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Inclusive Contemporary Dance Class: Finding Your Flow

Inclusive Contemporary Dance Class: Finding Your Flow — video by Stopgap Dance Company Play · 47:31

Video by Stopgap Dance Company on YouTube · Open on YouTube

An inclusive contemporary class from a disabled and non-disabled dance company, done seated or standing: guided visualisation and free improvisation, movement pathways through the arms, chest and spine, then a short flowing phrase. Suits any body and ability.

  • 48 min
  • All levels
  • Low impact (no jumping)
  • No equipment
  • Contemporary

Good forDancing for fun

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Step by step 12

Tap a time to watch that step in the video.

  1. Settle seated or standing, feet into the floor or sit bones into the chair, and picture water filling your body. 1:28
  2. Free improvisation: move as if underwater, letting the flow travel in continuous curves at your own speed. 4:49
  3. Pathway 1: send energy from one side of the body through to the other, taking in every detail. 14:01
  4. Pathway 2: the chest and upper torso, opening through the sternum and ribs so the movement can travel. 16:51
  5. Pathway 3: from the head down to the lowest part of the mobile spine and back up again. 18:45
  6. Pathway 4: from the lowest mobile part of your body up and out through the arms. 20:35
  7. Join the four pathways into a short sequence, adding one at a time and varying size and speed. 23:00
  8. Explore your own pathways and use the space they make to shift your weight; use your wheels if seated. 28:49
  9. Learn the phrase: roll one shoulder, then the other, take the ribs across and twist to face the other way. 33:44
  10. Finish the phrase: hug the space, open through the chest, dive down and roll up to loop it. 39:06
  11. The whole phrase from the start, then with music, looping it straight into a second go. 40:13
  12. Four rounds of the phrase, changing it each time: smaller, bigger, slower or faster. 43:37

The steps are a summary in our words, checked against the video — the coach shows every move.

Form cues from the coach

  • Move at a speed that lets you feel every part of the pathway
  • Your version doesn't need to look like the teacher's

What it works Whole body

Tap an area for more videos that work it.

Joints it uses light on the joints

  • Shoulders movesarm and shoulder pathways, shoulder rolls
  • Upper back moveschest and rib pathways, spine ripples
  • Lower back movesspine ripples, roll down and up, pelvis circles
  • Hips movesweight shifts, pelvis circles, quarter turns
  • Knees movesweight shifts and turns
  • Rounding or twisting the back. With osteoporosis or a back problem, move smoothly and within comfort, and ask a physio which suit you.

Easier option from the coach: Seated or standing throughout; hands on wheels or sit bones for shifts

A guide to the joints this video’s moves load, from what the coach does — not medical advice. Some ache is normal; stop if a joint hurts sharply. How joints are rated

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Video by Stopgap Dance Company; the summary, steps, cues, body areas and joint notes are Notbroken’s, written from what the coach actually does in the video and checked a second time. Warm up first, take the easier options until a move feels easy, and stop if you feel sharp pain, chest pain or dizziness. General instruction, not advice for your body. About & safety