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Choreography Workshop: Ash Rehearsal

Misty Copeland

Lesson time 08:15 min

Misty brings you into a rehearsal session with Kyle Abraham. Watch as Misty works with Kyle to discover the story behind the movement and execute the choreography in a way that feels natural to her and honors his vision.

Students give MasterClass an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars

Topics include: Blocking the Choreography • Interpreting the Choreography

Preview

- It is so beneficial to be well-rounded. I've learned so much about my body and about who I've become and still want to become as an artist because I ventured out and done different genres. And I think it's really, really helpful to explore different ways of moving and different ways of approaching things and then taking that information back with me into the studio when I'm performing something like a Swan Lake. So just going to give you a little taste of some modern contemporary movement to see me in that way. So here we go. [MUSIC PLAYING] KYLE ABRAHAM: Yeah, let's just-- let's sequence it from the beginning. Ready and go ahead. - You as dancers need to figure out how best to find out who you are, and one of the best ways to do that is to be taking a lot of different types of classes and be open to other types of choreography. That's part of what makes Misty so well-rounded as an artist. She has been open to trying all of these different modalities, so it's really easy to go and see her perform and know right away that that's Misty Copeland on stage. Abort, abort. Good, good, good. I think-- where's that one? - That's after-- so I do this one, this one to that and then-- - Nice, nice. - But I'm-- that one. - Yeah, I think that arm can be a little-- like it can be more-- you know, like get your whole-- - OK, OK. - And then-- - Move my body. - Yeah, let the hula go but the arms don't need-- you need as much tension in-- - I see. - Yeah. Yeah. - OK. - Yeah, and let them help direct you to wherever you're going next. So what's happening there? - So this one comes into-- - Yeah, mmm hmm. So let it keep guiding-- yeah, so they don't-- - OK. - You know what I mean? - Mmm hmm. Yeah, because what I'm doing is like-- I'm like arabesque like ballet. And it's, like, you got to let go of some of that. - Yeah, just want to keep breathing to the next idea. Shoom boom. Yeah. So you can go around through and let the arms keep taking you to the next-- - OK. - Yeah. I think it's interesting to think about the spine and how different the spine can be in ballet and how some of the material has a lot of this ballet vocabulary but the way in which we make-- let it ripple through the spine may have some notes of other information. Sop it up like gravy. - OK, so I still feel really tight in that beginning, that-- I don't why I feel so, like, small. - I think you can-- yeah, everything can be, you know-- - Like that. I don't know. I just feel really tight like I can't get any momentum going. - What if from here, we just ronde and you went that way. - Oh. - And then you go-- - OK, I like that. - And then the arms can just drape as you go. - Like-- - Just, yeah, just release them as you-- yeah, exactly. - OK. - Yeah. - OK. OK. Oh, I'm not doing that. - So ronde and...

About the Instructor

As the first African American female principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland made history. Now she’s one of the world’s most influential dancers, and she’s inviting you to the barre to develop a deeper appreciation for ballet and the language of dance. From pliés to partners, Misty demonstrates her techniques and teaches you to own your movement, own who you are, and do the dance only you can do.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Misty Copeland

American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Misty Copeland teaches you how to build your technique, embrace your story, and own your movement.

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