Roxelana's Move of the Week

Shoulder Accents:

First, start with an erect spine and non-slumped shoulders. You know, like you're supposed to be. *straightens her spine and drops her shoulders*

Push your right shoulder forward. Nothing else should move (although, because the body is built like it is, things will move. This is actually a good thing. if body parts could move independantly of others, things would fall off.) Bring the right shoulder back to neutral.

Push your left shoulder forward. Bring it back to neutral.

Practice that a little bit. Right shoulder forward. Right shoulder neutral. Left shoulder forward. Left shoulder neutral. Right. Neutral. Left. Neutral. Continue at your own pace.

Let's mix it up a bit. Right shoulder. Neutral. Right shoulder. Neutral. Left shoulder. Neutral. Left shoulder. Neutral. Ya kinda leaned into it, didn't ya? Perfectly natural and it looked good. If you're listening to music that has a quick 'bomp-bomp', the double accent is great. Try it with the old stand-by, "shave-and-a-haircut..." double accent on the 'two-bits'. OOORRRR, you could do a quick 'right-left" with that 'two-bits'. Try it. "shave and a hair cut..." right-left.

Practice this move this week, if you'd like. Any music. Hit the accents with your shoulders. (for example, "End of the World As We Know It" by REM - do a shoulder accent for each beat when he shouts "Leonard Bernstein")

Arms: can be on your keyboard, or on your steering wheel. Try the accents with your arms extended. Don't drop your elbows. Please, oh please, do not get into the habit of having floppy little chicken wings. But don't stiff-arm into airplane wings. Your arms should be gentle but strong, slightly curved as if you're holding a huge bubble. (it's kinda harder to do the accents with your arms up than with them down. Challenge yourself)

Thank you. Have fun with it. If you find yourself tensing up with each accent, relax.