Continuous and sustained movement

A material can be made of wood, metal, stone, plaster, clay, wool, paper… and, depending on its composition, it will possess different qualities such as hardness, malleability, fragility, weight, or lightness. Similarly, movement can also have different qualities, and in this lesson, as well as the previous and following ones (5, 6, and 7), I will discuss some of these qualities of movement and how to introduce them in the classroom through various exercises and how to work on them progressively.
Experiencing the qualities of movement helps them become aware of different ways of moving, searching for their own movement, while at the same time generating a foundation that allows them to later perform more complex movements, combine them with each other and move more consciously, whether in improvisation proposals as in organized dances or choreographies.
In pill 6, specifically, I present continuous movement. Its main characteristics are fluidity, continuity of movement, and sponginess. The movement is like a wave, and in terms of the gaze, the focus doesn’t change abruptly, but rather follows a continuous path.
In this short video, I also explain ways to combine it with joint movement, so that children can experience the contrast between both types of movement.
Regarding the recommended age, it can be adapted to all levels, but at school we implement this proposal in the initial cycle (6-8 years old) and, from this base, in the following cycles we expand this quality of movement through other proposals that I will explain to you in new lessons later.
As I mentioned in the previous video, it’s very helpful to give the exercises names so that, in later sessions, simply saying the name will help students understand what to do, without needing further explanation. In this case, we call it “the puppet” or “the jelly” (the teacher can choose the name or agree on it with the students to make it more meaningful).
Similarly, choosing a specific piece of music for each activity helps to identify that piece of music with the specific exercise, and just by listening to it they spontaneously begin the movement activity.