Lyrical Jazz Workshop by Deliah Seefluth

Today I took part in a Lyrical Jazz workshop by a friend I've known since 5th grade: Deliah Seefluth. She's studying at the Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance in Munich, and has already shared a stage with internationally successful dancers such as Lucia Drábková and learned from amazing teachers, among them Joe Alegado. 

You can see the flyer for the workshop here, and for those who don't understand German, the text reads:  "This workshop is about combining the strength and power of Jazz Dance with soft, lyrical, but also spirited movements from Modern Dance. We'll beginn with a warm-up to prepare the body for later sequences of movement. After that we'll move increasingly until we're working across the diagonal and the whole room, and lastly we'll learn a small choreography. Music and text for the chosen song will be interpreted through our dance and illustrated throughout the room.
Deliah Seefluth studies at the Iwanson International School of Contemporary Dance in Munich. She has previously taught at the Tübinger Hochschulsport as well as other dance schools in Tübingen and Munich. In the past few years she's performed multiple times at international dance festivals - as a soloist and member of the dance ensemble Akasha."

That's her on the right!

On the 7th of January, 2015, I attended the performance "Poetry in Motion" by the Akasha dance ensemble, with guest dancers Lucia Drábková, Mami Kawabata, and Anthony Kirk. Deliah danced several times that evening, as a part of the ensemble and once as a soloist, and I greatly enjoyed her performance that day - her own choreography and technique were great, her movements expressive, and her emotions strongly conveyed. I'm not ashamed to say that I cried during a performance to the song Stairway to Heaven (choreography by Joe Alegado). The song is one that evokes an emotional response as it is, but it was beautifully - and heart-wrenchingly - accompanied by an excellent choreography during which the dancers' every movement underlined the melancholy sadness and theme of loss they portrayed. It was beautifully done. 

Thus, it was not only friendship that encouraged me to take part in today's workshop. 
In truth, it was a two-day workshop, but I was unable to take part yesterday due to a Chinese New Year celebration Mom had organized along with the 20 or so Chinese families in the area (More on that later!), so I only did the two hours today. I had previously had a brief taste of Lyrical Jazz back in Madrid when I did an intensive, 5-hour workshop of 5 different dance styles with 5 different teachers (one of the best dance experiences of my life), but the two hours with Deliah were a very different, and wonderful experience. 

I started off the day with some difficulties; I rushed to the bus stop and still missed the bus, being forced to walk briskly the entire way downtown (and downhill, as this is hilly Tübingen), just barely making it to the hall on time. I would like to say that walking as fast as I could for over a 3/4 hour warmed me up, but it was a cold sweat, and entirely uncomfortable. Thankfully, I warmed up quickly in the hall, and a few stretches put me to rights!

I had feared that I might not be physically up to doing the workshop, as I haven't danced properly in... well, months, to be honest - and the last time I went to do a workshop, I sprained my ankle. (Right at the very beginning of a several-day long tap dance workshop I had flown to Amsterdam for. Not a happy moment, for all that I ended up having a lot of fun despite being unable to dance a single step.)
As it turned out, I hadn't needed to worry! Deliah eased us into bigger movements, graduating from small exercises and choreographies to high kicks, rolls and jumps, and I found that my stamina wasn't an issue, either. After two hours my muscles were telling me that I'd just done an excellent workout and that it was time to stop, but my breathing wasn't very heavy, I had barely sweat at all, and my brain was willing to learn more! 

Except then I had to walk around town for another half hour or so, and I arrived home feeling achy all over. It was worth it!

Deliah seemed both confused and highly entertained when I told her just how much my back would hurt the next day (and already did), and I explained that not only did I never have a very flexible back (I'm talking about bending backwards, not forwards), the only dance style I've properly learned, namely Irish Dance, doesn't do ANYTHING with the back. It's always ramrod-straight! So doing backward reaches, turns while attempting to continue facing the front while bent over awkwardly (okay, she looked gorgeous doing it, but I'm convinced I looked pained), and other movements were way out of my comfort zone - literally. 

As with the high kicks to the side, though (another thing that isn't done in Irish Dance), that got better over the duration of the workshop, and I was very happy with myself by the end of the two hours. I did very much enjoy myself, felt both challenged and liberated, and definitely wouldn't mind doing it again! So, thank you, Deliah, for the wonderful experience. Let me know when you have another workshop - I'll be there!