AUTUMN SYLLABUS - with The Alay'nya Studio

By completing the Autumn Quarter with the Alay'nya Studio, you will gain:

• Knowledge of "Principles": Our top Autumn Quarter priority is to help you fundamentally shift your "core" dance movements from simple percussive and circular pelvic ones (e.g., hip drops, hip circles, etc.) through to not just undulations, but grounded undulations. We will review this in class many times; it involves grounding your lower undulation through your pelvis into your thighs, down your legs and into the floor, and simultaneously doing a diaphragm / rib cage "stretch / release" that will naturally yield an upper body undulation. Yes, this sounds technical right now -- but it the basis for absolutely gorgeous, compelling movement -- and is well worth your focused attention!
• Master combinations you can apply to a wide range of music: We will develop a range of "micro-choreographies" -- these will be "building blocks." They will let you perform both structured choreography, improvise during parties and when working with live musicians, and give you a solid basis for "filling in" your own choreographies with good, well-structured dance sections.
• Outstanding choreographies: Build your repertoire with a combination of chifti telli, taxim, and veil pieces -- suitable for performing in a wide range of settings, from private parties to major stage performances.

AUTUMN QUARTER ENERGY

Autumn is a time for a liquid, or "cups," energy. Many of the movements that we associate with this time have a very "liquid" feeling, such as lower and upper undulations, figure eights (snake hips), and snake arms. This is also a good time for learning graceful arm positions and hand embellishments, such as ripples. The "watery" feeling is also a means of connecting the different portions of your dance routine, so think of it as a time for studying and building transitions -- both small transitions between movements, and larger transitions -- between major portions of your choreography.

AUTUMN QUARTER STUDIES -- Level by Level

For Level 1 students, the focus is on the "mechanics" of undulations and figure eights. This is also when you will learn a series of principles for coordinating arm/hand positions with your movements, and also get a series of at-home exercises that will help you develop graceful hand gestures. (These take time to develop, so think of this as a introduction to something that you will perfect over months and years.)

As you move into your Level 2 practice, this becomes a time to focus on releasing tension throughout your body, with particular attention to your cranio-sacral connection, along with the "transition points" where the angles in your spine change (about the middle of your rib cage, or bra-strap level, and lower in your back, where the lumbar vertebrae begin).

With time, you will begin to sense an intrinsic little "pulsation" connecting your lumbar and sacral area, flowing all the way up to the base of your skull. Cultivating this "intrinsic rhythm" leads to a very natural undulation in your spine, so you will begin to generate this movement from within, as opposed to superimposing it from the outside. This marks a major turning point in your evolution as a dancer.

Similarly, with time, you will begin to sense an intrinsic "figure-eight" pulsation in your sacro-iliac region (connecting your sacrum to your pelvis). This is another "intrinsic rhythm" that, when cultivated and amplified, becomes the figure-eight hip movements of your dance.

As you discover and experiment with the natural origins for these movements in your body, you will create a wholly new and different basis for your dance; one that is simultaneously both gentle and powerful. And from this, you begin to develop your dance as a "pathway" for mind/body integration. This really is your starting point.

Autumn is also a traditional time for starting your Level 3, or "internal energy" studies. Building on the body awareness you gained in Level 1, and the pelvic / spinal release that you cultivated in Level 2, you can bring your attention to "chi building via dance". The starting place - and foundational exercise for this -- is building on the MicroCosmic Orbit (used in Taoist Tai Chi practices. (See the Recommended Reading for important study materials.)

In a similar vein, we will also use the lower body undulation as a basis for prana-bindu development. Please download and read the Bhuta Shuddhi article from September, 2007 issue of Yoga Plus, for a description of a chakra purification practice. This article describes a pranayama (breathing) practice as follows:

Keeping your consciousness at the sahasrara [crown chakra -- my notes] chakra, begin three cycles of pranayama. These pranayama cycles require you to retain your breath after the inhalation—normally the breath is retained four times longer than the inhalation and twice as long as the exhalation. If you have not yet mastered breath retention but still want to do this practice, retain your breath only to your comfortable capacity and disregard the ratios given here.

While the whole practice of Bhuta Shuddhi involves a series of visualizations, moving up the chakras, you clearly need to have a good "breath retention" ability prior to doing the visualization exercise. It might be a little challenging to get the breath ratio just right: Inhale (one count), retain (four counts), and exhale (two counts). However, if you do this breathing practice in conjunction with combined lower / upper body undulations done with a slow chifti telli, it will become far more natural.

The chifti telli rhythm has a count of two slow, three fast, and pause. Use the pause before the first chifti telli count to start your inhalation. You will notice that -- if you are doing a SLOW lower body undulation -- this is where you naturally breathe in! Retain your breath for your first and second long counts. Release your breath on the last two to three of the three short counts. Complete breath release and start anew on the "pause." This completes one breathing cycle. Even if the timing is not exact, you can use the chifti telli rhythm to "cue" you for your inhale / exhale cycles.

Experiment with this on your own, at home, with no distractions. (A teacher can be a distraction; you need to tap into your own body awareness and rhythm for this.) When I publish out some recommended chifti telli pieces, I'll let you know which ones I'm using for this practice.

Study Suggestions and Resources

Visit Practicing at Home -- suggestions and resources for your overall and ongoing "at home" practice.

For the Autumn Quarter, we particularly recommend:

• Video Study: Ruby Jazay're's Na'asa -- Music source to be published shortly
• Recommended Music: To be published shortly.
• Recommended Reading: Books and other resources supporting Autumn Quarter studies.

Lesson Plans - Autumn, 2007 - Both the "Classics" and the "Charisma" Series (Advanced Beginners / Early Intermediate)

• To be published shortly.

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