Lesson 5 (Stringing Flourishes)
TERMS:
Stringing; The art of putting two or more flourishes together so they look like a single flourish.
Exit cue; The part of a flourish that tells us it is about to end.
Idle; Letting the base dance run while you give your fingers a break.
Properly stringed flourishes make the base dance disappear allowing us to write our own with flourishes. This is an extremely difficult skill to master and it is perfectly normal to see a frame or two of the base dance. The goal though is to completely erase the base dance.
Ok dancers, places! Today�s lesson is going to take a hard look at Basic so get warmed up and watch the base dance a bit. When your ready do flourish 3 a few times and watch it close. Ok on my dance card I call this one �hop turn/hip action� but we are going to look at this flourish a LOT closer then that today. For today it is called �hop turn/hip action/butt action/side kick/uh-huh�. Watch the flourish again and see if you can identify these parts. Ok good now we have to look even closer at the last part of the flourish to find the visual cue we will need to string. Watch the flourish again and pay special attention to �uh-huh�. Watch the hands especially; first the right hand is up and then you lower it slowly raising the left hand then the left hand drops an up comes the right hand again and finally the flourish ends. So we will break �uh-huh� down to its parts �right hand/left hand slow/right hand�. This may seem like a lot of work but it is a very fast process once you get used to it and now we have our exit cue �right hand/left hand slow/right hand�.
Exercise 1:
Using the exit cue �right hand/left hand slow/right hand� try to string NOT chain Basic flourish 3 together with itself. Watch for the cue then flourish again making the flourishes flow smoothly one into the next. It takes practice so take all the time you need until you think you have it down.
Ok now lets look at the exit cue for Basic flourish 1 (I�m not breaking the whole flourish down again this time). Do flourish 1 a few times and watch the end of the flourish. I am calling this �spank 2 3� you should see you dancer making a spanking motion with your right hand then the hand moves a second time and a third.
Exercise 2:
Use the exit cue �spank 2 3� to string flourish 1 into flourish 3 then using that flourishes exit cue �right hand/left hand slow/right hand� string it back into flourish 1. Keep stringing these flourishes back and forth until you have a nice smooth string that is endless.
Ok the last flourish we are going to look at today is Basic flourish 2. I love this flourish it has lots of action and a nice ta-da ending. That�s exactly what we are going to use it for is to put a ta-da on the end of the routine we put together in exorcise 2. Before we do that though watch this flourish a few times and see if you can identify its exit cue. I give the answer in the next section, but no peeking try to find it yourself.
Exercise 3:
Repeat exorcise 2 again but this time at random intervals toss in flourish 2 as a ta-da ending and then let your character idle a bit. Start back up again only mix up the order now stringing different combos of flourish 1 and 3 (like 1,1,3,1,3,3,1,3). Mix it up and have fun and don�t forget to toss flourish 2 in once and a while and then idle.
The most important thing to remember about an exit cue is it�s for YOU to know when a flourish is about to end. I like to use three movements because to me it says �attention/flourish about to end/all done�. Any cue that works for you is a good one. I came up with �r arm strait up/arms up and out/arms to the side� for flourish 2. Try stringing that flourish now and see if your answer works for you.
What did we learn today?
1. We learned to find the exit cue for any given flourish.
2. We learned how to string flourishes together smoothly
Lesson 6 (Mixing)
TERMS:
Mixing; The art of mixing flourishes from two or more dance styles.
If you thought stringing was fun boy do I have a surprise for you!
Today we are going to learn to mix dance styles so we can expand our horizons. We will be using Basic and Rhythmic today so take a look at both base dances again. Now take a look at flourish 4 in basic. I call this one �knee pump/big arms� can you see it? Now look at flourish 4 in Rhythmic also. I call this one �spin/hop�. Ok here hold on tight because here we go! Start flourish 4 in basic and wait for your dancer to start �big arms� then click your Rhythmic change dance macro and notice you start doing the Rhythmic flourish 4 right away and if you watch closely you will notice you didn�t even have to pay the action cost for it!
