1. Betsy-Jo Warren
Jive Workshop write-up
My focus in today’s workshop is to learn the basics of the hand jive and capture the fun and
bouncy elements within it.
In today’s workshop we worked with Miss Sweeney a dance teacher who has been in the
Industry, on the hand jive within Grease. The jive is meant to be performed with high energy
with the legs portraying a pumping action. The hand Jive was brought over to The UK when
a night club in London was too crowded for everyone to move their feet, this meant that they
could only dance with their hands. Because of it being such an upbeat dance it can only be
danced to swing music and jump blues because of its fast repetitive tempo.
The first thing I learnt was the dance movement ‘Chasse’, it is almost like a step ball change,
however the feet do not cross over one another. We then learnt a dance routine that changed
its direction and incorporates the chasse as this adds pace and energy to the dance. This part
of the dance routine was performed separately in unison, depicting the popular dance being a
craze within Grease as everyone knows each step of the dance; this also allows us to use our
characterisation skills in order to show that the dance is full of energy and enjoyable. After
working on the beginning section of the dance we then split into partners, this allowing us to
put this section of dance into our Grease ‘Born to Hand Jive’ section as an important element
within Grease is that everyone is split off into partners. As I am playing Sandy in this section
I was dancing with Ramy who is playing Danny. For our partner section we had to continue
with the chasse movements that we had just previously learnt however I had to lead with my
left foot instead of right. This change was challenging at first because I had gotten so used to
using my right foot however I got used to it after a few slow walkthroughs.
One problem that I did find
whilst working in partners
was timing. I found it very
hard to keep up with the
music because of having to
dance in time with someone
else, Because of this this will
be my target for my next
workshop as it is imperative
that I stay in time to the music and everyone else around me, especially because of the unison
aspect of this dance. At the end of this partner section I have to be pulled through Ramy’s
legs, but I cannot let my lower half touch the floor. This meant that I
have to walk through whilst leaning backwards in order to be pulled
through without sliding on the floor. This was by Far the most
challenging move to perform because of the restricted space and the
rule that I couldn’t slide through on the floor. I went into performing
this move with a bit of apprehension but surprisingly we both did it
first time. I found that I had to help another pair to perform this move
as they were having trouble stopping the girl sliding across the floor.
2. Next, we moved onto the hand jive that will be performed after the section of dance we had
just learnt, this was because the first section of dance was meant to get us one by one onto the
dance floor and paired up ready to perform the hand jive just like they do in the musical. We
went online in order to find a piece of repertoire that we liked and could recreate with our
version of the hand jive. We found one titled ‘Born to Handjive’ posted by Wesley Ryan. The
reason we chose this one was because of its blend of partner and solo work, and the fact that
it had a small cast. Although we were all familiar with the actions required to execute the
hand jive; which are Patting your thighs and clapping your hands two times each,
Crisscrossing your hands making sure that your right hand is on top first, then the left, Make
your hands into vertical fists and bashing them on top of the other hand again having your
right hand on top first, then Giving a thumbs-up sign over your right shoulder then the left, it
was difficult to perform them whilst bouncing up and down. We performed to movement
once facing our partner and then once the other way, then spun into each other’s arms in
order for the girl to end up in front so that the boy could pick them up and spin them 360
degrees. The girl would then end up in front again. This was where my partner and I
struggled as he had to perform the hand jive using my thighs instead of his own. This meant
that I struggled knowing where to place my hand so that I didn’t get in the way of him.
Finally I had to learn a group section that required the girls to come to the front and the boys
behind in two lines. This section was the one I struggled the most with because of having to
keep in time with my company, and remember the face paced movements in the correct order
My target for my next workshop is to walk through the routine and make sure that I practice
with the music in order to keep up and in time with my peers and gain some muscle memory
throughout the dance. I will also practice in front of mirror in the dance studio in order to see
if I am hitting the right shapes and am exuding the right amount of dynamics throughout the
dance routine.
