When we started working on the Noh
style of walking the other day, I was pleasantly surprised with the technique
we used. I found it to be very similar to the style I was taught to use when
learning the roll-stepping technique for marching band. As soon as we started practicing I was
overcome with nostalgia for my marching days.
Freshman year of high school I
joined my school’s marching band without any prior experience and with no idea
what to expect. Little did I know this group would become my family and improve
my high school experience exponentially. I was initially paranoid that I would
never be able to imitate the older students’ practiced gaits as they moved
smoothly across the field. However, just by the end of that first year, I had
showed marked improvement and only became better as time went on. My band
director and the bands’ student leaders taught us how to curve our feet upward
when stepping and how to keep our upper bodies from swaying with each movement.
When guru said to keep our upper bodies still, I instantly called upon my
well-practiced skills! I kept reminding myself of all the different reminders
my director had used; according to him, if you slipped while practicing in the
rain and mud you obviously weren’t roll stepping correctly.
This practice was probably one of
my favorite classes by far. I had had difficulty mastering the other dance
styles so the fact that I could pick up on this one so quickly make me very
proud. It was also a great pick-me-up; I had been feeling homesick for a while
and this was the perfect dose of my past to cure it!
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