Exercise 1:
Find your exit cue for Basic flourish 4. Then start Basic flourish 4 and on the exit cue mix Rhythmic flourish 4 with it.
Exercise 2:
Find your exit cue for Rhythmic flourish 4. Then start Rhythmic flourish 4 and on the exit cue mix Basic flourish 4 with it.
Ok time to talk shop here and explain the nuts and bolts of mixing. When you change dance to another style containing a unique flourish your dancer will execute that flourish for free. The flourish in the style you changed from is interrupted and the new flourish begins. That�s right you heard me it is interrupted NOT terminated. We can mix as many styles as we like this way. You can start flourish 1 in basic and as long as you change dance before the currently running flourish ends you can do flourish 1 in every style you know for free! There is a very important catch I said it had to be a unique flourish. If you change to a style that contains the same flourish you will continue the flourish in the new style it will not start again. The only exception to that rule is a few exotic flourishes and we won�t go into that now. Mark all the flourishes that repeat across styles on your dance card with a * so you know it has a twin out there somewhere. See why it is so important to have a dance card?
I hope you�re having fun because it gets even better! Now we are going to do a double mix. Remember I said that Basic flourish 4 was �knee pump/big arms� and Rhythmic flourish 4 was �spin/hop�? well we are going to make our OWN flourish now and its called �knee pump/spin/big arms/hop�. First lets take a peek and start basic flourish 4 and just when �big arms� starts change dance to Rhythmic and watch your dancer start the spin. Now while you�re in the spin change back to basic and notice your basic flourish continues into the �big arms� part. WOW! Ok now watch flourish 4 in Basic a few times and watch for an exit cue on the �knee pump� part this time. Now watch Rhythmic flourish 4 and find an exit cue for the �spin� part.
Exercise 3:
Using the four exit cues mix Basic flourish 4 �knee pump� part into Rhythmic flourish 4 �spin� part. Then mix back to Basic for the �big arms� part. Back to Rhythmic for the �hop� part and finally back to basic and idle. Once you have this all down it should look like a Basic flourish �knee pump/spin/big arms/hop� this flourish does not exist in the game we made it up ourselves.
There is no limit too the amount of times we can mix or the amount of flourishes we can toss into the mix. We do have to remember were all the flourishes are to do it smoothly but there are infinite possibilities here. The key to doing it smoothly is to have a good exit cue for the part we want to use.
What did we learn today?
1. We learned how to mix.
2. We learned there is no limit to what an imaginative dancer with good exit cues can do.
Lesson 7 (Drifting)
TERMS:
Mark; An imaginary spot on the floor we want our dancer to hit.
Drift; The tendency of a dancer to move off the spot on the floor they started their dance from.
Ah that unsightly drift, whatever are we going to do about it? First thing we are going to do is study it.
Find a place with a tile floor. It can be the city streets, cantina floor or your own house it doesn�t matter. Now put your dancer on the + formed where the tiles meet and start dancing Rhythmic. For now the + is our mark. Position the camera so it�s directly over your head. Start dancing Rhythmic and note that your dancer moves off their mark often, but always returns during the �clueless� part of the base dance. Also notice that almost all action in the base dance occurs to the right of the mark. For this reason drift tends to be to the right. Now imagine how dull this dance would look if you never left your mark at all. We wound simply stand in one place and wiggle with our feet glued to the floor. Now for the rest of the lesson stop using the camera overhead position as a rule, but return to it when needed.
Exercise 1:
Ok start flourishing when your base dance takes you away from the mark. After a few flourishes you should notice your drifting off your mark. Remember only to observe your relation to your mark during the �clueless� part of the base dance.
NOTE: You may notice your results are actually opposite, but you should notice that the trend (results over 15 flourishes or more) does match the lesson. This is because during dances like Basic and Rhythmic it is near impossible to tell which leg your weight is on.
Exercise 2:
Ok now starting on your + mark start flourish only during the �clueless� part of the base dance. You should notice much less drift then you observed during exercise 1.
