The circle is a really fun formation!  It’s a great way to change things up a bit, taking a break from the standard chorus and center stage group formations.  Circles are the only time that *everyone* gets to be dancing the same moves together at once. The visual impact of having everyone out there is nice, and there are some neat moves that really seem to look nicest in the circle.

There are some special things to keep in mind about circles though, because it’s not possible for everyone to see the leader at once, or even to easily tell who the leader is.  To account for this, there are some special cues and procedures for circles so that you can keep them looking crisp, and maintaining variation and interest.

So, without further ado, here are some guidelines to know for circling, so that you’ll be able to figure out what is going on if you’re following, and so that you’ll know how to take the lead when you’re ready!

Cues:

• The “follow me” cue is a quick, tight 3-step turn (to the left) on releve.
• From Chorus to Circle – “follow me” cue in front of chorus line with long yip or zaghareet, then proceed to lead group into circle.
• From Circle to Chorus – “follow me” cue with long yip or zaghareet and break off to lead the line from the circle into the chorus.
• To take over lead in Circle – “follow me” cue with short yip and move into the next move you want to cue.
• The person behind the new leader will mimic the “follow me” cue and proceed into the move the new leader cued.
• Each succeeding person in line will do the same, such that the new move cascades around the circle, like dominoes.
• A dancer will never spin and start the new move until after they see the person in front of them do it.
• The person that cued that move will know it has made it all the way around when they see the person in front of them begin the new move.
• From Formation to Circle – leader of formation begins whatever move they wish to start the circle in, and then does a quick, uncued half turn to the right to face the rest of the formation.  Everyone makes eye contact, backs up slightly and prepares, and begins moving in a circle on the next downbeat (with the move they were doing before the leader turned).
• From Circle to Formation (4 people or less) – new formation leader yips as they approach the front left corner of the performance area and turns away from the circle to face the audience.  Everyone else falls into standard formation (they should already be very close to one of the ‘spots’ in the formation as the circle naturally passes over them).

Moves:

• Arabic Hip Twist
• When this move is done in the circle pairs can cross the circle using Arabic.
• When a pair is crossing, the circle stops moving and holds their places until they fully rejoin the circle and start it moving again.
• Walking/Marching movements
• Examples: Twist March, 3/4 Shimmy, Traveling Single & Double Hip Bumps, Maya, Taxim, etc.
• When these moves are done in the circle, short solos (and duets if there is room) can be done in the center of the circle.
• Egyptian
• When this move is done in the circle, it cues that the circle will be doing stationary moves.
• The move can start out stationary, from someone taking over the lead in the circle and then going into the stationary Egyptian facing the center.
• The move can be started traveling, and then someone can choose to make it stationary (indicating their intent to go into stationary moves).
• When doing stationary moves in the circle, everyone must keep track of who the leader is, until the next cue for a change of leaders.  (In all other cases in the circle, taking of the lead is done in order to cue a move change, and there is no ‘set’ leader – one must always claim the lead to change the move.)
• When doing stationary moves in the circle, verbal cues are necessary for turns, since a portion of the circle cannot see the leader.

Since we’ve been spending a bit of time each week focusing on formations, Julia was nice enough to put together a handout on chorus guidelines.  These are things that are important to keep in mind when practicing and during jam time in class, so that you’ll already have them well in hand during the monthly student showcases.

FORM:

Standard:

The chorus should form a shallow semi circle open to the front of the stage or the audience centered around center stage or the center of the active performance area.  Dancers will face stage left (not straight on – they should be at a 45 degree angle or so to the audience).  The chorus should adjust in spacing/length, etc as people come into it and go out of it to maintain this shape (with people evenly spaced) and continue to frame the performance area (or when there is a lack of a clear performance area – frame the dancers that come out to do solos, duets, trios, and quartets).  The leader is the person in front of the chorus (farthest stage left in the standard form).

Alternatives:

The chorus can turn around to face stage right for short periods of time.  To do this, the leader turns around – no cue is needed.  The turn passes down the line until it reaches the end.  Each person in line will do one repetition of the current move facing the previous direction, and then turn and proceed to continue the move in the new direction.  No one should turn until the person directly in front of them turns.  When the chorus is turned completely to stage right, the new leader is the person in front and they may change moves and turn the chorus back around whenever they wish.  Turning the chorus back around follows the same procedure.

The chorus can face the center of the line for short periods of time.  This would start as if the chorus were turning around, but the person just past the center of the line can make the decision not to turn around and continue to face the previous person.  This decision can only be controlled by the person in that position and that person becomes the new chorus leader.  At any point to bring the chorus back pointing one direction, either middle person can turn around and the turn will then pass the rest of the way down the line in that direction.

The chorus can face the audience for short periods of time.  To cue this, the leader of the chorus simply turns to face the front and this passes down the line just as any other turn in chorus.  The leader is the person on the far left (stage left).  To go back to normal facing either side, the leader turns to face that direction and that turn passes down the line.

Important: All turns in Chorus pass down the line one person at a time with each person completing one complete (both sides) repetition of the current move facing the previous direction before turning and passing the turn on to the next person.

MOVES:

Moves in Chorus should be kept relatively simple, and should be chosen to complement both the music and the moves of the formation in center (i.e. not distract from them or clash with them – you are their chorus, not the other way around).  Chorus moves also should not change as often as moves in the center formations.  When choosing moves, keep in mind the amount of space / crowding in the chorus at the time and adjust as necessary (arms may need to be kept small, for example).