Some friends and I have been getting together in Golden Gate Park to work on our house dance technique. "Sessioning," as house dancers call it.
We all consider ourselves at various states of newbie-ness. So getting over that hump of practicing regularly can be really intimidating. Yes, you can "session" by yourself in your apartment or wherever, but you just don't feel the energy of the dance when you are by yourself. Going to a house dance club you can easily get intimidated when a bunch of sick house dancers take to the floor.
So my friend David has been organizing a casual house session on Sundays in Golden Gate Park. Even over the few weeks that we've been doing it, I can see the progression from more tentative, nervous, interior dancing, to more flowing, freeform, expressive movement.
Here's a little cypher from yesterday with David, Paul, Stephanie and myself that was a lot of fun.
It feels good to be in that place of learning and growing as a dancer. And house dance meets that sweet spot of the dynamism and expressiveness of street dancing, but with a friendly, casual, social vibe. I feel like I could do this for awhile, rather than some of the more demanding hip-hop forms like b-boying.