Principle. Music and the 8BC System. Catch Phrase: Decoding and Mapping What We Dance to. Music is the festive dress of silence Chamalu

Transcription

1 Principle 3 Music and the 8BC System Catch Phrase: Decoding and Mapping What We Dance to Music is the festive dress of silence Chamalu

2 Introduction When we began, we wanted to create Nia in a way that addressed the entire human being body, mind, emotions and spirit. At the time, in 1982, there was nothing but harder, faster, impact-laden styles of getting fit. Nia was radically different in that we encouraged people to choose Joy and allow their authentic spirit to come through in class. People thought we were crazy. When we began, we wanted to create Nia in a way that addressed the entire human being - body, mind, emotions and spirit. We view Nia through the triad of Music, Movement and Magic. Music is the canvas upon which the body moves. Magic is what happens inside you. We do not divide Nia into 33.3% music, 33.3% movement and 33.3% magic. Rather, each is 100% valued. When you masterfully connect music and movement, magic is created. Imagine every cell in your body is an ear. As you use your body to listen to music, sound impacts you on a kinesthetic level. Your body instinctively responds to the music it hears, and if left to its natural impulses, will move effortlessly to it. When you masterfully connect music and movement, magic is created. When listening to music, physically practice receiving music. This means investing total attention in the music and appreciating the details within a song. Listen for a light or heavy beat. Listen for highs, lows, the separate sounds of various instruments, for the melody, the chorus and for repetitions as well as surprises. If necessary, use headphones or sit closer to the speakers to enhance hearing. Your ability to hear and track many sounds will improve over time. As you become more aware of music and use it as an inspiration, your movement will grow easier and more powerful. Ideally, you want to be able to hear the detail of your music while remaining aware of your body. Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 1

3 Voice of Body To your physical body, I touch you through resonance and vibration, creating geometric patterns that flower into a dance of light. As you listen to me, I awaken the ears of your skin, music as sensation felt by your body. I leave an encoded imprint of sound and numbers in your cells. I have a physical structure, a form and a function. My individual parts work together just like your body parts work together to express the whole. My parts are resonance, vibration, tone, frequency, note, rhythm, melody, harmony, syncopation, beat, rest and silence. Mind To your mental body, I provide a system to track sound. I provide a mental grid on which to visually record the geometric patterns of sound. I transcribe sound into space, on paper, through bodies and minds. Connect to me, work with me and relax your thinking mind. With me you enter deeply into listening as a way to enhance your dance, create, guide and teach others to feel. Emotions To your emotional body, I trigger the release of energy from deep within you. If you listen to me, if you use me to move you, I can awaken you to deep-rooted feelings and emotions that are waiting to be released and expressed. My resonance and vibration can trigger anger, Joy, love, peace, hate, rage, seduction, boredom, nurturing and agitation. I take you on a healing energy ride. Spirit To your spiritual body, I give rise to the unique personality of every song. Allow me to move you and help you play with the sound and feeling of music. I stimulate and motivate sound to express itself through your body in an organic and alive way. I am multi-gendered, male, female, goddess, warrior. I can become anything you wish. Play with me and discover endless personalities within you to release creativity and your expressive self. Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 2

4 Science The sound of music is one of the most powerful underlying creative forces in our universe. It is a powerful resonance that lies deep within the very heart of creation and existence. It is considered to be one of the oldest healing forms used by the Greeks, Chinese, East Indians, Tibetans, Egyptians, American Indians, Mayas, Incas and Aztecs. Music is tangible! Sound vibrates your nervous system and creates sensation in your body. The physical resonance in your body creates energy and triggers chemical responses that have both positive and negative effects on the body, mind, emotions and spirit. Music touches souls and awakens spirits. Here are some additional tidbits regarding the power of music: Music therapy exercises used in convalescent homes teach seniors to tap out rhythms, which helps them re-establish muscular coordination. Physicians and psychiatrists rely upon rhythm s metronomic qualities to help patients gain motor skills, improve eyehand coordination, relax, alter states of consciousness and improve concentration. C.M. Diserens, an experimental psychologist, discovered that music could reduce or delay fatigue and thus increase muscular endurance. P. Bingham concluded that musical compositions not only produced a mood change in the listener, but also induced a markedly uniform mood in a great number of people in a given audience. The feelings most frequently elicited by music were those of rest, joy, sadness, love, longing and reverence. The negative emotions experienced were anger, jealousy and envy. An article in the Teachers College Record reported that music helped increase learning behaviors of mentally challenged and emotionally disturbed children, especially in mathematics. In his book, Your Body Doesn t Lie, Psychiatrist John Diamond demonstrates through muscle testing, biofeedback and electro-acupuncture that certain selections of music can either strengthen or weaken peoples muscles. Therefore, you can enhance the outcome of your physical movements using music that stimulates and/or relaxes the body. Music and sound can create healing energy and vibrations that motivate movement, promote relaxation, guide choreography and connect you to divine essence. Working with rhythms and resonance intelligently makes teaching easier and more powerful. Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 3

