This 4-week series is targeted toward beginner-intermediate or intermediate dragon staff flow artists.
Please note, Elena recommends against taking this series at this time if you are not completely comfortable with the prerequisites.
Minimum prerequisites: same and split time chi in forward and reverse, cheating death, minimal steve
In this series, we will be challenging ourselves to learn complex dragon staff flow - while most of the program is focused on diversifying the moves we have available to us, we will also be discussing more theoretical concepts that will help you build and explore your own moves.
The four classes in this series may be taken individually, but there will be combo moves introduced throughout the weeks that refer to previous classes. If you are ready to be done feeling stagnant in your dragon flow, buckle up - and let’s get down to business!
Full 4- week series: $120
Single workshop drop-in: $35
Each class will be from 7-8:30 pm at the flowspace in Emeryville.
Class 1 - Thursday, July 23rd
In this class, we will establish a new variety of “home base” moves for our dragon staff flow. Expanding our understanding of chi rolls, we will learn about the four split time chi rolls, forward and reverse neck traps, and horizontal waist traps - all fantastic moves to comfortably return to after more dynamic moves. We will build on the regular chi to learn a chi fountain, adapt horizontal waist traps to vertical, leading to the trap fountain, and learn how to transition fluidly between neck, arms, and waist level movement.
Class 2 - Thursday, July 30th
Let’s build on the minimal steve. We will begin by understanding vertical roll theory adapted from contact staff and learn how to identify what mode of roll we are in. We will learn about how to control the point of rotation in traveling moves, and build from vi chi rolls (circular chi rolls) to several steve variations: 360 steve, front steve, full steve. Additionally, we will learn several steve continuations and alternative entries.
Class 3 - Thursday, August 6th
We will begin this class with learning a dragon-adapted halo. We will lock in the vertical angel, working from angel wing (single-arm) to the 1 beat angel. Several angel variations will be visited in the vertical plane: 2 beat angel, front angel, anti-angel, followed by working on horizontal angel moves: Joel, continuous Joel, and minimal steve to horizontal angel combination. Time permitting, we will touch on the Jesus roll and cage variations of angel family moves.
Class 4 - Thursday, August 13th
As a culmination of our control over steve and angel mode, we will work on the backside (steve mode) half dragon matrix, the frontside (angel mode) half dragon matrix, to lead us to understanding the full dragon matrix. Time permitting, we will also work on the floor matrix and alternate entries into the matrix (front and backside).
Who is Elena?
Elena is a multi-prop movement addict - she has been exploring the flow arts for over 17 years and loves to play with whatever she can get her hands on. Her dance partners include dragon staff, contact staff, and fans. Originally from Boston, and now based out of the Bay Area, she has been sharing her ever-evolving love for motion through instructorship at flow festivals such as Pacific Fire Gathering/Kindle NW, Firedrums, or through private workshops.
