Fieldwork Diary Entry (January 18, 2013)

Despite the heavy snow fall I managed to make it to the second class with Rosaria as did most of the other students.  Having decided beforehand that I was going to observe half the class during which I would take photos and film segments, I asked permission of the other students prior to class starting. They all had already signed consent forms and everyone in the class except for Jane was happy to be documented visually.  Jane verified that she was happy to help me by completing a  questionnaire but she was uncomfortable about being recorded visually.

As the class started, I positioned myself  so that I could film and take photos which would not capture Jane in the frame.  This meant that the images I took were limited but perhaps they would have been anyway as I am not a cinematographer in the making.  Although the angle wasn't the best, I felt good about finally documenting the class in this way as I felt I had some solid material to add to my research.  I realised how important it is to dance fieldwork to be able to record images visually. A movement can be captured in a few seconds that otherwise would take a page to write down.

It felt odd to detach myself from the class and be present as an observer rather than a participant.  I wondered how this was affecting the class dynamic, especially when I was filming or taking photos.  I sensed an element of self-consciousness in the group although this could just have been my own self-consciousness.  I did notice that Rosaria sometimes deliberately positioned herself and the class in an angle better suited to the camera so that I could get a better shot. 

The Class Format:

Warm up

• Boogie forward and back
• Flick kicks - forward and back
• Shoulder shrugs
• Hip pushes
• Dosey does
• Hip circles

Introduction of movements

Birdy walk

Rosaria taught the Birdy walk; a movement from which the term synonymous with Charleston, 'flappers', came from.  The Birdy Walk is a strutting walk carried out on demi point where you walk a la show girl as if on a tight rope, the ball of one foot placed delicately down as if there is a straight line you are walking on before lifting the other foot and repeating. The pace of this walk varies on the choreography and music. Both arms are held up straight in the air in a V-shape and as you walk, the hands flap at the wrists, either both hands facing the same direction or in opposite directions.  This flapping motion of the hands at the wrists is what helped coin the term, 'flappers.'



Birdy Walk in freeze frame

                                                                                                   
                                         Birdy Walk in motion with Windmill Arms & Flick kicks

Around the World

This phrase is a travelling step. Start facing Corner 8.
Count 1  - Kick forward with flexed right foot
Count 2 -  Fall backwards, transferring weight so to fall onto right foot, with left flexed foot forward
Counts 3 &4 - Three jogging steps on alternate legs. Turning body as you go to face Corner 4.
Count 5 - Kick forward with flexed left foot
Count 6 - Fall backwards, transferring weight so to fall onto left foot, with right flexed foot forward
Counts 7 & 8 - Three jogging steps on alternate legs. Turning body as you go to face back to Corner 8.

This is a fast travelling step and perhaps the most complicated of all the moves we have covered so far in the course. Rosaria spends a lot of time going over it for everyone.


Routine

The last third of the class is spent on going through a short routine that Rosaria puts together and drills us through. Tonight's routine is as follows:

Counts 1-4: 4 x basic Charleston
Counts 5-8: 4 x basic Charleston with swivel
Counts 1-4: 4 x side pushes each side
Counts 5-8: 4 x Granny knees
Counts 1-3: 3 x Propeller on right side
&4: Plie in second to transition to other side
Counts 1-3: 3 x Propeller on left side
&4: Plie in second to transition to next step
Counts 1-4: 2 x Tick - tock
Counts 5-6: 1 x kick to stage right
Counts 7-8: 1 x kick to stage left
Counts 1-4: Dosey doe to right
Counts 5-8: Dosey doe to left
Counts 1-7: 1 x Birdy Walk in circle around one self
Count 8: Scarecrow pose. Hold for 4 counts.
Counts 1-8: Around the World step. Repeat x 2

  The Routine

                                                                 
Warm down where Rosaria leads the class through a few stretches.

I re-join the class from the point where Rosaria teaches the Around the World step.  It feels good to be a part of the class again and not aside from it, watching.  However as soon as I re-join the class, any sort of detachment I have falls away and I go into class mode.  I don't care as I am frozen cold and need to move and want my Charleston fix.

There are five people in the class tonight including myself and Rosaria.  David and Georgia the Australian couple who are new to Charleston and possibly dance are throwing themselves into learning the steps wholeheartedly.  They also seem interested in the history of the dance judging by the questions they ask.  Rosaria seems a minefield of information about the dance and enthusiastically answers their questions, mentioning the origins of Charleston in black slavery and its evolution in America.  She encourages them to immerse themselves in Charleston music and to dress in clothes of the era.  Apparently this is what her teacher told her to do.

Another student Otilia who is of Spanish heritage chats with me during class breaks, telling me she takes private classes with Rosaria at her studio in Croydon. In exchange, she designs Rosaria's advertising materials as Otilia is a graphic designer. I think Otilia is in her early to mid 30s and has flame red hair cut in a modish style.   Lynn and Jane who I know from the Charleston course at City Lit are also there.  They ask me how the fieldwork is going. The following week we will also be joined by Amanda, a female in her early 40s.  I mention to everyone as class finishes that I will be emailing them  a questionnaire to do with my fieldwork research and if they wouldn't mind, to fill it in and return it to me.




Three examples of completed questionnaires 

 I also talk briefly with Rosaria about interviewing her one to one. She invites me to her Croydon studio where she says she will "show me a few things."  We arrange to touch base during the week to sort this out.