Fire and footwork

At the moment, I'm working on a choreographed piece which involves lots of specific footwork. I have been doing some cross-discipline recon over the past few days, looking into different types of dance that would incorporate well into the piece, but I haven't taken dance lessons or anything since i was a much smaller human. I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for choreography retention.

As it stands, I have the music and staff moves themselves mapped out, I understand how that bit works. But if anyone out there is a dancer, or incorporates movement into their pieces that falls outside of the more technical 'fire spinning' specific category, I would appreciate any help you can offer!

cheers!
J.

Choreography retention? As in remembering the moves and footwork that go with each music cue? I think this is just a matter of knowing the music very well so you don't have to think all the time which part comes next.

General tips for dancing with props: just dancing without incorporating the prop doesn't look that good since it leaves you with very few options on manipulating it. The beauty of the flow arts as opposed to technical juggling is that they allow you to move and dance around while still doing complex stuff with your prop.

There is a point you reach when you're incorporating so much movement that you can't really tell if your body is manipulating the prop or the prop is manipulating your body. To reach this point you must stop for a bit and think of all the tricks you know. Which tricks are high and which are low (or side to side). If there's no distinction can you exagerate the move so that there is one? Is it a fast move or a slow move? If there is a sudden stop does your body follow the inertia or does it also stop? Etc... These kind of questions coupled with the rhythm and tone of the music will hopefully allow you to create a piece that blends prop manipulation with dance.

Hope this was useful!

yes, yes that was useful. thank you so much for your thoughts! by nature i am an extremely technical person who is struggling to figure out the balance between 'technical spinning' and something a bit more fun to watch. im off to put these thoughts into action!

cheers!