BTEC Performing Arts

1. Horton Technique
Focus: Thefocusin today'sworkshopisto understandwhatHortontechnique is andto improvestrengthand flexibility. Therefore, my target for this
workshopis learn improvemy flexibility in my lungs, to check this I will look at the start and takea photoatthe end.
HortonTechnique:Hortontechniqueisa technique usedby contemporary, jazz, andsomemusical theatre dancers. Hortontechniqueis based onNative
American dances, anatomicalstudiesand someother movement. Hortonwas developedby Lester Hortonin the 1920s, 30s, and40s. Thistechniqueusesflat
backslateral starches, tilt lines, andlunges. When we startedthe class, we followed the structure of Hortonclasses. We started standingandwith an exercise
called rolling down. The exercise warmed upeach partof the back because we rolled down, headfirst throughtheback. We thenmovedon to lateral
stretch's, these stretch outthe side of our body allowing usto do lateral tilts later in the workshop. After that we didpivotaldescents andcore control, this
helps usstrengthenour abdominalsandstretch outthe rest of ourbody. After thatwe a few more exercises that warmedup our feet andhip flexes more, we
went on to travelingacross the roomto warm our anklesand feet upmore. Traveling, we started with bouncesand runstowarm up the feet andankles. This
then preparedus for bigger andmore powerful jumps like sparkles. Sparklesare a jumpwhere botharms gotup creating a ‘V’ shapeand the legs go to
attitudeposition.
This image is of me doinga side lunge correctly in HortonTechnique. Whendoing a side lunge, I hadto makesure my front knee didn’tgo
over the foot, and thatmy footwas turnout. Also, I hadto holdmyself up andnot just dropintomy hips, because if I droppedinto my
hipsit could cause injuries. At first, I foundthis challenging because I was notused to holdingmy weight the way I am doingin the in the
photo. I was given advice by my peers on how tomake it easier for myself when holding the weight through my thighs.
Strengths:Duringtheworkshop, I realised my dance backgroundhelpme understandwhata dance specialist was sayingandhow to
correct myself in movementswhenthey were wrong. I felt thatmy strengthswere the traveling sectionbecause I havedone lots of dance
training before on how totravel correctly in dance.
Areas toimprove:I felt that throughouttheworkshopmy lateral stretches weren’t strongbecause I don’thavevery strong oblique’s,
because I use my back musclesinstead. To improve this, I will work onmy obliquestrengththroughthe use of side crunches anddoing
the lateral stretches.
Frommy target at the start, I have achievedmy target of improvingmy flexibility in my lungsbecause at the start I struggledto go downin my lunges, but
towardsthe end of the workshopI couldget lower and keep pushingfurther. To insure improvement, I will take photosorlook in the mirror tocheck how far
I can stretch thencompare it to passphotos. Thiswill showimprovement. Tokeep improvingI will keep practicing the stretch andpushfor a deeper stretch,
also I will look at videos of how to improvethe stretch further.