5 Craft The 8BC System is a notation system used in Nia to become intimate with the structure and flow of the music we use. By intimately knowing your music, you are free to teach rather than count and your music becomes a resource to create a powerful experience. The 8BC system is the roadmap you use to visually format the structure and landmarks of your music and choreography. Music and The 8BC System Decoding and mapping what we dance to Bar Beat Count Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 4

6 The 8BC System Nia uses music as a transformational and healing tool to create an environment of beauty, to touch and heal bodies, emotions, minds and spirits. Listening to music and using a notation system known in Nia as bars connects you intimately to your music. Connecting to the details of your music enhances your movement, which becomes an auditory experience. As you come to master understanding music, music becomes a resource, a medium to raise, lower, stimulate, or calm energy. Music is one of the most powerful tools to move groups of people effortlessly. The Nia 8BC System is a map, a logical and creative notation system. It is a tool to comprehend and move toward the flow of music. The 8BC system is a vehicle to awaken your senses and energy to the subtleties of musical vibrations. It creates a relaxed environment that invites you to remain fully present to your movement. This system teaches you to effectively use the natural landmarks in music. It helps you understand the structure, flow, energy and artistic intention of the musicians. Once you understand the 8BC system and how to use it, you ll maintain rhythm and surf the relationship between your body, space, time, sound and your students. The 8BC sheet is the roadmap to structure and landmarks of your music. Just as a musician works with music sheets, you ll use your 8BC sheets to note your music and choreography. The elements that comprise the 8BC System are as follows: Beat The beat is the single heartbeat that pulses throughout the song. Count One count is equal to two beats. Bar One bar is equal to eight counts (or 16 beats). It is counted aloud as follows: 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and-5- and-6-and-7-and-8-and. Sections Sections refer to the different parts within a song, such as Introduction, Vocal, Chorus, Solo and Other Nia Routines A Nia Routine consists of minutes of continuous, highly structured and precisely organized Nia choreography to a specific playlist of songs. Body of Work Body of Work refers to the Nia Routines one can choose from, offering variety while still following the structure of a Nia class and delivering the Nia Promise. Rhythm Rhythm is the pulsing, recurring repetition of a beat. Its strong accent supports movement and stimulates primal, physical energy. Rhythm is the masculine energy, or yang energy. Melody Melody is the organized sequence of tones that produce a distinct musical phrase. It is usually created by the same voice or instrument and is the principle part in a harmonic composition. Melody is the feminine, the Yin energy. It stimulates relaxation, expansion and emotions. Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 5

7 8BC Chart Black Intro/Other Red Vocal Blue Chorus Green Solo Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 6

8 Relaxed, Alert, and Waiting (RAW) The Nia White Belt introduces you to music appreciation through practice of the state of being we call Relaxed, Alert and Waiting (RAW). In the state of RAW, you learn to place 100% of your attention on listening for silence and sound. Sounds come out of silence and return to silence. RAW is an optimal state through which we may receive music. RAW Relaxed refers to one s physical state. The spine is upright and the body is toned, yet supple and relaxed. There is an absence of tension. Alert refers to one s state of mind. Although our body is relaxed, it is not collapsed, nor is our mind sleepy. Waiting refers to an attitude of wonderment, a state where one is open and curious to whatever arises in the music. Rather than assigning opinions such as it is good music; bad music; music I like; music I dislike, one simply hears exactly what is occurring. This is the practice of the state of RAW for the purpose of music appreciation. Sustain this internal silence when you listen. Listening is the foundation for true relationship. Remember that although the song may be the same, you are different from the last time you listened. This allows you to hear something new. After listening this way, notice your body sensations. We call this the sensation of RAW. With practice, it will become easier to reach this sensation. RAW and the language of sound prepare you to relate to music on a deeper level. Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 7