NOTE: You may notice your results are actually opposite, but you should notice that the trend (results over 15 flourishes or more) does match the lesson. This is because during dances like Basic and Rhythmic it is near impossible to tell which leg your weight is on.
Why does this happen? It happens because the base dance always returns to our mark, but a flourish always returns to it�s point of origin. So it can be said that flourishing while off our mark causes drift.
Now let�s make up a fictitious base dance and a fictitious flourish so you can really see what�s happening. The base dance is �jump to the left/step to the right� and the flourish is �one step forward and one step back. Now picture the base dance in your head, or use a coin on a table. Its simple left, right, left, right. Now flourish during the right portion of the dance forward, back. No drift here at all we are right on our mark! Now flourish during the left part of the dance, forward, back. Now we are one spot to the left of our original mark because we started the flourish off our original mark.
Exorcise 3:
If you have Formal try dancing flourishing only while near your mark. You will, with this dance see immediate and satisfying results.
Exorcise 4:
If you have Lyrical try dancing flourishing only while near your mark. You will, with this dance see immediate and satisfying results.
What did we learn today?
1. Drift is natural
2. Drift trends to the right
3. Base dances always return to their starting point
4. Flourishes always return to their point of origin
5. To minimize drift flourish closest to your mark
Lesson 7 (Drift Correction)
TERMS:
Drift correction; Special moves used to put a dancer back on their mark
Today we are going to learn how to both correct drift and use it to move anyplace on the dance floor. Truth is, if you really wanted to you could dance your way out the cantina door and all the way to the bank! Ok dancers find a + and get dancing Basic on it. Now you might think you�re already on your mark, but your not Remember a mark is an imaginary spot on the floor you want your dancer to hit? Well lets imagine your mark is the next + to your left. Oooooo that�s a long way away Sultrina! Well not anymore because we are going to get there in a short amount of time using flourish 7, �Moonwalk, 3 steps left/6 steps right/3 steps left� Do this flourish a few times just too see the parts for yourself.
Exercise 1:
Just when you�re dancer takes the �3 steps to the left� mix with Rhythmic and wait for the Rhythmic flourish to complete. Repeat until you are very near your mark then time the mix to put you on your mark. If you over shoot your mark remember that Moonwalk is �3 steps left/6 steps right/3 steps left� so wait until the �6 steps right� part and move your dancer right with it. Once you hit your mark, /cheer you, mentally move your mark left again and repeat until you have it down.
Exercise 2:
Use Rhythmic flourish 1, I call it �Manny the moocher, 3 steps forward/3 steps back� mixed with Basic to move your dancer a full + forward. Note: if you over shoot in this case you have no backward part of the flourish so you�re out of luck (for now).
Exercise 3:
If you have Popular use flourish 2, I call it �Scissor feet, 3 steps back/3 steps forward� to move your dancer a full + back. Use exercise 2 if you move too far.
I hope your enjoying this! There are a few things to point out here, first of all I have given you all four directions you can move on the floor in this lesson left, right, forward and back. I have also given you the lowest level dances you can get these moves from Basic, Rhythmic and Popular. If you made a dance card (funny that keeps coming up) you should see that there are plenty of other dance flourishes that move you in one or more of these directions, discover as many as you can and have fun with it! The other thing you may have noticed is that even though the dance moves you three steps you tend to only get two steps worth of movement. The reason for this is simple you will only get the third step if you time the mix EXACTLY when the weight is on your forward foot on the last step. In other words don�t worry about it, take the two steps and be happy.
We moved the mark around a lot today to get you used to the idea you set the mark and then you go get it. In the case of drift correction we use these techniques to move back to our original mark (where we started from). If we want to move around we just move our mark. Exercise 3 is a prime example of what to do if a customer comes over and stands on your feet because it gets us quickly to a comfortable distance.
What did we learn today?
1. We learned to correct drift
2. We learned a mark can be moved as often as we like
3. We learned by moving the mark we can move any place we please
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