Joan Tennille, retired professional choreographer and professor
of (human) dance and cofounder of CFF, has often stated in her
classes on canine freestyle that a good freestyle presentation
consists of the following four elements: Let’s take a look at what these four elements
mean, and why each is important to the success of a freestyle
performance.
of a routine is its actual "floor plan" involving
space and direction. In other words, what you do where and when
within the performance space. In all four levels of CFF competition,
the team is expected to make full use of the ring space. This
does not mean the competitor has to make an equal number of passes
through every inch of the ring, but it does mean that he/she
should appear in all major areas of the ring at least once. It
is not as important to BE in every area, but that the design
of the choreography LOOKS well-balanced and flowing throughout
the ring. If a spectator thinks that the team performed predominantly
in one area of the ring (frequently this is the center), it probably
did.
Where certain moves take place is important to the goal of CFF
freestyle: to showcase the dog in an artistic manner. When planning
and executing moves, discern the dog’s ability to perform
them and place them accordingly within the six weak and seven
strong areas on any stage. Assuming a stage with an audience
in front, the strongest (most visible) area of the performance
stage is dead center. To the right and left sides of dead center
are weaker areas. The next strongest areas of a stage are the
two back corners. Less strong, surprisingly enough, are the right
and left corners at the front of the stage. This may sound wrong
but we automatically assume that the closer an object is, the
more accurately we can see its movement. Not necessarily so.
If you place two people in the back corners of a stage and have
them move, unless your vision is faulty at distances, you will
see them and their actions better than if they are just before
you.
Perspective, context and depth give added "insight" to
choreography performed in the back corners as opposed to that
performed nearly in front, where a more flat "affect" is
the result. For that reason, a move performed at the center back
area of a stage is more effective than if it is performed in
center front. The spaces between the center and corner positions
of both front and back areas of the stage are weaker still. These
weak and strong areas should be considered when choreographing
your routine. Movements at which your dog is particularly proficient
should occur in the strongest areas of the performance space,
whereas those movements that may be required but at which your
dog does not excel should be "hidden" (relatively speaking—the
judges do have to actually see them) in the weaker areas. You
must keep in mind also that movement loses impact as it retreats
upstage (except dead center). The more obvious paths of movement
are the diagonals and down the center, with the sides of the
space being weak.
of
a routine are the drive and energy expressed—which
is particularly evident in the interactive attention between
handler and dog. In past columns, I have described in much detail
what I mean by drive and interactive attention so will not repeat
myself at any great length here. Suffice it to say that I define "drive" as
an attitude of organic origin, a resonating state of being and
energy, while interactive attention is the continual communication
back and forth between both handler and dog. It is NOT attention
demanded more of one team member than the other but an equal
sharing of a close bond and responsiveness, each to the other.
No matter how interesting or intricate the design of the choreography,
if the routine appears as if the two members are simply "doing
their own things" without much input from the other, interactive
attention is lacking and the dynamic becomes lessened.
is the third element of a presentation. How you use your
music in your routine constitutes the rhythm of a routine, so
your actual choice of music is very important. When selecting
music for a CFF presentation, you must match the music’s
beat to the rhythm of the dog’s movement at a trot. You
should also select music with enough contrast in it to vary the
rhythms and movement of the dog and choreography. Ways to vary
rhythmic interest are to double- or half-time your dog’s
movement to the beat of the music as well as to create "linear" or "circular" moves
which reflect the linear or circular, flowing moods of the music.
in a presentation is what you want to present to
your audience. It is the theme of your work, your "raison
d’etre" (reason for being). In my opinion, and I believe
CFF’s founders would agree with me, simply stringing together
a long—and even impressive—series of "tricks" (i.e.
moves with no motivation other than that the dog can do them)
does not a successful performance make. Unmotivated tricks are
flashy mechanics; without proper motivation they are simply a
display of technical expertise at best, and certainly technical
ineptitude at worst. Movement phrases chosen and choreographed
for the purpose of positively showcasing the dog’s finer
qualities (such as grace or attentiveness or flexibility) and
his relationship to the handler and music do portray a sense
of motivation. Motivation to me is emotional involvement in the
choreographing of a particular dog’s movement to music.
These four elements—design, dynamics, rhythm, and motivation—are
all inherent in a successful CFF performance. No one of them
can make up for the absence of another, as they all relate to
each other. Used creatively and subtly together, the end result
is often an inspiring performance which makes full use of the
ring space with natural, flowing transitions from one area to
another, one movement phrase to another; and which informs the
audience of the purpose behind putting this wonderful dog with
music well-matched to his rhythms and personality.
The dynamics