9 Embodiment Without this deep connection to the music, our movement will not advance as quickly. When you become intimate with the music, your ability to dance increases exponentially. The Nia White Belt has three foundational triads: 1) Body, Mind, Spirit; 2) Science, Craft, Art; and 3) Music, Movement, Magic. Each aspect of each triad is equally important; one without the others is not complete. With Music, Movement, Magic, it is not enough to just learn the Movement. Without studying the Music, the Magic is unlikely to happen. We develop an intimate relationship with the music by mastering the Nia 8BC system. Exercise 1: Practice RAW While practicing the state of Relaxed (body), Alert (mind), and Waiting (spirit) RAW play any music and listen for sounds and silence. Exercise 2: Find the Beat To begin developing an intimate relationship with music, first develop your skill in finding the beat, count and bar as you listen to a variety of songs. Always begin by finding the beat. Play a song and begin to move your fist with the beat. Beat, beat, beat, beat, beat Exercise 3: Find the Count Next, find the count. A count is equal to two beats. Play the same song and using your hand, mark the first beat up high (heart height) and the second beat lower (belly height). This rhythmic system of two mirrors the organic cycle of movement with rest. Often the first beat is a light up beat, while the second beat is the sound of a snare drum, also known as the back beat. Up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down Exercise 4: Find the Bar The next step is to find the bar. One bar is equal to eight counts (or 16 beats). Play the same song, using your hand again to mark the counts (up and down, just as before). When you feel the 1 beat, begin counting as your hand moves. 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and-5-and-6-and-7-and- 8-and. Voila! You ve found a bar! Now keep going and raise your hand a little higher still (head height) every time you feel the 1. Exercise 5: Draw the Bars Once you have found the bar with your hands, it s time to begin creating your map by putting it down on paper. Before you move on, however, review the notations that are included in the 8BC System. Visually, bars are Recall 1. What is the triad for Principle 3? 2. What does the number 13 represent in the Natural Time code? 3. What does the number 20 represent in the Natural Time code? 4. Which joint is considered joint #8? Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 8

10 symbols, ways to note value. A bar represents eight counts (16 beats). Each time you count 8-and, mark a single vertical line, the symbol of a bar, on your sheet of paper. Mark only on the 8-and (not earlier) in order to stay on track. As a practice, note single bars only. There is no need to write down instruments or choreography yet. Fractions The only exception to writing single bars is when you hear a fraction. A fraction occurs when there are fewer than the usual 8 counts before an obvious 1 beat comes along (denoting the beginning of the next bar). In the case of a fraction, instead of drawing a vertical line (bar), write the number that represents how many counts took place before the next bar began (e.g. 4). Continue to stay RAW and stick with it. You will likely code each song several times. Sections 2 4 Flowering the Bars Instead of writing a new set of bars each time you listen to a song, draw petals on the bars with the appropriate color revisions (as needed). This is known as flowering the bars. Listen as many times as necessary to feel confident about the sections you have noted. The first petal should be drawn on the bottom left of the bar. The second petal should be drawn on the bottom right of the bar. The next time however, instead of drawing a petal, place a single dot below the bar. From there, if you continue to go through the same song again, begin the next petal to the left of the dot (then the right, etc.) As you draw your bars, do your best to group them into color-coded sections. Use the color black for introduction, red for vocals, blue for chorus and green for solo. If this is overwhelming the first time through, just focus on doing your bars and fractions in black ink. Then, as you listen to the song again, you can begin decoding the sections. Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 9

11 Dressing the Bars As you continue to listen to the song, begin to add more detail to your bars by noting obvious musical changes (instruments, sounds, silences, textures, etc.) that occur at the top of the bars (on the 1 ). Next, listen again and note any obvious musical changes that occur at the bottom of the bars (around the 7-and-8-and ). Finally, note any obvious musical changes that occur in the middle of the bar. You may note the sounds in any way that makes sense to you. If you don t know the name of the instrument, simply note something (a word, symbol or drawing) that represents what it sounds like to you. You now have a visual roadmap and layout of your music that reflects the musician s composition. Bongos Shakers Snare Hey! Bass Synth (watery) ~~~ Hey! < * Recapitulate 1. What is the triad for Principle 3? 2. What does the number 13 represent in the Natural Time code? 3. What does the number 20 represent in the Natural Time code? 4. Which joint is considered joint #8? Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 10

