. Dancing on My Own
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