12 Art Throughout your day, allow yourself to become fascinated with the sounds and silences of life. Practice the state of Relaxed, Alert and Waiting (RAW) while waiting for the bus, waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for the pizza to cook, or waiting for a lecture or movie to begin. Sit or stand with an upright spine while allowing your body to become physically relaxed, your mind alert and your spirit waiting. Pay attention to the sounds and silences of life. Practice sustaining this state for longer and longer periods of time in order to condition your nervous system and heighten your throughout your day. My Story As you read about, practice and embody Principle 3, Music and the 8BC System, take some time to describe your personal story. How has Principle 3 affected your life? Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 11

13 A Personal Story Ageless and Strong with Nia 74-Year-Old Nia Teacher Dances Through Life I was 58 years old and about 20 pounds overweight when I took my first Nia class in I was certain that I would be the oldest and fattest person in the class, and I wasn t! The class was full of all ages and types of people young, old, fit, becoming fit and I was made to feel completely welcome, like I belonged there. I left that first class feeling exhilarated and inspired to come back for more. From the spark ignited in that first class, Nia became a great part of my life and I eventually became a Nia teacher at age 71. I will be celebrating my 75th birthday in January 2008 and I may be the oldest Nia Teacher practicing and teaching, which is a great testament to the power of Nia for people of all ages. I ve been an actress and dancer since I was a child. When I discovered Nia, I was acting and going on tours, sometimes for six weeks. As soon as I d get home from a tour, I d go downtown for my Nia class fix. The more I danced Nia, the more I noticed that little aches and pains disappeared. I even lost weight and toned up. Mostly it was fun. I enjoyed the playfulness, the exploration, and the invitation to find my own expression. Then, in January of 2004 when I was turning 71, I took the White Belt Intensive. For some time, my friends at Nia had been telling me that I would love the White Belt, and Debbie and Carlos assured me I d be able to handle it in spite of my advanced years. I took the plunge. What an extraordinary experience it was, putting much of what I d learned in a new context bringing it all together and adding new information. In the White Belt I began my journey into a deeper understanding of music, a deeper understanding of how and why Nia taps into Joy. It was so beautiful for me to connect with the other White Belt students, who accepted me fully, even though I was eldest in the group. Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 12

14 Before I went into the White Belt Intensive I had no intention of teaching Nia. Yet, during our last exercise of the White Belt, as we were FreeDancing (letting the music and our bodies guide us), I felt an intuitive hit to be a Nia Teacher. I ve learned to trust moments like this. I had been teaching one thing or another most of my life, so why not teach Nia? I started teaching shortly after receiving the White Belt. Teaching gave me a new and deeper level of experiencing the benefits Nia has to offer. I have become stronger and healthier in body, mind and spirit from teaching. Just recently, a student remarked that I seem so calm despite situations that could be quite upsetting. I attribute this to the centering and balancing techniques I practice. I have become a better dancer, yogi and listener of music through my Nia practice. I have become a better dancer, yogi and listener of music through my Nia practice. I teach people of all ages. My seniors aged 55 and up relate to me as a contemporary who is an example of their possibility. It is most gratifying to see them overcome difficulties in balance, stiffness in joints and other age-related conditions. They love the non-competitive atmosphere and the invitation to choose their own level of activity. Some of my students are quite lonely, having lost their spouses, and take Nia classes for the community spirit. In fact, one of my classes has instituted a practice of going to the coffee/tea room after class to share snacks and conversation. The classes I teach at a community college are equally exciting. Younger people tell me I inspire them; they want to be just like me when they get to be my age. One of the requirements of the community college Nia course is to keep a journal of their Nia experience. From those journals, I could put together a book of the miracles that have occurred through people dancing Nia. I ve gone on to take other Nia Intensives: Blue Belt, Brown Belt and two FABs (For All Belts). Each Intensive has been healing, energizing, informative and transformational. I will continue to study as long as I can. Somehow, I seem to be getting stronger and younger instead of older and weaker. Does Nia have anything to do with this? Yes! Kaycheri Rappaport, Portland, Oregon, United States Principle 3 - Music and the 8BC System 13